Lane Kiffin has made another big addition to his staff at Ole Miss with former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge joining the program as a senior analyst, ESPN reported on Wednesday.
Judge has spent the last 12 seasons in the NFL, most recently serving as assistant head coach under Bill Belichick in New England. Prior to his return to the Patriots, he coached the Giants from 2020-21, compiling a 10-23 record. From 2012-18, he was a special teams assistant and then special teams coordinator in Foxborough.
Judge played at Mississippi State from 2000-04 before getting his coaching start at his alma mater as a graduate assistant from 2005-07. He is the second former Bulldog coach Kiffin has hired this offseason after landing former head coach Zach Arnett as a defensive analyst. Arnett went 4-6 this past season in Starkville before being fired. Kiffin seems to be taking a page out of the playbook of his former boss, Nick Saban, who was known to revive coaches’ careers at Alabama.
And by the way, Judge also has a connection to Saban. After leaving Mississippi State to become the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for Division III Birmingham-Southern, he joined Saban’s staff in Tuscaloosa as a special teams assistant. That’s when Saban connected Judge to Belichick as the two legendary coaches spent time together with the Cleveland Browns from 1991-94.
Judge is the latest hire Kiffin has made this offseason, joining the likes of former Alabama coaches Joe Cox and William Vlachos. Cox (tight ends) and Vlachos (defensive analyst) came to Oxford to serve in the same positions they did at Alabama, following Saban’s somewhat surprising retirement. Earlier this week, Kiffin announced NFL veteran personnel director Mike Williams as the Rebels’ senior director of player personnel.
Other additions are Billy Glasscock as general manager, Alex Brown as director of scouting, and Bent Stockstill as an offensive analyst.
Ole Miss, projected by multiple national outlets to crack the recently renovated College Football Playoff for the first time in history, kicks off the 2024 season against Furman on Aug. 31.
