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| Providence, R.I.: At a hotel adjacent to T.F. Green Airport, Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen arrives to meet with 38-year-old Patriots defensive coordinator Joe Judge, who in an instant had become a hot name on the coaching market. Before they talked, Cohen spoke to Bill Belichick on the phone. Belichick was high on Judge. The Cohen-Judge interview went exceedingly well; both are Mississippi State alums. But Judge told Cohen that, before he moved ahead with MSU, there was the matter of Judge’s Monday interview with the Giants in New Jersey. “I’m not sure there ever has been a situation like this in college football—Starkville and the SEC versus a historic franchise in the biggest city in the country,” Cohen said. “But after about two-and-a-half hours talking with Joe, I knew he would be the coach of the New York Giants. That’s how impressive he was.” Neither Cohen nor Judge would acknowledge that an offer was made, but I believe it’s probable. Monday, Jan. 6 Providence: After a short night’s sleep, Judge boarded a 6:43 a.m. Amtrak Acela train for New Jersey, bound for his 11 a.m. interview with the Giants, a 20-minute ride from Newark’s Penn Station. Manhattan: At 9:43 a.m., Judge disembarked at New York’s Penn Station. (Crazy thing about East Coast train stations. The city train stations in New York, Newark and Baltimore are all called “Penn Station.” Judge just heard “Penn Station” and got off the train. The Giants were sending a car for him, and Judge went to what he thought was the appointed spot. No car. Judge called his pick-up man. “Where are you?” The guy said, “I’m here. Where are you?” Judge looked around and told him 34th Street, and the Giants rep said, “You got off at the wrong Penn Station!” Judge pulled out his phone and got an Uber for East Rutherford. He was at Giants HQ by 10:45. All good. “I didn’t know there were two Penn Stations,” Judge said. There are not two. There are three. “No problem,” he said. “I got there just in time.” New Giants coach Joe Judge. (Getty Images) East Rutherford, N.J.: Never heard of this before: Judge never looked at a note during a three-hour meeting with president/CEO John Mara, GM Dave Gettleman and assistant GM Kevin Abrams. “That’s accurate,” Judge said. “I went into the interview with the approach that everything I was going to say was coming from the heart. I wasn’t trying to sell them anything. If they don’t like me on the interview, then it’s better to find that out right away.” Judge was straight, looked the three guys in the eye, talked about the bedrock principle of discipline, said he’d practice full-pad tackling liberally, and detailed how he’d building a staff and organization camaraderie. By the time he left around 2 to get some lunch with a Giant staffer, the three Giants officials were hooked. Mara spoke up. “Wow,” he said. “This has to be our guy.” Waco, Texas. At 3 p.m., a strong candidate for the Giants job, Baylor coach Matt Rhule, began his interview with a Carolina delegation led by aggressive billionaire owner David Tepper. Rhule was excited about the prospect of interviewing with the Giants on Tuesday; a city kid, he used to take the subway to Madison Square Garden to live and die with the Knicks. Fate, and unprecedented money, were about to intervene. “The more I listened to Mr. Tepper, the more I realized we believe in the same things when it comes to team-building,” Rhule said. “I got excited. We see things the same way.” East Rutherford, N.J.: Judge felt good about his chances with the Giants. Mara did too. He wasn’t offering the job yet, but around 4 p.m., before Judge left for the correct Penn Station this time, Mara pulled Judge into his office and closed the door. “I told Joe how personal this was for me,” Mara told me. “I told him, ‘This has been our family business since 1925. We HAVE to get this turned around. We CAN’T be wrong on this hire.” Mara said Judge stridently assured him that, if chosen, he could do the job. As Mara said, “Joe’s very sure of himself, but not in an arrogant way. So we liked him a lot. And quite honestly, we had a bit of a deadline. Joe loves Mississippi State, and they were putting pressure on him to let them know.” As Judge boarded his train in Newark to go home, he knew the clock was ticking on his future. In the span of 24 hours, he’d gone from never interviewing for a head-coaching job in his life to being on the precipice of having his choice of offers in the SEC and NFL. Judge, in private, might have had a HOLY CRAP! moment that evening on the trip home. But he told me, “I don’t look at the process as anything extraordinary.” Well, the rest of the football world did. Before Judge was done with the Giants, he had one more early-morning assignment on Tuesday: meet with co-owner Steve Tisch, flying into Providence to do his due diligence with Judge. He’d have to sign off on the deal. Tuesday, Jan. 7 Providence: Tisch met Judge at a Providence hotel, liked what he saw and heard, and called Mara. “Wow,” Tisch told Mara. “I was really impressed. Let’s get this done.” Charlotte: Things were happening fast overnight. Rhule’s agent, Trace Armstrong, was nearing a deal on a seven-year contract worth an estimated $62 million with the Panthers. Before it was official, he called Mara around 9:10 a.m. “Trace made it pretty clear we’d have to match or do better,” said Mara. He said he’d call Armstrong back. Mara asked the rest of the Giants braintrust, and they were in agreement that seven years was a bridge too far. Plus, they were either