Giants Hire Patriots’ Joe Judge As Head Coach

The New York Giants surprisingly named New England Patriots wide receivers coach Joe Judge as the team’s next head coach.

Judge, 38, was the youngest of the seven known candidates mentioned for the Giants’ vacancy and has been mentored by Alabama coach Nick Saban and Patriots coach Bill Belichick. He is considered a no-nonsense guy who isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers with players if necessary.

Judge would replace Pat Shurmur, who was fired by the Giants on Dec. 30 after two seasons, as the 19th coach in franchise history.

Judge, a Philadelphia native, was in the running for the head-coaching job at Mississippi State. He joined the Patriots in 2012 after three years as a football analyst under Saban at Alabama. He also assisted with the special teams units.

Prior to going to Alabama, Judge spent a season at Birmingham-Southern, where he served as special teams/linebackers coach in 2008. He began his career as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State in 2005.

Judge has been with the Patriots since 2012. He became the special-teams coordinator in 2015 and added wide receiver coach duties last year.