Report: Giants hire Patriots WR coach Joe Judge, a Philly native, as their head coach

The NFC East head-coaching carousel will now come to a halt, as the New York Giants are expected to hire New England Patriots wide receivers coach Joe Judge to be their new head coach, according to several media reports.

Judge is a 38-year-old from the Philadelphia area. He went to Lansdale Catholic, and his father, Joseph, played football for Temple. He spent eight seasons with the Patriots, starting as a special teams assistant. He was promoted to special teams coordinator in 2015 and was the team’s wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator last season. Before joining the Patriots staff, Judge spent three years as a football analyst for Alabama, studying under Nick Saban. He’s currently working on his Ph.D in education, according to the Patriots website.

The news came less than an hour after former Temple coach Matt Rhule reportedly accepted the head-coaching position for the Carolina Panthers. Rhule was expected to interview with the Giants, but the Baylor coach agreed to terms with the Panthers before meeting with Giants brass.

The Giants fired Pat Shurmur, the former Eagles offensive coordinator, at the end of the regular season, just one day after the Eagles beat the Giants, 34-17. They were one of three NFC East teams to start searches for new coaches this season. The Dallas Cowboys fired Jason Garrett and have brought in former Packers coach Mike McCarthy. Washington hired Ron Rivera late last month after firing Jay Gruden mid-season. Eagles coach Doug Pederson will be the only incumbent in the division next season.

According to an ESPN report, Rhule accepted the Carolina job in part because the Giants and Judge had already started working on a deal as early as Monday night. Judge, a former punter for Mississippi State, got his coaching start with the Bulldogs as a graduate assistant in 2005.