The New York Giants are finalizing a deal for New England Patriots wide receivers coach Joe Judge to become the team's next head coach, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Tuesday.
Judge, 38, was the youngest of the seven known candidates mentioned for the Giants' vacancy and has been mentored by Alabama coach Nick Saban and Patriots coach Bill Belichick. He is considered a no-nonsense guy who isn't afraid to ruffle feathers with players if necessary.
The Giants received permission from the Dallas Cowboys to speak with Jason Garrett regarding the head coaching position, a source told ESPN's Dan Graziano. Once the team decided to hire Judge, sources told ESPN's Ed Werder that the Giants requested to interview Garrett as a candidate for the position as offensive coordinator.
Judge would replace Pat Shurmur, who was fired by the Giants on Dec. 30 after two seasons, as the 19th coach in franchise history.
The deal was in the works as of Monday night, sources told Schefter, which is another reason Matt Rhule took the head-coaching job with the Carolina Panthers.
Rhule was among the favorites for the Giants job at the start of the search. He was expected to interview Tuesday, but he never made it to New Jersey after accepting a deal that could be worth up to $70 million over seven years, according to Schefter.
A source told ESPN that Rhule called the Giants before accepting the deal with the Panthers and was informed they still wanted to speak, although there was another candidate seriously in the running.
Judge, who interviewed with the Giants on Monday, follows the John Harbaugh model to the top of the coaching profession, from special-teams coordinator -- before adding a position coach stint to his résumé -- to NFL head coach. This is his first head-coaching job.
He'll have his work cut out for him in New York, where the Giants are an NFL-worst 12-36 since the start of the 2017 season. But they do have a young starting quarterback in Daniel Jones who was an attractive piece for candidates, according to sources. Belichick was also high on Jones coming out of Duke last year.
Cowboys passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach Kris Richard, former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale also interviewed for the Giants job. Rhule was supposed to be scheduled for Tuesday and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for Wednesday.
McCarthy accepted the Cowboys' head-coaching job on Monday, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Garrett had been the coach in Dallas since 2010. The Cowboys announced Sunday that he would not return as head coach, but he is under contract though Jan. 14, so the Giants need permission to interview him.
Garrett is well thought of by Giants ownership and was on the roster from 2000 to 2003.
The news of the Giants' interest in interviewing Garrett was first reported by NFL Network.
Stephen A. isn't sold on the idea of Jason Garrett being the Giants' offensive coordinator under Joe Judge, but Max Kellerman explains why he's on board with it.
Judge, a Philadelphia native, was in the running for the head-coaching job at Mississippi State. He joined the Patriots in 2012 after three years as a football analyst under Saban at Alabama. He also assisted with the special teams units.
Prior to going to Alabama, Judge spent a season at Birmingham-Southern, where he served as special teams/linebackers coach in 2008. He began his career as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State in 2005.
Judge has been with the Patriots since 2012. He became the special-teams coordinator in 2015 and added wide receiver coach duties last year.