BLUE-COLLAR GIANTS
Joe Judge, old-fashioned at 38, wants blue-collar Giants
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) >> Joe Judge has every intention of bringing old-fashioned blue-collar football back to the struggling New York Giants.
Roughly three minutes after being introduced as the head coach of the Giants, the relative unknown 38-year-old disciple of two of football’s coaching greats set out to answer the question of who is this young man taking over a franchise that has made the playoffs once since the 2011 season.
“What I am about is an old-school physical mentality,” Judge said Thursday. “We are going to put a product on the field that this city and region are proud of because this team will represent this area. We will play fast. We will play downhill. We will be aggressive. We will punch you in the nose for 60 minutes and we will play every play with a relentless, competitive attitude.”
The team did not release terms of Judge’s contract, but it certainly was not close to the seven-year, $62 million deal the Carolina Panthers gave Matt Rhule on Tuesday.
The former Giants assistant had been considered a front-runner for the Giants’ job.
Judge refused to answer a question about being the
Giants’ second choice, insisting his sole focus is taking advantage of the opportunity he has been given. He said his team will be fundamentally sound and prepared. He said he will take care of his players and asked them to give everything they have.
If that sounds like things that Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Alabama coach Nick Saban would say, it’s not surprising. Judge worked for both men, winning two national titles with Saban and the Crimson Tide and three with Belichick and the Pats.
Judge said Saban taught him to address everyone on not only what they had to do, but how it should look, what they are going to do to get there and why it is important. Belichick made him understand the need to be flexible with his personnel and to make sure they were playing to their strengths.