NY Giants legend sees shades of Tom Coughlin in Joe Judge

Tiki Barber played for Tom Coughlin and watched the NY Giants legend win a pair of Super Bowls, and he believes Joe Judge has the chance to be just as successful

Tom Coughlin is responsible for half of the NY Giants’ Lombardi Trophies, a collection that second-year head coach Joe Judge would love to add to.

Judge knows a thing or two about success; coming from Bill Belichick’s coaching tree and learning the importance of culture-building alongside Nick Sabin. Though the NY Giants came one game shy of breaking a three-year postseason drought in 2020, Judge certainly succeeded by season’s end instilling a tenacious culture.

Tiki Barber played for Coughlin, and is an interested observer in Judge’s career. Barber says he sees plenty of similarities between the pair of NY Giants coaches.

“I think the biggest similarity between the two is the attention to detail,” Barber tells FanSided, while promoting the display app, which will help athletes capitalize on their likeness. “And the importance of being precise, which they showcase. They are both straight shooters and at the end of the day, and if you don’t mind being coached hard, you appreciate what they bring.”

Can Joe Judge follow the same path Tom Coughlin forged to Super Bowl championships for the NY Giants?

Judge has certainly stressed the importance of fundamentals, which worked hand in hand in him crafting a competitive culture last summer.

During training camp, the first-year head coach famously took the last names off the NY Giants’ practice jerseys, ran one of the league’s more physical and grueling camps, and even sent players and coaches running penalty laps for mistakes during drills.

Some feared Judge’s tactics, without the proven track record of success to justify them, would risk alienating the head coach from his locker room before he had the chance to win them over during the season.

Barber says he isn’t surprised that the Giants bought in, and by season’s end were among the league’s more competitive teams, despite losing three of their final four games.

“For most athletes,” Barber says. “As long as they are seeing themselves improve, they will buy in. You can tell they both operate with this mindset, which makes them great coaches.”

NY Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard says Judge was exactly the kind of coach that a young team needs in order to set the tone, and aims to build on the foundation set last season.

"“You know what? It was honestly good for us,” Shepard said recently. “We would get into the fourth quarter and guys would be wheezing and we were like, nothing happened. So he’s getting us into shape, but it’s all for good.”"

Barber’s work with display aims to give power back to content creators by splitting advertising revenue with them 50/50, is teaming up with INFLCR, the leading software for student-athlete brand-building, to help student-athletes disclose compensation from their social engagement and content creation for the first time.

“I believe that display’s collaboration with INFLCR will help student athletes in realizing the value of their personal brand and impact the way that they deliver their content,” Barber says. “It’s easy to hop on social media and post non-strategic content but if players can hone in on what makes them unique individuals and treat each platform like a business, they can really monetize their name image and likeness. I hope that student athletes start to use social media to reflect what they believe in and who they truly are.”

Matt Lombardo is FanSided’s National NFL Insider and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday. Email Matt: Matt.Lombardo@FanSided.com, Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL