Giants: Joe Judge is not the answer at head coach in New York
Joe Judge looks underqualified to coach the Giants beside his NFC East peers.
The head coach of the New York Giants used to be one of the marquee positions in the NFL. Since Tom Coughlin retired, however, the Giants have attracted an awful bunch of head coaches who have set this franchise back.
From Ben McAdoo to Pat Shurmur, New York should have made a splashier hire at head coach during this past offseason to take the next step. Unfortunately, Joe Judge was not the right hire nor the best coach available to help with the development of quarterback Daniel Jones entering his first full season as the starter.
Two NFC East division rivals that were also searching for head coaches this offseason, Washington and the Dallas Cowboys, both got an upgrade on the sidelines. The Giants, contrarily, did not.
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Missed head coaching opportunities by the Giants for 2020
General manager Dave Gettelman should have made a better effort to land Ron Rivera, who ultimately landed with Washington. Gettleman and Rivera have familiarity with one another from their time working together with the Carolina Panthers.
Subsequently, Rivera should have been a shoo-in to come to New York. He was available early in any coaching search and it was no secret that the Giants were aiming to move on from Shurmur. Gettleman should have been in hot pursuit of Rivera, throwing whatever resources necessary at him to land the hire.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys hired another experienced presence in Mike McCarthy, who, unlike Rivera, has a Super Bowl ring to his credit. McCarthy aided in the development of Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay previously and is a true offensive coach to help guide Jones along. Even if the Giants missed out on Rivera, they still should’ve made a play for McCarthy.
Admittedly, New York missed out on Matt Rhule, the former Baylor man and hottest college coaching candidate available, as he removed himself from consideration for the Giants job before inking a pact with the Panthers. With that, though, the Giants were left with few and unexciting options.
Even still, New York would’ve been better off scouring the market further, looking at a candidate such as Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Yes, McDaniels has a rough reputation as being hard to work with and he retracted his acceptance of a head coaching job in Indianapolis previously. But he would’ve made a ton of sense for New York still, giving the Giants swagger and an offensive mind to, again, help Jones along early in his career.
The verdict on Joe Judge with the Giants
The ruling on landing on Joe Judge as their ultimate choice at head coach: An awful hire. New York brought in a relatively young and ill-experienced special teams coordinator to develop the potential franchise quarterback. And when you look at the other coaches in the division, especially with two other new hires, it seems that the Giants may be out-coached often in the NFC East this season.
To be sure, the Giants did one thing right this offseason in regards to the coaching staff, hiring a deep group of assistant coaches around the inexperienced Judge. Former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is now the offensive coordinator and could be of great help to the development of Jones. Furthermore, if it’s readily apparent that Judge isn’t the guy, Garrett would be a fine interim option.
New York also hired another former head coach, Freddie Kitchens, to the staff as a tight ends coach. While he flamed out quickly and gloriously in Cleveland, he has shown some offensive prowess and should help the Giants offense take a step forward with the young quarterback at the helm.
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Sure, the jury may be out on Judge until he actually coaches an NFL game, much less a full season. As it stands now, though, his hiring was a mistake on the part of the Giants, partially due to missing out on two candidates who are now in the division. The inexperienced newcomer on the sidelines, if he doesn’t prove me wrong, could be shown the door quickly like a couple of his immediate predecessors.