The Giants once fell in love with Matt Rhule and appeared to be headed toward trying to hire him until they met Joe Judge during the 2020 offseason. Judge moved his record to 8-15, the same as Rhule, with a victory over Rhule’s team Sunday.
Despite Judge appearing to be on the hot seat, Giants co-owner John Mara told Ian O’Connor of The New York Post that his belief in Judge remains as strong as the day he hired him.
“It is,” Mara told O’Connor. “Obviously, we’ve struggled this year, but he has not lost the locker room, and I’ve seen that happen over the years. I think the players still believe in him. We’ve just got to get our guys healthy again.”
Mara lauded the way Judge has “commanded the team” and the way the coach “sees the big picture.”
So, for now, Judge appears safe, with the support of ownership behind him.
“It’s important to have the support of ownership because, ultimately, it’s their team,” Judge told O’Connor. “I’m representing their family, their product. . . . This isn’t Joe Judge’s team. This is the New York Giants; that’s the Mara and Tisch families. Whatever we do as a team has to match up to what they value and what they want to see.
“They’ve been very supportive. They communicate very openly; they talk about what’s going on and what we need to do. We’re not an excuse-making organization. We’re very, very candid in terms of where we are as a coaching staff, roster, and what we have to do better going forward.”
The Giants, however, are only 17-38 in General Manager Dave Gettleman’s tenure and are on their second head coach under him. So his hold on his job might not be as strong as that of Judge, who is only in his second season at the helm.