F-Bombs and First Downs, The Joe Judge Era Begins
The broader the view, the more Big Blue you see ...
Ray Perkins was a disciplinarian. Hired in 1979, he gets the Giants back into the post-season in 1981 for the first time in eighteen years.
Bill Parcells follows. He is also a disciplinarian and leads the Giants to Super Bowl victories in 1986 and 1990 and very well should have won another in 1989 were it not for Flipper Anderson.
I digress...
After realizing their mistake in handing over the reins to Ray Handley, George Young one day picks up his phone. Hello? Hey George, it me Dan Reeves, how bout giving me a crack at the Giants? Okay you're hired. To his credit, Dan Reeves in 1993 squeezes the last bit of goodness out of Lawrence Taylor, Phil Simms, Rodney Hampton and the smash mouth era with one last playoff push and victory over the Vikings. Dan Reeves wasn't one to take much crap either. He was a serious guy and remained instrumental over the next two seasons whilst George Young went about restocking talent. It was Reeves who switched Michael Strahan from right to left defensive end. Strahan was of course resistant at first, but the rest is football history.
Once the team is rebuilt to a satisfactory level, George Young tells Dan Reeves thank you and hires Jim Fassell who is nowhere near the disciplinarian his predecessors were. It's actually an odd hire. However, he benefits from good coordinators. Fassell connects with his players and together they turn the Giants into a viable contender again. In 1998, new general manager Ernie Accorsi picks up where retiring executive George Young leaves off. Fassell marches forward to capture an NFC title and gets the Giants back into the Super Bowl. But an underwhelming performance against the Baltimore Ravens is the line a demarcation. For the fun stops there. The Giants unyielding recklessness, undisciplined play and mounting losses, some ponderous, ultimately costs Fassell his job.
Ernie Accorsi reverts back to disciplinarian with the appointment of Tom Coughlin. Two Super Bowls later new general manager Jerry Reese, unlike George Young, fails to draft well and rebuild the Giants (offensive line) in a timely manner. In turn the Giants spend the last decade mired with futility, reactive faulty reasoning, bad cap economics, successive poor coaching hires, scapegoating, Mara's micromanagement and a mountain of losses. The Giants are 55-77 since winning Super Bowl XLVI and have posted double-digit losses in five of the last six seasons. That's a lot of stimulus for repeatedly making bad decisions. The teams constructed by Jerry Reese during the latter years of Eli Manning's career were nothing short of a disservice to his legacy. Matters compound when Gettlemen is derailed by Mara's insistence to win now while Eli is still under contract. If sometimes Gettleman seemed in control of the situation and other times he seemed absolutely clueless, this is why. It's part of being the front man. Jerry Reese's hiring of Ben McAdoo and Gettleman's hiring of Pat Shurmur were specifically selected with Eli in mind. Mara's fingerprints have since been uncovered everywhere. Disciplinarians? Don't make me laugh.
Years of giving it one more go for the Gipper are finally over. With Eli Manning out of the picture, this finally becomes Dave Gettleman's team, albeit two years too late. Take that with a grain of salt. But he no longer must fret the owner derailing his best laid plans. In fact, he moves forward with a new head coach and a quarterback and running back in place, and a first round offensive lineman selection that hints at the course Gettleman is setting. Both sides of the ball are also collectively very young. I'm not one to declare fresh starts for peace sake, but in Gettleman's case and the Giants present condition it may be warranted.
Hopefully Joe Judge brings law and order to the Giants. They've clearly reverted back to hiring a disciplinarian. The question is will players buy in? Off the top of my head I say yes. This is a very young team throughout the lineup, all seeking to establish themselves same as their rookie head coach. There's every reason for them to come together as one. It's called camaraderie on a rebuilding club. But if you're a rookie coach looking to bully your way through the bingo parlor, you better know what you're doing. If we've learned anything about him so far, it's that he's an F-bomber. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Lest we forget how winning trumps all.
Joe Judge was part of three New England Patriots Super Bowls. But if his resume seems a little shy of experience, that's because it is. His NFL career consists of eight years, all with the Patriots, as special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach. That's it, and he's only 38-years old.
Once upon a time Tom Coughlin was a wide receivers coach with the Giants when Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick still ran the room. Difference is he would go on to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars to back-to-back AFC title games prior to becoming head coach of the Giants. Once upon a time Bill Belichick also started out as a special teams and wide receivers coach prior to his employment with the Giants.
Apparently Joe Judge has Bill Belichick's blessings. That was not the case when Eric Mangini left the Patriots Trust to accept the New York Jets head coaching position. He meets my approval as well.
Judge is going to be tough and structured, or so he thinks. But I do believe he will be better than Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur put together.
So, let's be hopeful.
Improvement speaks louder than f-bombs.
Just saying ...
