Diversity rules on Giants’ staff
What is evidently clear about the 20-member staff head coach Joe Judge has assembled in his first year with the Giants is its great diversity. Nine of the assistants are from other NFL teams, six were on Pat Shurmur’s 2019 Giants staff and five are from the college football ranks.
Many have ties to Judge, but several do not.
Judge never before worked with Jason Garrett, his new offensive coordinator. Their connection is from Nick Saban: Judge worked for Saban at Alabama, Garrett worked for Saban with the Dolphins. Judge hired three men — Marc Colombo (offensive line), Derek Dooley (senior offensive assistant) and Stephen Brown (offensive assistant) — who previously worked for Garrett with the Cowboys.
“To me, it’s a big trust factor with the guys I have on the staff,’’ Judge said. “I have a personal relationship with a lot of these guys, professional relationships with nearly all of them. Guys who I have not worked with directly, I’ve competed against, I’ve known for some time. I’ve more than done my research on everybody on this staff, including the guys I’ve worked with. No stone has been unturned.’’
Garrett and Freddie Kitchens, the new tight ends coach, are former NFL head coaches.
“I didn’t set out to hire anyone with former head coaching experience,’’ Judge said. “That ended up being a plus of what different guys brought to their area.”
Kitchens, 45, flamed out in his one and only year running the show in Cleveland. The Browns went 6-10 this past season, qualifying as one of the league’s most disappointing teams. Kitchens rose through the ranks, working with many different offensive groups.
“I think any position on offense is good for Freddie,” Judge said. “What I love about Freddie is he brings an element of toughness and discipline to his room. He brings outside-the-box thinking …’’
Giants ownership and the front office came to realize Shurmur did not put a strong staff together. Judge, however, did not come in and gut everything, evidenced by keeping a half-dozen assistants from Shurmur’s staff.
One of the returnees, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, did a solid job last season dealing with injuries to Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate’s four-game suspension. Rookie Darius Slayton, a fifth-round pick, tied for the NFL rookie lead with eight touchdown catches.
“The deciding factor on Tyke is you turn his tape on, and his guys play hard, they play fundamentally sound, he’s been able to develop a number of receivers in different systems,’’ Judge said.
Given that Daniel Jones is in the nascent stage of his NFL career, it was vital that Judge find a capable quarterbacks coach, and he went with what he knows — Jerry Schuplinski, 42, with whom he worked for six years with the Patriots.
“Jerry is an incredible teacher,” Judge said. “He simplifies the game so the quarterback can play fast in terms of understanding our scheme and analyzing the opponent’s defense.”