going to hire Judge or let him walk to Mississippi State; realistically, they probably couldn’t have waited to talk to Rhule that day. New Panthers coach Matt Rhule. (Getty Images) East Rutherford, N.J.: By 9:50 a.m., when Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports broke the news on Rhule to the Panthers, the contract for Judge was coming together quickly, negotiated by agent Jimmy Sexton and Mara himself. Word leaked around 11:13 a.m. of the Judge deal with the Giants, via Adam Schefter. Key West, Fla.: Figuring he needed to be ready to proceed on his job search, Cohen left Starkville on a private plane around dawn for Key West with a three-person MSU delegation. The target: Washington State coach Mike Leach, decompressing after his football season in Pullman. The swashbuckling Leach, experienced and bold and offensively exciting, was a great and irreverent option for a school having to compete with the giants of the SEC. Soon after touching down, Cohen’s phone buzzed. It was Judge, telling him he’d gotten the Giants job. Cohen was thrilled for him, and thrilled for MSU, to have the coach of the New York Giants possess deep Bulldog roots. “In the end,” Cohen said, “I felt we both were where we needed to be.” Foxboro, Mass. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels got a double slap-in-the-face. Due to leave Massachusetts for a Tuesday interview with the Panthers—and thought to be Carolina’s fallback option if the Panthers didn’t get Rhule—McDaniels saw his Tuesday and Wednesday interviews go down the drain. With the unknown Judge landing the head coaching job with a flagship franchise, and with the knowledge that his boss had recommended Judge highly to Mara, McDaniels has to wonder about his place in the Patriot hierarchy—and maybe even about his future with the Patriots. East Rutherford, N.J. A day-and-a-half after he was an unknown special-teams coach under Bill Belichick’s thumb, Joe Judge answered a phone call from John Mara. It was the co-owner, offering him the job to revive the New York Giants. Per Mara, this was Judge’s response: “I’m honored, Mr. Mara. I appreciated the history and the tradition of the franchise. There’s a lot of franchises in the NFL, but there’s only one New York Giants.” Postscript, Friday, Jan. 10 East Rutherford, N.J. “That was the right answer,” Mara said. |
It's not about how you get there, but did you get there on time? Yup, he was 15 minutes early. Beat the tom Coughlin clock by 10 minutes...
38-year-old Patriots defensive coordinator Joe Judge,
Thanks for posting this.
I like Judge's answers and I like what he brings to teh table. Nobody is a sure bet when dealing with athletes, commitments, injuries etc. BUT, I do feel we have the right person to build around. I want to see this team built for long term success (ie Patriots, Steelers, Packers, Seahawks -as of the last 10 years, consistently in the hunt-, Chiefs etc.).
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38-year-old Patriots defensive coordinator Joe Judge,
Thanks for posting this.
Ha, noticed that too!
I am glad the media has been on his side so far.
One of the good things about DG....he is the focus of their scorn
Maybe in his quest to emulate Belichick he failed in Denver after having some success (like Belichick in CLE) and then jilted the Colts to emulate Belichick with the NYJ).
If Belichick has been hit by karma - winning 6 SB's and 9 AFC Championships -i'll let that train run me over and i can see why McDaniels would be worshiping at that same altar.
I know the knee jerk reaction is to think what a massive douche McDaniels is for backing out on the Colts, and not to be a contrarian, but in some ways I respect someone for not rushing in to a situation where they are not confident they can succeed.
the alternative is a bunch of keyboard warriors lumping you in with other failed Belichick disciples saying "see I told you, it's all Belichick"
He is on thin ice right now.
He was an arrogant guy in Denver and failed. Many thought he was entitled and a prick. We really don't have any opposing information to go off that shows otherwise.
The next time he's up for a job, he accepts it and then backs out. Reinforces the reputation he has. Then you have information leak out that he's saying who he will and won't interview with. More reinforcement.
It is hard to break a perception when seemingly most times you are portrayed, you come off looking like a smug asshole.
He was an arrogant guy in Denver and failed. Many thought he was entitled and a prick. We really don't have any opposing information to go off that shows otherwise.
The next time he's up for a job, he accepts it and then backs out. Reinforces the reputation he has. Then you have information leak out that he's saying who he will and won't interview with. More reinforcement.
It is hard to break a perception when seemingly most times you are portrayed, you come off looking like a smug asshole.
I agree he has not earned the right to say he's not going to interview for a job.
but, at the same time, I don't think backing out of the Colts job deserves him to be paid back by "karma".
Irsay's reputation is probably worse than McDaniels.
Jim Fassel did a whole lot less (AFAIK) and never got a sniff in the NFL after 2006 after being the Ravens OC again. Given the yearly coaching carousel churn, that still seems odd to me.
On top of that, McDaniel has had Belichick for his HC and Brady for his QB. How many other OCs could have succeeded with that?
And he flamed out as HC in Denver. It's not quite as easy without Belichick and Brady.
