Joe Judge can rebuild his NFL reputation where it all began

Joe Judge built up his name as an NFL special teams coach with the New England Patriots. The work he did under Bill Belichick was deemed to be so good that he was hired as head coach of the New York Giants before the 2020 season.

Yet we all know how that went. The talent provided to him by GM Dave Gettleman was questionable at best and the head coach limped to a 6-10 finish his first year. All the laps he had players run in practice didn't help much as they got even worse with a 4-13 finish this season.

Judge's name was not one thrust right back into the head coaching conversation. It is going to take some time for that to happen, as he must rebuild his reputation. This won't be from scratch, but he needs some momentum just to get a coordinator position again.

He will get that chance, thanks to Belichick. Judge has been brought back to help coach New England in an offensive assistant role.

Josh McDaniels left to coach the Las Vegas Raiders and the Patriots have a major void on that staff. Judge may now get a shot to soon rise into an offensive coordinator role if all goes well.

Joe Judge seeking a fresh start in New England

New York Giants v Miami Dolphins

Judge made a name for himself as a special teams assistant for Alabama from 2009 to 2011. He won two national titles with that staff and was hired by Belichick in 2012 in the same role. He was promoted to special teams coordinator in 2015 and held that job until leaving for New York.

He also coached the Patriots wide receivers in 2019, proving his expertise went beyond just special teams. That is what he is trying to prove now with the Patriots in his second stint with the franchise.

New England is truly a land of opportunity for the former special teams coordinator. Tom Brady is gone and the championship-or-bust expectation is gone with a younger quarterback in Mac Jones.

The good news though, is that Jones still guided the team to the postseason this year. So this is not a team with losing expectations at all.

More good news comes with the fact Judge is still only 40-years-old. He left New England as the next big thing in the coaching ranks and should do just fine again serving under Belichick.

NFL fans saw this exact same scenario play out with McDaniels over a decade ago, when the young offensive genius left to be the head coach of the Denver Broncos. He was fired before the end of his second season and had to deal with allegations of cheating.

But he went back to the Patriots, worked under Belichick, and is a head coach once again. Judge may be able to follow a similar formula and once again become the next big thing in the future.