Ex-Patriots Coach Returns To Roots, Reportedly Takes College Job

It’s been a rough few years for former New England Patriots assistant Joe Judge, who reportedly continued his slide down the coaching ladder Wednesday.

He’s headed back to school.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has added Judge to his coaching staff, according to Zach Berry of On3. It’s a return to the SEC for Judge, who got his coaching start as an analyst and special teams assistant under then-head coach Nick Saban at Alabama from 2009-2011.

Judge parlayed his success with the Crimson Tide into a job with Bill Belichick and the Patriots, joining New England in 2012 and eventually winning three Super Bowls with the organization. It’s been rocky since, as he left in 2020 to take the head coaching job with the New York Giants, but only made it 33 games before being fired in 2022.

The Patriots welcomed him back, but after disastrous years as quarterbacks coach in 2022 and assistant head coach in 2023, he wasn’t retained as they made the move from Belichick to Jerod Mayo.

Judge, who gave Patriots players oddly prophetic sweatshirts during this past season, likely could use a change of scenery to get things back on track.