That's not really a good comparison. Belichick was being maneuvered into the Jets job by Parcells to prevent him from interviewing with the Patriots. It's not like he sought out the Jets job and then, after accepting it, spurned them. The Jets sprang this on him with telling him about it ahead of time.
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with McDaniels but smart by Belichick?
That's not really a good comparison. Belichick was being maneuvered into the Jets job by Parcells to prevent him from interviewing with the Patriots. It's not like he sought out the Jets job and then, after accepting it, spurned them. The Jets sprang this on him with telling him about it ahead of time.
Belichick accepted the job with the Jets, he's a grown man and has always owned up to that and he's said pretty candidly he resigned because he was not comfortable with the unclear ownership situation.
Maybe McDaniels became uncomfortable when he learned how beaten up Andrew Luck rally was.
Either way, I think it's a fair comparison, only I don't think McDaniels had to resign from the Colts. I believe he backed out before he signed a contract.
At the same time, I have to wonder why the Colts announced anything before the contract was firmly in place.
He must not think Brissett could handle it:)
Not to totally exonerate BB for what happened with NYJ, but I'm not sure it's the same thing as McD with Indy. I think BB felt like his future had been determined by Parcells and Woody, McD had agreed to a deal with Indy and backed out. Now, BB definitely should have handled his situation better, but it's hard to find a legitimate excuse for McD.
This is a multi-million dollar job. Treat him like a VIP.
Compensate him for the airfare at least.
I'm glad they sent a private jet for him and his family when he was hired. Nice recovery, but they need to think about the next time they do this...hopefully not any time soon of course.
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with McDaniels but smart by Belichick?
That's not really a good comparison. Belichick was being maneuvered into the Jets job by Parcells to prevent him from interviewing with the Patriots. It's not like he sought out the Jets job and then, after accepting it, spurned them. The Jets sprang this on him with telling him about it ahead of time.
And BB also knew that he was going to be Parcells' figurehead in that situation. Parcells was dicking him around just to screw the Pats.
I am glad the media has been on his side so far.
One of the good things about DG....he is the focus of their scorn
George, someone reported that jj went out of his way to introduce himself and shake the hands of every reporter prior to his presser. This is a man who understands the importance of the media and i think it was a great start with them. Of course this kissy face relationship could break down in the future but at least the wolves will be kept at bay for a bit
I don't think teams really care, if they feel like McDaniels is their guy he'll get hired. McDaniels is also approaching these openings like he has some assurances that he'd have the NE job. He's being picky, I don't think there's any other reason to explain that.
This is a multi-million dollar job. Treat him like a VIP.
Compensate him for the airfare at least.
I'm glad they sent a private jet for him and his family when he was hired. Nice recovery, but they need to think about the next time they do this...hopefully not any time soon of course.
I found this to be strange as well.
whenever I'm going between places in teh Northeast, I'm not flying. The trains are much better.
If he still lives near where Aaron Hernandez did, he's in Attleboro, MA, almost on the RI border, and Logan is not exactly convenient.
Per this article, it was more that the Patriots made a last-ditch effort to keep him. Belichick offered to include him more in the roster building and management aspects of the team.
McDaniels had already verbally committed to the Colts, and it was dickish of him to back out even with the pitch the Patriots gave him. At the same time, the Pats did go the extra mile to retain him and the Colts shouldn't have announced anything until it was in writing.
Article from ESPN - ( New Window )
I had a feeling Mara was feeling the pressure of an offer from Miss State to Judge. And it actually sounded like all of the constituent players in this story has more leverage than Jints Central. Because I don't think McDaniels was a real choice with his demand for control. Hell, it's being reported that's why he got knocked out of Cleveland for Stefanski...
That's nothing critical of Mara. I'm just putting the pieces of the puzzle together to a lot of moving parts...
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has a certain perception about him. Some of it is probably unfair, but that happens a lot.
He was an arrogant guy in Denver and failed. Many thought he was entitled and a prick. We really don't have any opposing information to go off that shows otherwise.
The next time he's up for a job, he accepts it and then backs out. Reinforces the reputation he has. Then you have information leak out that he's saying who he will and won't interview with. More reinforcement.
It is hard to break a perception when seemingly most times you are portrayed, you come off looking like a smug asshole.
I agree he has not earned the right to say he's not going to interview for a job.
but, at the same time, I don't think backing out of the Colts job deserves him to be paid back by "karma".
Irsay's reputation is probably worse than McDaniels.
If McDaniels in the heir apparent to BB, why is he going to all these interviews... EVERY YEAR?
I grew up in NY and NJ for over 20 years, and have visited the area numerous times for work or pleasure or to visit family or friends, and never once did anyone ever suggest me going to "Penn Station" to be met or picked up and ever meant anything BUT the one near MSG where the LIRR, AMTRACK, NJT, MTA, PATH, a half dozen or more subway lines and lordy knows what other transit services meet.
You wanna meet someone in Newark, you say NEWARK- and add the train station name as an afterthought.