The New York Giants made a somewhat shocking move moments ago, firing head coach Joe Judge after two seasons at the helm.
It’s not that shocking Judge was let go from a resume standpoint. He was 10-23 in two seasons and had become a punchline in recent weeks due to his press conference rants and curious coaching decisions.
It is surprising that the Giants made this move considering Judge is now the third straight coach they have fired in two seasons or less. Life has been hard for Big Blue over the last five years, and really for much of the last decade.
Below is a snippet of the reaction from Giants media and the NFL world in general.
Think the last 4 days have been totally mismanaged by John Mara but making this decision before GM interviews started was the right decision.
I don’t hate Joe Judge and think he got a raw deal in many ways been saddling him to a new GM was never a logical plan.
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) January 11, 2022
And there is it… another reset. https://t.co/lAAtutchuj
— Tiki Barber (@TikiBarber) January 11, 2022
The #Giants decision to move on from Joe Judge now rather than wait is key in helping them not fall behind in their head coach search.
Something tells me Brian Flores will be atop their wishlist and I love it. Per @Ian_OConnor on Michael Kay, Flores has #nyg atop his list, too.— Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL) January 11, 2022
Joe Judge has been fired as Giants coach.
John Mara: “I said before the season started that I wanted to feel good about the direction we were headed when we played our last game of the season. Unfortunately I cannot make that statement, which is why we have made this decision.”
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) January 11, 2022
Giants had to let Judge go. The team stunk but it was way more than that. Why did they hire him? Because he got a recommendation from Belichick and Saban? What would you expect them to do? Kill his career?
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) January 11, 2022
Key quotation here: “We will hire a general manager and that person will lead the effort to hire a new head coach”
The @Giants GM position just because much more attractive. Owners willing to make sweeping changes & give reigns to a new GM#NFL https://t.co/QLVPZSfKok
— True Big Blue (@True_Big_Blue) January 11, 2022
I’m told Joe Judge’s assistant sent a text to his coaches tonight relaying the news saying, “I’m sorry to send this text, but Joe called me and he was let go. If you are around tomorrow, be in the office at 9am and he will meet with his staff.”
— IG: JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 11, 2022
Since the NFL expanded to a 14-team playoff two years ago, 21 teams have qualified for the playoffs. Of the 11 teams that haven’t qualified, including the New York Giants team that fired Joe Judge today, only one now hasn’t made a coaching change: the Panthers.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 11, 2022
Hate when people lose their jobs, but good job by #Giants fans for getting ownership to listen
— Tommy Dee (@ThomasCDee) January 11, 2022
I’m betting they were torn on keeping him, because Judge did fix some problems in the organization.
But the offensive coaching staff needed a major overhaul. What great candidates are running to work for someone who likely gets fired next year? #Giants
— Chris Carlin (@ChrisCarlin) January 11, 2022
It looked like Judge might have been building something in New York after battling back from a 1-7 start to go 6-10 in his first season.
However, the Giants slumped to 4-13 in 2021, dropping their last six games by double-digits as injuries and offensive ineptitude destroyed the team.
After seeing his franchise crumble recently–the Giants have made the playoffs once in the last 10 seasons and had the worst record in the NFL (tied with the Jets) over the last five–perhaps owner John Mara is realizing he must do things differently.
New York is looking to fill its GM vacancy with an outside candidate for the first time in over 40 years, and now they are looking to make a change at coach before it is too late.
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