Choice was never Rhule over Judge — or Judge over Rhule

Matt Rhule wanted to be the next Bill Parcells but wound up in a position trying to outshine John Fox’s legacy.

Rhule was considered the favorite to become head coach of the Giants in January 2020, but he never made it to his scheduled interview because Panthers owner David Tepper was waiting for Rhule in the driveway when Rhule’s family returned home from a vacation to Cancun.

So, what if Giants ownership had been the one parked outside? Would

Rhule still be leading the Panthers against the Giants on Sunday, or could roles have been reversed? Faced with the hypothetical, Rhule chuckled for nearly 10 seconds before finding his right words.

“That whole situation, I had a chance to have a conversation with [the Giants] and I was unbelievably flattered,” Rhule said after the laughter on both ends of a call Thursday died down. “The truth is it never really got to that point [where I was choosing between the two.] I got offered the job in Carolina and took it. It just seemed like the right thing for us at the time.”

Rhule, 46, is a New York City native who was the Giants’ assistant offensive line coach in 2012. Tom Coughlin’s recommendation played a big part in Rhule landing his first head coaching job at Temple in 2013.

“I grew up dreaming of being Bill Parcells,” Rhule said. “Phil McConkey and Mark Bavaro and Phil Simms, those were my heroes. Having a chance to work there was awesome. It was a really special place.”

Rhule’s first NFL head coach interview was with the Colts in January 2018. A year later, he strongly considered leaving his post as Baylor’s head coach to take over the Jets before the job went to Adam Gase. A year after that, Rhule’s success and desirability put him in position to command a reported $60 million over seven years from the Panthers — a staggering contract for a first-time NFL head coach.

Still, Rhule’s agent, Trace Armstrong, called the Giants with a chance to match the offer before an in-person meeting. The Giants quickly pivoted to hire Joe Judge, the relatively unknown Patriots special teams coordinator who aced his interview one day earlier.

“We agreed that we were not going there, for a number of reasons,” Giants owner John Mara said at the time. “One, we weren’t going with a seven-year deal with anybody. But more importantly, we had somebody we were excited about. So, we went ahead and made Joe the coach.”

Judge is 7-15 since replacing Pat Shurmur. Rhule is 8-14 since replacing Ron Rivera, who is one of two coaches (Fox) to take the Panthers to a Super Bowl.

“I can’t say that I chose anybody over anyone. It never got to that point with New York. It wasn’t like I was offered a job,” Rhule said. “My agent does a good job. He’s always trying to protect me and all those things. He probably had conversations with them, but it just wasn’t there. So, we took this one.”

Judge was under strong consideration to become the head coach at his alma mater, Mississippi State, and wasn’t in-tune to the rest of the Giants’ search.

“I just came here to have a conversation,” Judge said before Thursday’s practice. “That’s all it really was.”

It turned into much more.