New York Giants fire head coach Joe Judge after two seasons

Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The New York Giants have fired head coach Joe Judge after two losing seasons under the former New England Patriots assistant coach.

The move comes just a day after Giants general manager Dave Gettleman announced his retirement. Gettleman spent the past four seasons in that role with the franchise.

Judge, a first-time head coach, posted a 10-23 record in his two years with the Giants. He is the third straight Giants coach to be fired after two seasons or less, joining Ben McAdoo (13-15) and Pat Shurmur (9-23).

"[Co-owner] Steve [Tisch] and I both believe it is in the best interest of our franchise to move in another direction," Giants co-owner John Mara said in a statement Tuesday. "We met with Joe [Monday] afternoon to discuss the state of the team. I met again with Joe this afternoon, and it was during that conversation I informed Joe of our decision.

"We appreciate Joe's efforts on behalf of the organization. I said before the season started that I wanted to feel good about the direction we were headed when we played our last game of the season. Unfortunately, I cannot make that statement, which is why we have made this decision. We will hire a general manager and that person will lead the effort to hire a new head coach."

Judge arrived in New York after eight seasons with the Patriots, mostly as the team's special teams coordinator. He also previously worked under head coach Nick Saban at the University of Alabama.

The Giants lured Judge to the organization with a five-year contract in January 2020. Before joining New York, he was set to become the head coach at his alma mater, Mississippi State.

The 40-year-old Judge appeared safe until the Giants' late season collapse. His .303 winning percentage is third worst in franchise history.