Joe Judge brings new intensity to Giants program in need of a jolt
NEW YORK — Joe Judge’s detailed and intense approach as the Giants’ first-year head coach has drawn early comparisons to the Patriots’ Bill Belichick and Alabama’s Nick Saban, Judge’s two most successful mentors.
“I remember when I was with Nick in 2007, and it’s like déjà vu,” Giants running backs coach Burton Burns said. While the Giants hired Judge for his pedigree, however, the NFL’s head coaching graveyard is littered with names of men who tried to be someone else, including plenty of Belichick proteges.
So what Judge, 38, must prove to his new team is that his approach is authentic, not a first-time head coach’s best attempt to mimic mentors whose 12 combined Super Bowl and national championships allow them to run a tight ship.
Rookie safety Xavier McKinney, a former Saban star at Alabama, said Giants camp is “almost like a mirror version of how it was at Bama.” But he said the team has embraced it.
“Everybody on the team likes Coach Judge,” the second-round pick said. “I think we’re good on that.” Of course, Judge’s greatest challenge will be to get the Giants’ results to reinforce his methods.
Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch hired Judge with the patience to let him develop a program for the long term, not just to win more games in 2020.
Still, the Giants have lost more games (12-36) the past three seasons than any other franchise in the NFL, which is one reason that Judge is their third head coach in four years (neither Ben McAdoo nor Pat Shurmur lasted more than two).
The Giants have lost 13 straight games against the division rival Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles combined, dating back to a home win over the Cowboys on Dec. 11, 2016.
And that season, McAdoo’s only full year as head coach, also was the only time in the past eight years the Giants reached the playoffs. Anyone questioning Judge’s approach, therefore, must recognize that the Giants’ Way hasn’t been working. It was beyond time for someone else to change how this organization operates.
While Judge is keen on developing a sustained winner, though, he also has run an in-your-face, profanity-laced training camp because he is determined to get his young team ready for a Week 1 Monday night visit from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Listen, we can’t get the guys ready to drive on I-95 by riding back roads,” Judge said after an especially physical practice in mid-August. “If we think the Pittsburgh Steelers are coming in here to hug us, we’re all sadly mistaken.”
Quarterback Daniel Jones (No. 6 overall, 2019) and running back Saquon Barkley (No. 2 overall, 2018) are the centerpieces of the Giants’ present, two of the Giants’ four consecutive top first-round picks on the offensive side of the ball.
So Jones and Barkley, along with tight end Evan Engram (No. 23, 2017) and rookie tackle Andrew Thomas (No. 4, 2020), will be expected to help carry an unreliable defense.
Former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett has been placed in charge of that offense and of developing Jones. And Jones, if he pans out, could be the last saving grace for GM Dave Gettleman, who narrowly escaped accountability in 2019 and whose many swings and misses might be offset if Jones turns out to be the next great franchise QB.
Those misses include a trade up to pick No. 30 of
the 2019 NFL Draft’s first round to select corner DeAndre Baker, who is now on the NFL’s Commissioner Exempt List, facing four counts of armed robbery with a firearm for an alleged May incident in Broward (Fla.) County.
Back at camp, Judge drew national headlines when the Giants put the pads on at camp by having assistant coaches run laps with players after mistakes, and for holding a full contact one-on-one drill not commonly seen on NFL training camp fields. A player, corner Corey Ballentine, was actually down for a time with an injury scare before rising and finishing practice.
Judge said he ran this drill with Belichick’s Patriots, however, and that especially without preseason games due the COVID-19 pandemic, the Giants need to practice their tackling safely at high speeds in a controlled environment to ready themselves.
As for the coaches and players running laps, Judge insisted: “At a practice, we have to understand that there are consequences for mistakes. This isn’t a punishment. It’s a reminder that we have to draw our attention and be more detailed with how we approach things.”