Joe Judge walked into a Mississippi courtroom on Thursday and suddenly found himself at the center of one of the biggest eligibility fights in college football right now. The Ole Miss assistant coach who handles quarterbacks and serves as the Rebels’ offensive head coach took the stand as a witness in Trinidad Chambliss’ lawsuit against the NCAA.

Chambliss is pushing for a temporary injunction that would allow him to play in 2026 after the NCAA denied his medical hardship waiver. Judge’s testimony focused on Chambliss’ future. He was called to the stand by Chambliss’s legal team. The judge said he holds the quarterback “in the highest regard.”

Back when QB1 Austin Simmons went down in 2025, and Chambliss stepped in, the bond between him and the coach only grew stronger. Chambliss has even called Judge a “second father figure.”

Family and football

Joe Judge has made one thing clear that football comes first. Family? That’s second.

He is known for his blunt honesty and unwavering work ethic. And those qualities don’t switch off for holidays or special occasions, too. “My wife lives like a widow,” Judge said of his wife, Amber Meesey that once sparked huge criticism.

Judge’s dedication gets inspiration from the notorious examples in football, like Jets coach Adam Gase, who famously prioritized a team meeting over attending the birth of his son.

He met his wife while attending Mississippi State. The couple tied the knot in 2005 and has four children: Sean, Emma Riley, Michael, and Ella Grace. Yet, Judge has been really transparent about the sacrifices his family makes during the football season. In a 2016 Mississippi State Alumnus Magazine interview, he admitted, “There are whole weeks during the season when I don’t see my children awake. They sometimes call our home ‘Mommy’s house’ and the stadium ‘Daddy’s house.’”

Despite the demands of the game, Judge ensures his family is part of the highs and lows of football. Still, his approach raises eyebrows, especially after his controversial comments during the Chambliss court hearing, where he advised pregnant players’ partners to let new fathers sleep through midnight feedings so they could perform well on the field.

“We’d have to educate significant others who were pregnant or were maybe going to have a baby during the season, you have this baby in the middle of the season, that father has to play good football,” Judge said. “It’s a day-by-day production business. You need to let him sleep. He needs to be in the other room, detached. He ain’t waking up for midnight feedings.”

Born to coach

Judge’s football journey is deeply rooted in family and tradition. His late father, Joseph Judge, played at Temple and had a brief stint in the Canadian Football League. Joe grew up in a football household in Pennsylvania, learning toughness from his dad.

“He knew he couldn’t be hard on anybody else if he wasn’t hardest on me,” Judge recalled.

At Mississippi State, Judge played as a backup QB, holder, and punt protector, earning three letters from 2000 to 2004. After college, he stepped in as a coach. He began as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State, then moved to Birmingham-Southern as a linebackers coach, and soon landed at Alabama under Nick Saban, winning two national championships.

In 2012, Judge joined the New England Patriots, where he worked under Bill Belichick for eight seasons, including three Super Bowl wins. His roles included assistant special teams coach, special teams coordinator, and wide receivers coach.

Judge’s story is one of relentless dedication on the field, shaped by a fierce work ethic. Yet, his approach hasn’t come without controversy, especially when it comes to his take on football and family.