Thursday night’s preseason matchup between the New York Giants and New England Patriots will contain an interesting wrinkle.
As Brian Daboll prepares for his first exhibition contest as Giants head coach, his predecessor — Joe Judge, now the Patriots’ quarterbacks coach — will be on the opposite sideline. Judge was the Giants’ head coach the past two seasons (2020-21). Daboll was asked about this intriguing connection on Wednesday.
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Daboll downplayed going back to face Joe Judge, who coached many of these Giants players last season.
“I haven’t even addressed it,” he said.
Said facing old friends/colleagues is commonplace in NFL.
“I haven’t even addressed it,” Daboll said, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.
Daboll and Judge know each other well. They were on the same Patriots coaching staff for four seasons (2013-16). During that time, Daboll was New England’s tight ends coach and Judge was a special teams assistant/coordinator.
When Judge got the head coach job with the Giants, he originally wanted Daboll to be his offensive coordinator (per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post). Daboll stayed with the Buffalo Bills, and Judge hired former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett as his offensive coordinator instead.
That turned out to be an epic disaster.
The television broadcast on Thursday night will almost certainly point out that Daboll now has Judge’s old job, but it’s not surprising to see the Giants head coach downplay the connection.
“It’s just kind of the nature of the NFL,” Daboll said, via the New York Daily News.
Brian Daboll Describes Bill Belichick as His ‘Mentor’
While Brian Daboll and Joe Judge have a history together in New England, that was only during Daboll’s second stint with the franchise. Daboll got his start in the NFL with the Patriots as a defensive assistant on Bill Belichick’s very first staff in 2000. He held that role for two seasons, then served as the team’s wide receivers coach from 2002-06.
In total, Daboll has five Super Bowl rings from his time spent on Belichick’s staff (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014 and 2016).
“Obviously he [Belichick] is a mentor of mine, but I haven’t sat there and been like, ‘Oh, this is the first game,” Daboll said this week, per the New York Daily News. “I know my wife and kids are gonna try to get out to it. But he’s coached what, 750 games? This is the first preseason game for me. I’m just trying to do right by my team. Not really worrying about me.”
The Belichick coaching tree bears notoriously questionable fruit, but Daboll has a slightly different vibe due to his success as an offensive coordinator in Buffalo. Daboll was the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2020 with the Bills, as his team swept Belichick’s Patriots in two meetings that season.
Darnay Holmes Says He is ‘Excited’ to See Joe Judge
While the Giants organization appears to be in a better place without Joe Judge, some players are looking forward to seeing their old head coach. Cornerback Darnay Holmes is one of those players.
“I’m excited to see him, because he’s the reason why I’m in this building,” Holmes said, via the New York Daily News. “Salute to that guy, salute to [former Giants general manager Dave] Gettleman, salute to those who came before me. And at the end of the day it’s another opponent, another match. We’re just excited to see where we’re at as a team and coaches.”
Holmes was a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft who has since locked down the slot cornerback role, soundly beating out third-round rookie Cor’Dale Flott in what many believed would be a competitive training camp position battle.
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Brian Daboll Speaks on Facing Joe Judge in Giants’ Preseason Opener vs. Patriots