I’m not even sure where to begin with this article. I can’t count how many times I started with an opener only to delete it, so I’m hoping this is the kickstart I need.
Former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge might just be the most clueless person on the planet. Since flaming out with the G-Men in 2021, he’s bounced around to the New England Patriots as an offensive analyst, and most recently, he’s been with the Ole Miss Rebels as an analyst and quarterbacks coach.
And let’s just say the “coaching” he’s doing only pertains to what happens between the lines, because once his players leave football practice, he expects them to focus solely on football and skirt all other responsibilities, such as caring for their potential children.
Joe Judge just delivered the worst coaching message of the year
Judge appeared in court for a preliminary injunction hearing involving Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who is suing the NCAA for not granting him a sixth year of eligibility. Sticking up for your quarterback is one thing. Veering off into a wildly inappropriate tangent about players and their pregnant partners is another.
In one of the most baseless and nonsensical quotes I’ve heard in a minute, the 44-year-old made sure to let the pregnant partners of players know football comes first. Saturdays are for the boys, and they just have to accept that:
"He needs to be in another room, detached... he ain’t waking up for midnight feedings."Joe Judge
Detached. Detached is an interesting word here because the only person who seems detached is Judge, and it’s from reality. Seriously, how clueless can you be?
This is infuriating on so many levels. First, you’re at a hearing that has absolutely nothing to do with fatherhood. Nothing. That’s a miss. Second, you’re supposed to be an influential figure in these young men’s lives, and you’re preaching that football outranks family. For a game.
Either Joe Judge is the most selfish, self-centered person on the planet, or he's the most ignorant. Either way, it’s not great. But hey, as long as Ole Miss wins a couple of football games, I guess everything else just falls in line. How else would the former failed head coach make money?
As a former Division I athlete and coach myself, isn’t part of the college job helping turn boys into men? What exactly is he teaching them here? That being absent so you can try to win on Saturday is more important than being present for your partner and child? Because that’s how this comes across.
Leave it to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, who kindly put Judge’s quote into a form Giants fans can fully appreciate:
Joe Judge spent an entire season not being able to get his headsets working in New York if we want to worry about focus https://t.co/bTFrmQBuYp
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) February 12, 2026
I am fuming. And I’m going to end this with something simple. Be better. Do better. From one (former) coach to another, you’re in a position of power and influence. Using it to push anything other than responsibility and character is a failure. It's insulting to everyone.
And a little legal advice while we’re here. I’m no legal expert, but maybe next time, when you’re at an injunction hearing, stick to talking about eligibility. That’s why you were there in the first place.
Ironically, the only person who should stick to football is Judge himself.