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Joe Judge's Giants staff has college ties, five former head coaches

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Joe Judge's coaching staff with the New York Giants is complete. It is an interesting group of names that includes five former college or NFL head coaches. It has an offensive coordinator who hasn't called plays since 2012 and a defensive coordinator with one year of experience.

Judge's initial staff has a strong college influence, even some coaches who have never worked in the NFL previously. Most important for Judge, it's a collection of teachers. That is what he was looking for during an extensive interview process, when he talked to anyone and everyone.

"Anybody can learn, or should be able to learn," Judge said recently. "I want to know, can you take what you know and make me fully understand it? Can you paint that mental picture for me?"

Here is the complete staff:

Head coach Joe Judge: The former New England Patriots special-teams coordinator/wide receivers coach blew the Giants away. It was "perhaps the best coach interview that I have ever been a part of," Giants co-owner John Mara said. It also worked in Judge's favor to have been a pupil of Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Alabama coach Nick Saban. Judge is a no-nonsense, old-school coach. He will preach fundamentals and pays attention to details.

Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett: The former Cowboys coach previously served as Dallas' offensive coordinator. He has a strong track record with young quarterbacks (Tony Romo and Dak Prescott) and is well-respected in the Giants' organization after spending three years there as a player. He hasn't called plays since 2012.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham: He comes to the Giants after one year as the Miami Dolphins' defensive coordinator. Miami ranked 30th in total defense. Graham previously served as the Giants' defensive line coach. He has strong friendships high in the building and worked with Judge in New England. Dolphins head coach Brian Flores allowed Graham make a lateral move to leave Miami for the Giants after one season.

Special-teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey: He is the only coordinator retained from Pat Shurmur's staff. McGaughey guided strong special-teams units each of the past two seasons. He's a respected coach with the results to match, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him as a head coach in the future.

Assistant special-teams coach Tom Quinn: He remains as McGaughey's assistant. Quinn previously was the coordinator and has a long track record with the Giants.

Offensive line coach Marc Colombo: He worked with Garrett in Dallas, and did a strong job the past year and a half as the Cowboys' offensive line coach. He was previously the assistant. Colombo is not afraid to speak his mind and he'll get on players who fail to execute.

Assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson: He's a former NFL lineman who was in the same role on Shurmur's staff.

Quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski: Another addition from the Dolphins staff who used to work with Judge in New England, Schuplinksi has earned rave reviews for his work with San Francisco's Jimmy Garoppolo and Indianapolis' Jacoby Brissett. He's known as a strong teacher.

Running backs coach Burton Burns: A longtime assistant to Saban, Burns is known as a great coach and teacher and he has the Alabama ties with Judge. He wasn't on the sideline the past few years because of recruiting demands.

Tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens: The former Cleveland Browns coach was fired after one season. He had success as an assistant, most recently with the Browns. Players like playing and working for him. Kitchens previously served as running backs and tight ends coach with the Arizona Cardinals. His relationship with Judge dates to Mississippi State and the two are known to be tight.

Wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert: He's a high-energy coach who was retained from Shurmur's staff. Tolbert gets the most out of his receivers. This will be his third year with the Giants and 18th as a wide receivers coach in the NFL.

Senior offensive assistant Derek Dooley: He joins the Giants after serving as the offensive coordinator at Missouri. He has experience as head coach at Louisiana Tech and the University of Tennessee, and has worked as Garrett's wide receivers coach in Dallas.

Offensive assistant Stephen Brown: He had the same role under Garrett the past four years in Dallas.

Offensive quality-control coach Bobby Blick: He switches sides of the ball. Blick was a defensive assistant in 2017-19.

Defensive line coach Sean Spencer: He comes from Penn State, where he guided a string of successful defensive fronts. Spencer is a high-energy coach who demands a lot from his players. He has no NFL experience.

Outside linebackers/senior assistant Bret Bielema: He gained NFL experience by serving as an assistant under Belichick the past two years, most recently as the defensive line coach. He previously was head coach at Arkansas and Wisconsin.

Inside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer: He's another college coach who crossed paths with Judge at Alabama. Sherrer most recently served as the University of Tennessee special-teams coordinator and inside linebackers coach.

Defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson: The 50-year-old assistant has a long history coaching defensive backs in the NFL, most recently serving as the defensive passing-game coordinator for the Falcons. He has played and coached for the Jets.

Assistant defensive backs coach Anthony Blevins: He's a well-liked coach who did good work as McGaughey's special-teams assistant the past two seasons. Blevins has past experience dealing with cornerbacks at the college level, and he worked as a graduate assistant with Judge at Mississippi State.

Defensive assistant Jody Wright: He was an offensive assistant under Kitchens in Cleveland. He has strong ties to Judge -- they worked together at Mississippi State and Alabama.

Defensive quality-control coach Mike Treier: He comes to the Giants after working as the safeties coach and recruiting coordinator at Marshall.