Belichick disciple hired as Jones tutor
Here is what we are learning about Joe Judge as he assembles his first coaching staff with the Giants: He likes guys he worked with in New England.
Judge has selected Jerry Schuplinski for the key role of continuing the development of Daniel Jones. Schuplinski comes aboard as the quarterbacks coach and he gets to work with Jones, coming off a strong rookie season under the tutelage of Pat Shurmur and Mike Shula.
Schuplinski in 2019 was the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Dolphins, hired by Brian Flores, who — like Judge — worked for Bill Belichick with the Patriots. Judge on Sunday plucked Patrick Graham — another one of Flores’ coaches with ties to Judge and the Patriots — to be the Giants defensive coordinator.
Before going to Miami, Schuplinski spent six years with the Patriots (and Judge), the first three as an offensive assistant and the last three as the assistant quarterbacks coach. He worked with Tom Brady, but was largely responsible for the development of backups Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett.
“[Schuplinski] was with me from Day 1,” Garoppolo, now the 49ers starting quarterback, told radio station WEEI in 2018. “Josh McDaniels was our quarterbacks coach, but Jerry was my quarterbacks coach at the time. He taught me all the ins and outs of the playbook. … At the beginning you’re going into a system where a guy has been doing it for however many years Tom has been doing it with Josh, so they are kind of speaking a different language initially. You’re just trying to play catch-up when you are in there, and Jerry was kind of the guy. He knows all the stuff and he brings you up to speed.”
Brissett, the Colts starting quarterback, has said Schuplinski is “definitely one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever had.’’
Judge is bringing in another coach with whom he has previous ties, reportedly selecting Freddie Roach as his defensive line coach. Roach was at Ole Miss the past two seasons and overlapped at Alabama with Judge for two years on Nick Saban’s staff.
A former high school head coach in Ohio, Schuplinski played college football at John Carroll, where he was a teammate of McDaniels. Thus, it comes as no surprise Schuplinski was McDaniel’s right-hand man with the Patriots.