Report: Giants Reach Deal With Patriots Assistant Judge To Be Next Head Coach

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Giants have chosen their next head coach, but it's a safe bet the vast majority of their fans have never heard of him.

According to multiple reports, New York was finalizing a deal Tuesday with New England Patriots assistant Joe Judge.

Now, who exactly is Joe Judge?

He's a 38-year-old from Philadelphia who spent the previous eight seasons in a variety of roles under Bill Belichick. He was a special teams assistant from 2012-14 before being promoted to special teams coordinator, a position he held from 2015-19. He added wide receivers coach to his title this season.

He has won a total of five championships in college and the NFL. The first two as a special teams assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama in 2009 and 2011, before winning three Super Bowls with the Patriots.

"Joe's done a great job. He's done a great job with the kicking game," Belichick said earlier this season. "He's expanded the role a little bit and that's kind of had a little bit of a ripple effect in the way we've organized the kicking game, but that's all worked out pretty efficiently. Joe's done a good job of organizing that, as well as taking care on some other things with the offense and particularly receivers."

Judge reportedly chose the Giants over the top job with Mississippi State, his alma mater. Assuming the deal is completed, Judge would be one of the youngest NFL coaches. Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams currently is the youngest at 33.

The deal with Judge was reached not long after Matt Rhule, who was thought to be the Giants' top choice and was scheduled to interview with New York later Tuesday, reached an agreement to be the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers, CBS Sports reported.

Rhule, who grew up in New York City and was an assistant offensive line coach with the Giants in 2012, was the second high-profile candidate New York was thought to be pursuing in its quest to replace Pat Shurmur, who was fired following a 4-12 season. The Giants also interviewed former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, but he chose to sign on with the Dallas Cowboys.

Big Blue never met with Ron Rivera, who was fired by the Panthers earlier in the season and then hired by the Washington Redskins on New Year's Day.

The Giants interviewed three other candidates for their head coach position: Dallas defensive assistant coach and former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Kris Richard, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale. They were expected to interview New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on Wednesday.

According to an ESPN report, the Giants also asked for and received permission from the Cowboys to interview former head coach Jason Garrett to be Judge's offensive coordinator. Garrett was fired by Dallas last week after going 87-70 in 10 seasons, including the playoffs.

Judge would take over a team that has been to the playoffs just once since winning the Super Bowl after the 2011 season. He would be the Giants' fourth head coach since Tom Coughlin was let go after the 2015 season. Ben McAdoo, hired in 2016, didn't last two seasons. Steve Spagnuolo, currently Kansas City's defensive coordinator, served as interim coach after McAdoo was fired in '17.

Judge would inherit a team with a talented young quarterback in Daniel Jones and former rookie of the year running back Saquon Barkley. The Giants have the fourth pick in this year's draft and approximately $85 million in salary-cap money to spend.