Wink Martindale is no longer the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, at least that is what is believed as of Tuesday afternoon.
The 60-year-old veteran strategist’s future with the organization has run the gamut of security over the last two months, leading to what can only presumed as leaked reports from his camp to several reporters stating that he had resigned on Monday night.
Multiple reports on Tuesday, however, clarified that the Giants have yet to receive an official resignation, although Martindale was seen at the airport heading back to his home in Florida.
He’s gone. Headed to his Florida home. https://t.co/dySdjwCurr
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) January 9, 2024
The last 24 hours have provided the latest bizarre twist in what had developed into an ongoing saga that loomed over the Giants organization for the second half of a disappointing 6-11 season, which once again featured no postseason play.
After reports emerged around Thanksgiving that his relationship with head coach Brian Daboll had soured, both Martindale and Giants brass attempted to smooth things over. This came after players criticized the team’s leadership amidst a slow start.
Heading into the Giants’ Week 18 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, which was the last time he would have been made available to the media this season, Martindale went as far as to suggest that he would be back for the 2024 season — the final year of his contract.
“Do I expect to be back? I don’t know why I wouldn’t,” Martindale said on Thursday. “You have those conversations after this last game and you sit back and you can reflect and you take the emotion out of it, the emotion, the grind, the stress of preparing every week and you sit back, and you talk things out. Say here’s where we are at, so I think that’s natural on every team.”
On Monday, following the Giants’ season-finale 27-10 victory over the nosediving Eagles, Daboll said, “My expectation is that Wink and [offensive coordinator Mike]Kafka will both be back… There are still conversations to be had. We’ve only been here for a short time.”
Whether or not they have had those conversations is unknown at this time, but things certainly have soured since both coaches’ availabilities.
