What Ole Miss' Joe Judge learned in NFL that helped with Lane Kiffin turmoil
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OXFORD — The 12 seasons Ole Miss football quarterback coach Joe Judge coached in the NFL have helped make the program’s recent turmoil feel somewhat normal.
The Rebels (11-1) are preparing to face Tulane (11-2) in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20 (2:30 p.m., TNT). The coaching staff doing the preparation is an odd assortment.
Coach Lane Kiffin left for LSU on Nov. 30. He isn’t in the picture, but offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and wide receivers coach George McDonald are some of the coaches linked to 2026 jobs at LSU who have returned to coach Ole Miss through the CFP.
Ole Miss has already hired their replacements in offensive coordinator John David Baker and receivers coach L’Damian Washington. Although new coach Pete Golding has expressed his total faith and trust in returning staffers to finish the season, it’s a delicate situation to have coaches with a foot in two camps.
Judge, who was the coach of the New York Giants in the NFL and went on deep playoff runs with the New England Patriots as an assistant from 2012-19, is familiar with the predicament. NFL contracts expire and assistants take new jobs before the Super Bowl.
“There’s always transition,” Judge said Dec. 16. “That’s one thing that’s a difference in college football now that maybe feels more normal with me. We talk about coaches who may be elsewhere who coach in this game. I’ve been in a lot of playoff games with guys who are going to take head coaching jobs or coordinator jobs after the season. I’ve coached a lot of players whose contracts were up at the end of that season.”
Judge said the key to playing games with a roster and staff in transition is to have a singular focus. For the Rebels, that is Tulane.
“You look at everything in terms of, it’s our duty as coaches to work together and help the players finish his season,” Judge said. “We’ll deal with all the business conversation later. That’s a different conversation for later. Our job right now is to keep these guys focused as best we can.”
Judge’s role for the CFP is largely unchanged from his previous duties. He will coach quarterbacks and assist Golding on in-game situations such as timeout usage.
Judge is not one of the coaches who will be departing. He said his return to college football has been fun, and he signed a recent extension.
Judge said he planned to take a year off ahead of the 2024 season. He planned on visiting a few different colleges, embedding with the team and trying to familiarize himself with recent developments like the transfer portal and NIL.
His plan changed after visiting Ole Miss.
“This was actually the first stop that I came down to visit,” Judge said. “Three days later they talked me into staying. I agreed and had a blast last year.”
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss vs Tulane, Joe Judge on handling Lane Kiffin turmoil
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