Patriots officially re-hire Joe Judge as an offensive assistant

Related: Could the Patriots bring back Brian Flores and Joe Judge?

Update 2/8/2022: Patriots officially re-hire Joe Judge as an offensive assistant

Just a few hours after first reports emerged, the New England Patriots announced re-hiring Joe Judge as an offensive assistant. Judge had spent the last two seasons as head coach of the New York Giants.

The team’s press release, in part, reads as follows:

The New England Patriots announced that Joe Judge has been hired as offensive assistant. Judge spent eight seasons with the Patriots from 2012 through the 2019 season and was a part of three Super Bowl championships with the team.

Judge originally joined New England as an assistant special teams coach in 2012 and was promoted to special teams coach in 2015. He spent his final season in New England in 2019 as special teams coordinator/wide receivers, before leaving to become the head coach of the New York Giants for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Original story 2/8/2022: Patriots reportedly expected to re-hire Joe Judge as an offensive assistant

After losing both coordinator Josh McDaniels and assistant quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree to the Las Vegas Raiders, the New England Patriots are expected to add a familiar face to their offensive staff: according to a report by Sport Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Patriots will bring back former assistant Joe Judge.

Judge will serve as an offensive assistant, although it remains to be seen which responsibilities his role eventually carries.

A member of both the Nick Saban and Bill Belichick coaching trees, Judge originally arrived in New England in 2012 to serve as special teams assistant under Scott O’Brien. When O’Brien retired after the 2014 season, Judge took over as the Patriots’ kicking game coordinator. He held the role through the 2019 season.

During his last year with the team, Judge also became more involved with the offensive side of the ball: coaching the wide receivers was added to his plate. While the position group struggled mightily — primarily a result of circumstances rather than coaching — he left the Patriots in 2020 to take over as the Giants’ head coach.

New York showed some promise during Judge’s first season, going 6-10 and finishing second in the NFC East. The team failed to build on this record in 2021, though, and moved in the opposite direction. Judge was fired earlier this year after a 4-13 season.

Now, the 40-year-old is set to return to New England. Bringing him back into the fold will likely not remain the only change to the Patriots’ offensive staff.