With New England suddenly out of the playoffs, the New York Giants are reportedly itching to interview two of the Patriots’ assistant coaches this week.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that the Giants will interview Patriots special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach Joe Judge on Monday for their vacant head coaching position. Rapoport reported earlier that the Giants planned to meet with Baylor head coach Matt Rhule on Tuesday.
But also on Sunday, the New York Post reported that the Giants are looking to move their meeting with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who reportedly set a trio of interviews for this coming Friday, up to this week. According to the Post, the Giants will meet with one of the Pats assistants on Monday and the other Wednesday, bookending the Rhule interview.
The Post also reported that McDaniels could skip ahead of Rhule on the interview schedule, though it did not make clear whether that meant Rhule’s interview would move to a different day or both coaches would interview Tuesday, with McDaniels’ happening first.
Rhule also is expected to talk with the Carolina Panthers on Monday about their head coaching vacancy.
Judge, 37, might also interview for the head coaching job at his alma mater, Mississippi State, according to FootballScoop.com. He began his coaching career as a Bulldogs graduate assistant from 2005-07.
Judge, who also served three years as an analyst for head coach Nick Saban at Alabama from 2009-11, joined the Patriots in 2012 as an assistant special teams coach. He was promoted to special teams coach in 2015 and held the title of special teams coordinator/wide receivers coach in 2019 for the Patriots, whose season ended Saturday in a home loss to the Tennessee Titans in an AFC wild-card playoff game.
According to reports, the 43-year-old McDaniels will also meet with the Panthers and Browns about their openings.
McDaniels was head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2009-10. He backed out of an agreement to be head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2018, opting instead to remain an assistant to Bill Belichick in New England. He has been the offensive coordinator of the Patriots for 11 total seasons over two stints dating to 2006. He was also the offensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams for one season after the Broncos fired him.
The Giants, who fired head coach Pat Shurmur last Monday after two seasons with a 9-23 record, already have met with four candidates. Along with interviewing Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale on Saturday, the club has interviewed former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys defensive passing game coordinator Kris Richard and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
New York finished 4-12 this season.
