Giants' Nate Solder knows Joe Judge from Patriots days, thinks team made 'fantastic hire'
Nate Solder believes Giants hired the right coach in Joe Judge. Credit: Daniel De Mato
MIAMI — When Joe Judge was hired as head coach of the Giants, a lot of players were left scratching their heads. They’d never heard of the guy who was the Patriots’ special teams coordinator.
But one player knew right away that the Giants were bringing in the right person.
“I think it’s a fantastic hire,” said Nate Solder, who spent all but the first season of his six-year stint in New England with Judge on the staff. “I think he brings a lot of the qualities that we need, so I’m really looking forward to that.”
He even has his favorite Joe Judge story.
The Patriots were practicing outside in very cold conditions one day. Solder said the thermometer read in the single digits but the real feel was well below zero.
“We were like, ‘Hey Joe, we’ll give you a thousand bucks if you go out there in the cold [wearing shorts and a T-shirt],’ ” Solder said. “He stood out there with no jacket and shorts on for a two-hour practice. So, talk about toughness, the guy has toughness.”
Solder said he also is excited about the hiring of Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator. He said he believes the Giants will run the ball more in 2020.
“Saquon [Barkley] has reason to be excited,” he said.
Solder is at the Super Bowl this week as the Giants’ nominee for NFL Man of the Year. That honor will be awarded on Saturday night. Solder spoke at an event with other candidates on Friday.
Solder has been with the Giants for three years. It’s unclear if he’ll be back in 2020, and if he is, there is no guarantee he’ll be the starting left tackle. After the 2019 season, Solder said he’d be open to playing on the right side. That decision, the Giants have said, will be made by Judge.
Which seems fine with Solder, who is happy about the unexpected reunion.
“I think his commitment to details, his discipline, his history of winning a lot of championships [with the Patriots and at Alabama], I think those are all fantastic attributes,” Solder said. “He’s a young guy [38], but he’s also a charismatic guy. He was in front of the whole team a lot as the special teams coach. I always kind of thought he was socially a ringleader of the other assistant coaches.”
And a future head coach?
“I think it makes a lot of sense.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
