In looking back at these last two weeks, a couple of observations:
1) How did Joe Judge really end up on the Giants list of candidates to interview?
The one thing that ownership and this GM have shown these last number of years is that they have been behind the curve. All of the other candidates on the list (Richard, McCarthy, Bienemy, Martindale, Rhule and McDaniel) were considered by other teams, NFL insiders and media as the prospective coaching candidate pool. Throw in Stefanski and Schwartz (two guys not on the Giants list) and that would be the complete coaching candidate pool. Judge was a real unknown to the NFL insiders and media. New England assistant coaches dating back to Crennel and Weiss to last year with LB coach Flores always receive hype during the season as the next hot coaching candidate. Judge received zero hype. Sometimes, it is the coach you do not want to lose that you are more quiet about until the head coach really advocates for them when the right spot opens up.
I wonder if Bill Belichick orchestrated the whole Judge hiring. It has been well documented how much fondness Belichick has for the Giants organization and overall respect he has for the Maras. Since Belichick was not coming to the Giants, he may have done the next best thing for the Giants and for Judge by telling them that they need to interview him. I just cannot see how Judge turns up initially on the Giants radar - it is too random and you cannot have that type of faith in this organization to have independently identified Judge as a candidate to interview.
It is also interesting that two Patriots coaches end up on the Giants list of coaching candidates to interview with McDaniel being the prominent one. So Belichick is providing great feedback on Judge to the Giants but is silent on his long time assistant McDaniel? I wonder how McDaniel feels about it, especially if he does not get the Browns job.
2) If the Giants matched the offer presented by Rhule's agent before ever interviewing Rhule for the position, it would have violated the spirit of the Rooney rule.
For the Giants to match that offer to Rhule without even an interview, it would have made the whole interviewing process a sham. To hire Rhule and give him that contract without even interviewing him would have meant the Giants knew who they were hiring prior to the commencement of the interview process. Imagine the criticism the Giants would have encountered if that had happened? It would not have been pretty.
One thing to note is that zero negatives have come out about Judge’s background. Usually these guys have some black marks. It’s the dog that didn’t bark. Judge has no doubt been too busy working at the facility and fathering four children to get into any hinkiness. Which is the way it should be :)
As far as the other part, I some Belichick was the one that told the Giants about Judge.
Isn't it possible Bill just got tired of the Giants floundering and thought the league might be better off with a more competitive NY team. Hasn't Bill reached a point in his career where he might actually be contemplating his role, his impact on the league rather than just as a coach of NE. He really has nothing to prove as a coach at this point. His mark has been made. Maybe he's now trying to cement a longer, more lasting legacy.
Where better to grow a mighty coaching tree than in NY for all to see?
This may or may not be true. We don't know. The question is, if he was that highly thought of, why didn't anyone else schedule an interview with him?
True. The Patricia college story really would been a nasty media event in NYC - glad we didn't have to go through any of that. Judge seems like a clean prospect - I enjoyed the brief references to his family/kids in the PC. Hopefully they grow into North Jersey royalty after decades of success.
I agree. I believe Belichick played the Accorsi role here. Mara seems influenced, to an unhealthy degree, by what some people he respects tell him. Obviously you take those recommendations into consideration but from the outside they can seem to be the driving force behind his hiring decisions.
[quote] How about saying that Belichick and Saban strongly influenced the process? Two men revered by the Giants organization strongly recommend a guy, who comes in and makes a very strong impression. I think it’s that simple.
I agree as well ... what puzzles me is the whole Josh McDaniels thing ...He’s been at BB’s for some time ... is he the heir apparent in NE ? Does he go to Cleveland to learn as a HC, then come back ? Or what ? I don’t really care about the Pats after BB, but it is intriguing.
[quote] How about saying that Belichick and Saban strongly influenced the process? Two men revered by the Giants organization strongly recommend a guy, who comes in and makes a very strong impression. I think it’s that simple.
I agree as well ... what puzzles me is the whole Josh McDaniels thing ...He’s been at BB’s for some time ... is he the heir apparent in NE ? Does he go to Cleveland to learn as a HC, then come back ? Or what ? I don’t really care about the Pats after BB, but it is intriguing.
Yeah, the McDaniels thing is kind of weird. For years, we've heard he's the heir apparent in NE. I'm probably not alone in speculating that he did an about face on Indy last year based on some last minute wooing form Kraft and/or Belichick. Now we hear that BB has been grooming (that might be too strong a word) Judge to be a head coach.
FYI - this is not an anti Judge take but rather how some of the pieces on how this turned out don't seem to fit together.
This was Mara calling Belichick for ideas, and thats when Judge's name first came up.
Rhule's people had most likely talked with the Giants prior to the interview and had a good idea of what the Giants would offer. They knew the deal with Carolina was well above the Giant's expectation.