Many in the NFL fraternity of coaches can point to another coach in the league and say that they know each other in some form or fashion.
Coaching trees have a way of crossing and connecting and in the case of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike Tomlin and New York Giants first year head coach Joe Judge, they go back a ways.
Judge first encountered Tomlin back in 2006 when Tomlin was the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator. Judge was a graduate assistant at Mississippi State and the two met through MSU’s special teams coach Amos Jones, who Judge was working for.
Joe Judge says he met Mike Tomlin when he was answering phones for Amos Jones at Mississippi State. He's sharing experiences with Tomlin, tagging along with him at the Combine, at practices, etc.
Didn't realize their connection before this, tbh. Good stuff.
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) September 9, 2020
Jones, who is now a special assistant for the Giants (special projects and situations, to be exact), coached on the Steelers’ staff under Tomlin from 2007-2012. Jones, like Judge, has been a special teams coach for a good part of his career which spans 40 years.
Tomlin is special to Judge for the way he let the young intern hang around him and learn the ropes.
Judge praises Mike Tomlin—"He always allowed me to listen to what's going on, I have a lot of respect for him"
— The Giant Insider Newspaper & Podcast (@GiantInsider) September 9, 2020
“I’ve known him for a long time,” Tomlin said of Judge in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. “He’s a sharp guy”.
Tomlin has faced Judge many times when Judge was an assistant in New England. HE was asked about facing Judge for the first time as a head coach.
“We respect the unknown relative of this matchup,” he said.
Tomlin is 2-1 in his career against the Giants.