When the New York Giants initially announced that Joe Judge would be hired as the 19th head coach in franchise history, Google was likely overloaded with requests for information about the former New England Patriots assistant.
Immediately, the Giants were drug for the decision to hire Judge despite facing years of criticism for not thinking outside of the box. It was the ultimate lose-lose situation for New York.
However, Judge changed the opinions of many during his introductory press conference where he came across as confident, commanding, intelligent and motivated. He said things the Giants and their fans needed to hear, and outlined some drastic and must-needed changes that are incoming.
But he didn’t sell William Pitts of The Big Lead, who ranked Judge as the worst head coaching hire of 2020.
5. Joe Judge – New York Giants
This is easily the biggest reach on this list. His previous NFL jobs were all special teams-related, all with the Patriots, making this a massive jump in responsibility. Perhaps it was the connection to the Bill Belichick coaching tree that lured the Giants to Judge, but considering how other Belichick disciples have turned out as head coaches (Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, Eric Mangini, Josh MacDaniels), history is not on the Giants’ side with this decision. Nor is common sense.
Ironically, what’s lost on Pitts here is that special teams coaches have more responsibility than offensive and defensive coordinators, but it’s just not as flashy a job so that often goes overlooked and under-appreciated.
Further, Pitts named Matt Rhule the No. 1 coaching hire in the league despite his complete lack of experience at the NFL level and only a moderate level of success at the college level. Not to mention that massive seven-year deal plus buyout that allegedly infuriated other NFL owners.
It seems odd that these two hires would be on the opposite end of the spectrum, which actually speaks to a personal bias more so than an honest evaluation.
