Xavier McKinney discusses differences between Judge, Daboll

New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney. Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Giants' Xavier McKinney discusses differences between Joe Judge, Brian Daboll

By Colum Dell | Last updated 1/31/23

The New York Giants made tremendous strides in their first season under head coach Brian Daboll, following the dreadful 10-23 tenure of former HC Joe Judge. In a recent conversation with "The Pivot" podcast, Giants safety Xavier McKinney discussed the differences between the two regimes.

Based on Daboll's offseason workouts compared to Judge's, McKinney knew early on that a special season awaited.

"When we started in OTAs all the years before, we didn't start off on the same page," McKinney said. "I think everyone was kind of coaching in different directions, and I think a big reason to that was because of the coaching staff that we had."

Under Judge, McKinney said players resented showing up early and were only interested in going to the facility if they had to.

"That was the good part when Dabes and the crew that's there now came in because we talk to them, they actually listen," said McKinney.

The @mckinney15__ interview via @thepivot is a lot… Besides recounting the details of the ATV accident, lots of Judge/Graham disparagement, although Jerome Henderson has been there for all 3 of his years. Would love to hear his take on this…

1/4 pic.twitter.com/TvkEBB2iNW
— NYGfaninCLT (@clt_ny) January 28, 2023

McKinney emphasized that Daboll made it clear from Day 1 that he was in New York to win. McKinney said the new regime had a sense of direction that the previous coaching staff lacked.

"The coaches we had before, a lot of people didn't like each other, and they actually showed it," he said.

The newly hired staff's transparency with the players was critical to getting the team to buy into the culture, and once the players trusted them, it was "smooth sailing," McKinney said.

While McKinney is grateful that Daboll is in charge, he admitted that he and his Giants teammates didn't care who Judge's successor would be. They were determined to change the team's narrative.

The Giants finished 9-7-1 under Daboll and made their first playoff appearance since 2016. Judge served as an assistant coach this season for New England.

"We had already built that mindset of, 'All right, we're about to change this, and we don't care what coaches come in the building," McKinney said. "We've got to change this s--- now.'"

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