Former Wisconsin and Arkansas coach Bret Bielema is joining the New York Giants staff, a source told ESPN on Tuesday.
Bielema spent the past two seasons as a defensive assistant with the New England Patriots, where he worked with new Giants coach Joe Judge. Bielema served as New England’s defensive line coach this season.
Judge, a first-time head coach, is building an experienced staff. Bielema and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, the former Dallas Cowboys head coach, provide veteran sounding boards.
The Giants also added veteran Jerome Henderson as their defensive backs coach, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates. Henderson worked on Garrett’s staff in Dallas prior to joining the Atlanta Falcons.
But Judge’s staff is proving to have strong Patriots roots. Beielema is just the latest.
Defensive coordintator Patrick Graham is a former defensive assistant under Bill Belichick and quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski also worked in New England prior to a year in Miami.
Bielema, 50, was the head coach at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2012, where he won three Big Ten championships. He then went to Arkansas, where he posted a 29-34 mark. Overall, he had a 97-58 record as a head coach at the collegiate level.