STARKVILLE — The MSU coaching carousel has begun to spin.
While no finalists have been officially disclosed by the school, New England Special Teams Coordinator Joe Judge’s name has quickly been thrust to the forefront of the coaching search.
Judge makes sense on a number of levels. For one, he’s an MSU guy. Judge was recruited to MSU in 2000 as a quarterback and played four seasons for MSU coach Jackie Sherrill.
Judge’s wife, Amber, is also an MSU graduate and a former Bulldog soccer player — giving the couple obvious ties to Starkville.
As for the on-field fit, there’s plenty to like about Judge’s past employment. After finishing at MSU, he spent three years as a graduate assistant under Sylvester Croom between 2004 and 2007. He followed that up with a stint as the linebackers coach at Birmingham Southern — the same school MSU Athletic Director John Cohen began his college baseball career before playing for the Bulldogs.
After just a year in Birmingham, Judge began a three year run as a special teams assistant for Alabama coach Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa. During that time the Crimson Tide took home national titles in 2009 and 2011.
Following seven years in the college ranks, Judge moved from one legend’s coaching staff to another’s — joining the New England Patriots under coach Bill Belichick. After spending his first three seasons in New England as a special teams assistant before being elevated to special teams coordinator in 2015 and added wide receivers coach to his job description in 2019.
In sum, the resume is there. Judge has worked for perhaps the two best football coaches at the NFL and collegiate level of the past two decades. Further, his connections to Starkville figure to quell the “he isn’t one of us” doubters that leapt out of the woodwork throughout Joe Moorhead’s tenure as head coach.
This isn’t to say Judge is without his issues. Over his 15-year coaching career, the 38-year-old has never called plays.
Perhaps more concerning, he only spent one season as an on-field coach at the college level, leaving his recruiting acumen to be determined. Say what you will about Moorhead, but he was able to pull three-straight top-25 classes during his time at MSU — something Dan Mullen never did before he darted for Florida. Should Judge get the head coaching job, it would take a host of experienced coordinators and position coaches to sure up MSU’s recruiting ability both in and out of state.
Another hitch in his candidacy is whether he wants to return to the college game at all. Judge interviewed for the New York Giants’ head coaching job Monday and should be in line for an NFL job in a few years if not this year. So while a return to his alma mater might sound cushy on the surface, he’s already a candidate for NFL jobs — something that wouldn’t change should he succeed in Starkville.
Of all the candidates being discussed for the MSU opening, Judge has undoubtedly gained the most steam in recent days. But as a former special teams coordinator with limited college experience to his name — not to mention he’s never been a head coach — he’s also the riskiest. MSU bet big on Joe Moorhead to succeed after his run as a hot-shot offensive coordinator at Penn State and he flopped. Would chasing Judge be a comparable addition? It remains to be seen.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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