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It’s clear that both Bill Belichick and Nick Saban have rubbed off on Giants head coach Joe Judge. The 38-year-old is establishing himself as a no-nonsense type of coach and having spent time as a special teams coach at both Alabama and New England prior to arriving in New York, it certainly makes sense.
As for proof that he’s not in the business of nonsense, Judge sent quite the emphatic statement to Xavier McKinney after the Giants drafted him in the second-round during last week’s NFL Draft.
“When you talk to the media, you’ve already been through this with Coach Saban,” Judge told McKinney, according to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio. “No predictions, no comparisons, be grateful for the opportunity, all right? I don’t wanna hear anything about Super Bowls or any of that crap, you got that?
McKinney played under Saban so he should be used to flying under the radar and not necessarily providing bulletin board material through the media. It’s safe to assume that Judge sent the same type of message to all of the recently drafted Giants including fourth-overall pick Andrew Thomas.
You can’t really fault the message that Judge is trying to get across to the Giants rookies and the rest of the team seeing as how New York has posted a horrendous record of 12-36 over the last three seasons. The Giants simply don’t have the right to start talking about ‘Super Bowls or any of that crap’ as Judge so eloquently put it.
Judge wants to see his players actually prove something on the field before they start making big claims with the media.