Well it has been a few days since Giants fans learned about the decision to hire Joe Judge as Head Coach.
Yesterday we heard him speak, and I think we learned a lot from his 7 minute opening statement.
Fans have been looking for some rumors or leaks on who he will hire to assemble his staff, yet we are hearing nothing. To me, that's a very good thing.
For far too long, we have seen newly hired Head Coaches predictably bring on many of their buddies to create their staff. Face it, when it comes to creating a staff, most of what we see in the NFL is the "good old boys club".
Over the years, yours truly has correctly predicted right here on BBI many coaches that would be hired by a new Head Coach. Its not because of any inside information I had, but rather educated guesses based on who the new Head Coach has crossed paths with over his career.
I hope and believe that Head Coach Judge will use a different approach. An issue with hiring your friends and coaches that you have worked with previously, is that it greatly limits the pool of candidates that you consider.
Look at new Carolina coach Matt Rhule. Nothing is official yet, but it sure seems like he is following the old way, and bringing on staff that most fans could easily predict, because Rhule has worked with them in the past.
I can't imagine a harder out of the gate job for a Head Coach then selecting his coordinators. Usually when a Head Coach is hired, the coordinators are named within 24-48 hours. Did a face to face interview take place? Were other candidates given proper consideration? Probably not.
I think, with the little I learned and heard from Coach Judge yesterday, is that he is very well organized and will carefully consider not only coaches he has worked with previously, but perhaps coaches that he has admired when he had to coach against them. Perhaps an opposing coach he has admired after reviewing game film. He already has told us he plans to interview every current Giants coach.
Certainly Coach Judge will consider coaches he has been with on the same staff. Certainly Coach Judge will get suggestions on hires from his agent, Jimmy Sexton, who undoubtedly has clients that are currently unemployed coaches. But at the end of the day, I think Coach Judge is moving forward with an open plan to take his time and find the very best candidates that he believes will help him succeed.
2 weeks ago, no Giants fan, and certainly not the owners were seriously considering hiring Judge. But that changed after a long face to face meeting and the result was that we were all surprised.
This fan is hoping that the search for coordinators and coaches will be similar. Long face to face meetings with candidates Judge has interest. Take your time. Do your homework. And put together the best staff, rather than just bringing in your friends and coaches whose greatest attribute is that they worked with you in the past.
Rhule looking at Joe Brady, which is seemingly positive and not predictable for him.
O'Connell joining the Rams since McDaniels didn't immediately secure the Browns job.
Due diligence, yes, but when you hire a HC who was planning and expecting to be a HC, you're also likely hiring someone with a plan for his staff.
I would have liked to hear Judge answer that question.
Certainly the most obvious name here is Kris Richards, who is currently the only other candidate currently unemployed.
We have the best 8 teams in the league still in the playoffs. Moving with great urgency eliminates the coaches of those teams from Judge's search if he hires his staff quickly.
If it takes Judge several weeks to build his best staff, I am comfortable with that and don't see a downside.
That tells me he’s looking for assistants with head coaching experience.
We have the best 8 teams in the league still in the playoffs. Moving with great urgency eliminates the coaches of those teams from Judge's search if he hires his staff quickly.
If it takes Judge several weeks to build his best staff, I am comfortable with that and don't see a downside.
Good point, re: playoff team staffs
I would have liked to hear Judge answer that question.
Certainly the most obvious name here is Kris Richards, who is currently the only other candidate currently unemployed.
I would love to see Kris Richard come on in some capacity. If not as the DC, then at least the same position he had last year (defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator). All the young raw talented guys we have back there (Baker, Love, Beal, Ballentine, Peppers, Okudah potentially) would benefit greatly from a young and hungry motivator like Richard.
I am simply speculating on how I think (and hope) he will handle this process.
I have no idea who, if any, current playoff coaches are on his radar.
You are correct that to get a coach currently under contract, it would require an upgraded title.
We have the best 8 teams in the league still in the playoffs. Moving with great urgency eliminates the coaches of those teams from Judge's search if he hires his staff quickly.
If it takes Judge several weeks to build his best staff, I am comfortable with that and don't see a downside.
He would have said he’s not in position to answer that right now. Don’t think we would have gotten anything.
I'm not sure about that. I think a few years ago the NFL changed the rules so that Head Coaches are grouped together and assistant coaches are grouped together. So we can't just interview someone for OC when they were QB coach elsewhere. Essentially, we need team permission to do that.
It is disappointing to hear that Rhule is pursuing Joe Brady as OC. He is my #1 choice for OC here, though I'm not sure that is very realistic anyway. Besides, it is a bit surprising given that all we heard was that he would be bringing Sean Ryan with him. Joe Brady was phenomenal at LSU this year, and even though he has a ridiculous amount of talent to work with, he is a big time reason that the talent there has taken the jumps they have.
Welcome back!
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Most importantly, how are you doing/feeling?
Welcome back!
