Report: Marc Colombo, Joe Judge had heated confrontation before firing

There’s more to the firing of Marc Colombo.

The New York Giants’ decision to make a change in the coaching ranks along the offensive line was not a ‘fire and hire’ affair as has been widely reported.

Giants head coach Joe Judge reportedly brought in veteran NFL assistant Dave DeGuglielmo last week to be a consultant to line coach Marc Colombo. Colombo apparently saw the move as a lack of confidence in him and confronted Judge regarding the decision. After a heated exchange, Judge decided to replace Colombo altogether. per ESPN:

Colombo did not agree with the move and felt that he was being undermined, a source told ESPN, due to DeGuglielmo’s background as an offensive line coach. Another source added that the hands-on Judge wanted to bring in “one of his guys” to capture more control at a position that is not his expertise.

Although there was plenty of name-calling, Colombo and Judge did not get into a fistfight, as one report indicated. A Giants spokesperson said the report of a physical altercation is “absolutely false in every way.”

One can see the reason behind Colombo being upset but given the overall performance of the offensive line this season, he had to see the writing on the wall despite the pick up in play the past few weeks.

It is no disgrace to be working with DeGuglielmo, who is a seasoned veteran with many years of success and was one the finalists for the offensive line coach when Judge took over the team earlier this year.

The 52-year-old DeGuglielmo has 28 years of total coaching experience, including 15 in the NFL. He began his NFL career as a member of the Giants’ staff under Tom Coughlin from 2004-08, spending his first season as the assistant offensive line coach/offensive quality control coach and the next four years as the assistant to line coach Pat Flaherty. He has a Super Bowl ring as a member of the 2007 NFL Championship team.