Finishing short of expectations once again, the NY Giants face a critical decision regarding Joe Judge’s future as head coach of the team.
At 4-9, the NY Giants clinched their fifth consecutive losing season with Sunday afternoon’s blowout loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
This is the franchise’s eighth losing season in the last nine years dating back to 2013, spanning four different head coaches. With the team likely to lose double-digit games in back-to-back seasons with head coach Joe Judge at the helm, questions naturally arise about his future with the organization.
Not everything that’s gone wrong for the Giants is entirely in Joe Judge’s control, if at all in some cases, but the NY Giants have made clear time and time again that they want to win. Going 4-9 in a win-now season while losing some gut-wrenching games doesn’t seem like something that bodes well for his future.
To be fair to Judge, he’s had to deal with a roster riddled with injuries all over the roster, as almost every starter on the offense has missed time. Additionally, general manager Dave Gettleman is mostly to blame for the team’s roster construction, particularly on the offensive and defensive lines.
Although it seems as if co-owner John Mara’s faith in Judge hasn’t wavered, I believe we’ve seen enough out of the former Bill Belichick-disciple to determine that he isn’t the kind of coach to turn this franchise around in a timely manner.
There’s no need for the Giants to see his tenure out any further than the end of this season if they’re serious about a quick turnaround.
Here’s a look at why the NY Giants need to move on from Joe Judge
Past Precedent
If for nothing else, the NY Giants should fire Joe Judge at the conclusion of the season to stay consistent with the precedent they’ve set with the coaches before him.
Despite winning two Super Bowls, Tom Coughlin was forced to step down following his third consecutive losing season and fourth in which the Giants missed the playoffs. Following an 11-5 season as a first-time head coach, Ben McAdoo was fired before his second season concluded following a 2-10 start. Most recently, Pat Shurmur was fired after two losing seasons in his stint from 2018-2019.
Following years of being known as a franchise that wasn’t quick to fire coaches, the narrative has quickly changed in the last half-decade, in large part due to the ownership’s frustration with the Giants owning the league’s second worst record since the start of the 2017 season at 22-55, just one game better than the New York Jets. The teams just ahead of them? The Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals.
Given Judge’s background as a special teams coordinator for the Patriots, it’s difficult to determine how much of an impact he has on the X’s and O’s on both the offense and the defense. However, what we do know is that his first offensive line coach Marc Colombo was fired midway through 2020 and his first offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was fired just a few weeks ago.
Two coaches fired in the first two seasons of a tenure is not indicative of a franchise that’s headed in the right direction, nor a team with a “good culture”. Grading on a two-year basis isn’t entirely fair, but given that Judge was largely unproven heading into his tenure with the Giants, I don’t see why he should be given a longer leash than the likes of Shurmur or McAdoo, who had more equity built up as coaches prior to being hired by the team.