How "Neutral Thinking" Drives Head Coach Joe Judge

Giants head coach Joe Judge has adapted a lot of different leadership methods and techniques gained from different sources, but one in particular--neutral thinking--is among the core principles of how he chooses to lead.

Giants head coach Joe Judge’s membership in the schools of Nick Saban and Bill Belichick is well-known by now and has been on full display as he has gone through his rookie season with the Giants.

But another influence has found its way into how Judge thinks and operates that isn’t as well known: Trevor Moawad.

Moawad is a Mental Conditioning expert, the CEO of the Moawad Consulting Group, who has worked with athletes and teams from various sports at both the college and pro level.

The author (along with Andy Staples) of the book, It Takes What It Takes: How to Think Neutrally and Gain Control of Your Life, has done a lot of work with Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s teams, which is where Judge first came across his mental conditioning philosophies.

“Yeah, our players (at Alabama) really enjoyed him a lot,” Judge told Giants Country. “It was helpful for me in some of the things that I was learning in it, some things I was doing with players at the time. So he was definitely positive.”

Although Judge hasn't brought in Moawad or any other mental conditioning coaches to work with the Giants players (he said he'd be open to it if things change), he absorbed enough of Moawad's principles to put them into practice in how he not only thinks in his role as a head coach but also how he wants to see the team's thought process and corresponding reactions take shape.

One of the most interesting principles--and one that fits what Judge has done so far like a hand in glove, is that of neutral thinking, which per Moawad, is “a high-performance strategy that emphasizes judgment-free thinking, especially in crises and pressure situations.”

For example, Judge has fully embraced the idea that while it's okay to accept that the past is real, it's not necessarily an indicator of future performance.

Put another way, just because the team lost its game against Dallas earlier this year doesn't mean that its regular-season finale against the Cowboys is a loc to be a loss. And just because the team is on a three-game winning streak entering its Week 13 game against Seattle, that doesn’t mean anything from that streak will guarantee a win.

With that is the idea of owning one's mistake and moving on. For example, if you miss a block in practice, take the feedback on what you did wrong and the corresponding corrections and eliminate that mistake from your performance.

Along those lines is steering clear of the negative. Just because a field goal kicker misses three attempts from 40 yards doesn't automatically mean that kicker is incapable of making those kicks.

This is a big reason why Judge discourages players from falling in love with their press clippings.

"If you're always worried about the result and what people say, that's going to lead into the negative," Judge said. "If you're very process-oriented, that keeps you positive on what you have to do to be successful."

Then there is the notion that choice is an illusion. You’ve probably have noticed that Judge doesn’t believe in putting players on scholarship because of their contracts or draft status. He also doesn't believe in doling out game snaps based on what a player did or didn't do in the prior week's game because each week is a new week.

“People talk about the time and that kind of ties into, you know, how much is the past really important," he said. "It’s like, 'Learn from it, good or bad, and move on.' You don’t ever carry over success; it’s always about what you do within each process to make it successful.”

Being a leader starts with being able to lead yourself. And to that end, one needs to be willing to be flexible, open-minded, consistent, and be ready to admit when he or she doesn’t have all the answers.

Judge encapsulates all of these qualities and more. Whereas he could easily make decisions and let that be the end of it, he often consults with the players to get their feedback on why something is or isn’t working and adapts accordingly.

He is also consistent in how he approaches praising and disciplining players, taking care to let the reaction fit the action. And if he doesn’t have the answer, he's not shy about proactively tapping into the knowledge base of others who have more experience than he does in an area.

Judge also takes pride in being a chameleon ready to adapt as situations change., having especially gained some hardcore experience thanks to the various challenge created by the COVID-19 pandemic and having seen Saban do the same.

“Having worked for Coach Saban, he's a guy who's got a very good format for how he does things,” Judge said.

“But at the same time, he's always looking to change that format, whether it’s adjusting the offense, defense, or kicking game—what’s the best way of doing things? I have the same philosophy, ‘Okay, there's a way I'm doing things right now, but as soon as I can adjust that and make it better, I'm going to.’”

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