Giants request interview with Patriots special teams/wide receivers coach Joe Judge

With the regular season in the books, now is the time for those NFL teams not in the playoff tournament to make changes. One of the organizations doing just that are the New York Giants, who parted ways with head coach Pat Shurmur on “Black Monday.” To fill Shurmur’s now vacant spot, the team already requested to interview numerous coaches — including New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Now, it looks like another Patriots assistant is on their list of targets: the Giants have asked permission to speak to special teams and wide receivers coach Joe Judge, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Judge is an intriguing name on the coaching market as evidenced by the fact that head coach Bill Belichick added offensive responsibilities to his plate after the 2019 offseason brought the departure of previous receivers coach Chad O’Shea.

Judge originally joined the Patriots in 2012 after working at Alabama under head coach Nick Saban. Starting his career with the club as assistant special teams coach under Scott O’Brien, Judge took over the kicking game operation in 2015 and served in the role ever since. But despite never holding a coordinator title in the NFL, the Giants apparently share Belichick’s high opinion of the 37-year-old and will now speak with him about filling Shurmur’s shoes.

But even if the Giants do not end up hiring him, Judge should be expected to become a popular name in the upcoming years. The situation therefore reminds of ex-Patriots assistant Brian Flores: the now-Miami Dolphins coach took an interview with the Arizona Cardinals while still a position coach. One year later, he joined Miami. Expect Judge’s rise to be somewhat similar.