Thanks buddy. Needed a break from all the angst/anger (some justified, some not, imo). :)
Based on what he said, he has HIGH expectations for his coaches, so I think this demands for him to do due diligence too. That can’t be done overnight. Let’s see, he was offered the job on Monday and today is Saturday. I’m thinking he may also have been reaching out to people he was considering before his interview so I think he probably has now had time to at least interview them since Tuesday. Knowing his personality type, I have a feeling he and whoever is working with him have been relentless putting names together, so I would not be surprised knowing he probably already Has made offers to several people as we speak. I can’t imagine no one blew him away after talking with them on Thursday or Friday.
But, I hope he waits until at least this weekend is over which will allow for him to choose people from 4 other playoff teams. We shall see.
Hopefully he can land them as well.
My only concern with Judge is because he is young, he may not have the same network of contacts as a guy like McCarthy or Rivera. Now that can be good because you don’t just get them getting the band back together, but it also means he doesn’t know these guys as well and some learning curve will likely be necessary between coach and staff that other teams may not have.
I guess the point here is I don’t see it as a negative that he will not be naming staff as quickly as other new HCs. Hopefully that indicates he is being picky about who he wants, which is a good thing.
I suspect that is featured more in college. Jim Leonhard the DC at Wisconsin would be ideal on several criteria, but as a Badger Fan I would be very unhappy were that to happen.
I suspect that is featured more in college. Jim Leonhard the DC at Wisconsin would be ideal on several criteria, but as a Badger Fan I would be very unhappy were that to happen.
Speaking of Wisconsin coaches, what about Bobby April III as LB Coach? He does have NFL experience and he is the son of a longtime Special Teams coach.
I am doing OK. Thanks for asking.
You can probably measure my 40 time with a sun dial, and my short shuttle is now more like a short shuffle, but no complaints.
Hope things are well with you.
Doc, where the hell have you been? I just reached out to a Mod to see if something happened to you that I wasn't aware of, and bang...here you are.
In this case, your point on the potential playoff coaching candidates is very pertinent and I would be concerned if Judge put together his full staff in a few days. However, if there is a coach or two he really covets, he should move quickly before they are gobbled up.
I suspect that is featured more in college. Jim Leonhard the DC at Wisconsin would be ideal on several criteria, but as a Badger Fan I would be very unhappy were that to happen.
Included in the big picture of a teaching and learning philosophy is an organization's process to develop young players in a way that keeps down the number of free agents needed to fill holes (Grow your own). That then influences how you construct and utilize a practice squad.
Green Bay was a great model for this several years ago and I expected McAdoo to copy. Sigh.
I attached a resume of Dan Lanning. Last year, Lanning was a finalist for the Frank Broyles Award (an annual award that goes to the best assistant coach in college football-this years winner was Joe Brady at LSU).
I am not suggesting that Judge will hire Lanning, but rather I am trying to show the type of background and resume that I believe would be of great interest to Coach Judge.
In this same thread, the name Jim Leonhard was also mentioned. Another perfect example of the type of coach that could interest Judge.
Link - ( New Window )
You can’t worry about that. Or you’re stuck with hiring a pool of guys like Dom Capers!
Will Hall- Tulane Offensive Coordinator
Tosh Lupoi- Cleveland Browns Defensive Line Coach
Jody Wright- Cleveland Browns Offensive Assistant
"A Look At Some of the Key Assistants Joe Judge Would Like To Bring To Starkville" - ( New Window )
Wouldn't that mean we were pretty successful if people are trying to poach our coordinators? Sounds like a good problem if you ask me.
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comes in and does a great job - you're looking for a new DC in a year or two. How much does Judge weigh that into consideration?
Wouldn't that mean we were pretty successful if people are trying to poach our coordinators? Sounds like a good problem if you ask me.
I could be wrong in my interpretation, but I thought when Judge said he didn't want to hire people "with agendas", he meant avoiding coaches who are already looking a job ahead.
May fit in as an offensive position coach
Will Hall - ( New Window )
Tosh Lupoi - ( New Window )
Coughlin looked horrible when he had bad coordinators and really good when he had good ones.
This can be said about most coaches.
(1) He is looking for experience
(2) There is outstanding talent available in the eight play-off teams
(3) The strongest impression he made on me is that he "keeps his cards close to his chest"; just like he refused to talk about the players (not praising or discrediting anyone)
The biggest question, in my mind is who is going to be his shadow "bench coach". Belichick has Ernie Adams (who not even the players know exactly what he does). It's more than analysis, it's about identifying and executing subtle advantage at opportune times.
More important than any of the coordinators (who have come and gone) is THE constant, Dante Scarnecchia, his O-line coach. I hope Judge finds someone similar to him
Thats a good problem to have.
If they're a HC candidate, it means the coached their unit very well... which is what you want as a HC.
Sources: Joe Brady Agrees to Contract Extension With LSU - ( New Window )
Brady can thank Rhule for getting him a big raise