Bill Belichick Reportedly Had Blunt Message For Giants Owner
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 28: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots looks on during training camp at Gillette Stadium on August 28, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Dwyer-Pool/Getty Images)
Joe Judge has been the head coach of the New York Giants for just one season, but there's serious optimism for the future.
The Giants head coach previously worked under Bill Belichick in New England. Judge worked as an assistant coach for the Patriots from 2012 through 2019, rising from special teams assistant in his first season to special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach in his last.
It's safe to say that Belichick is a major endorser of the Giants head coach.
According to a story by Ian O'Connor of the New York Post, Belichick had a blunt message for Giants owner John Mara regarding Judge.
So here comes the good news: When Mara asked Bill Belichick for a scouting report on New England assistant Joe Judge last year, a Patriots source said Belichick told Mara, “He’s better than the last two guys you hired.” (Mara declined comment on the source’s claim.)
Belichick appears to have been right, again. Judge still has a lot to prove off his 6-10 debut, yet like his former Patriots colleague, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, he at least has the look of a formidable tough-guy leader. The Giants have a favorable history with tough guys (Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin), and a not-so-favorable history with not-so-tough guys (Pat Shurmur and Ben McAdoo).
The Giants' last two head coaches were Pat Shurmur (2018-19) and Ben McAdoo (2016-17). Shurmur made it through two seasons before getting fired, while McAdoo was let go late in the 2017 season.
Judge, 39, went just 6-10 in 2020, but the Giants clearly expect bigger things moving forward.
