The New York Giants and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale parted ways this week after tensions between head coach Brian Daboll and him boiled over.
Martindale exploded on Daboll following the firing of his most trusted assistants, Drew and Kevin Wilkins, leading the veteran defensive coordinator to head home to Florida.
But the issues between Martindale and Daboll began long before that fiery exchange. In fact, they started to butt heads during their very first training camp together in 2022.
Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports that Daboll’s explosive temper rubbed not only Martindale the wrong way, but several other coaches and assistants throughout the organization.
One Giants team source told The Athletic that Daboll often turns his fits of rage unnecessarily personal.
“You could probably see it building a little bit,” the Giants source said. “Like the defense is getting installed and you might have 12 guys on the field and Dabes is losing it, and he’s calling out coaches, and he’s making it personal.”
Daboll has never shied away from his outbursts, owning them without shame over his first two seasons. And as bad as they’ve been behind the scenes, they’re even worse on game day.
“On game day, he’s a madman. It’s just brutal,” a team source said.
“It’s to the point where you’ve got to take your headsets off or take one ear off,” another team source added. “He’s just constantly screaming. It’s like, ‘Jeez, I can’t even think.'”
That kind of treatment — something often dubbed “The Patriot Way” — is not something Martindale took kindly to. And although Martindale managed to keep his cool in the public eye, he would reportedly needle Daboll in front of other staff members with the intent of making the head coach blow his stack — not that he needed much motivation.
“Wink would just walk in (to a coaches’ meeting) and say something like, ‘When such and such did this, I stayed calm. I just went onto the next play.’ He’d throw stuff out there and see if he could get (Daboll) riled up. Dabes knows it. Dabes isn’t stupid. It would just float on by in the meeting, and nobody would say anything,” another team source said.
Daboll was the loose cannon who made things personal. Martindale played the long game. It was oil and water for the Giants.
“(Martindale’s) personality kind of fits his style of defense — blitz zero, man coverage,” the source told The Athletic. “He’s not a loose cannon. He’s very calculated. But he just doesn’t give a (expletive).”
In the end, Daboll found something that sent Martindale over the edge: He sent the Wilkins brothers packing.
Daboll’s over-the-top outbursts are accepted by most of his players, but his actions wear thin with other members of the coaching staff. And in order for this thing to work, Daboll will have to channel his inner Tom Coughlin and calm his jets a bit.
If he can’t, the Giants may be looking for another head coach as early as 2025.
