Former New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is now the highest-paid assistant coach in college football, reports Doug Samuels of Football Scoop.
Martindale and the Giants parted ways in January after a falling out with head coach Brian Daboll. Less than a month later, he landed the defensive coordinator position with the University of Michigan where he reportedly signed a three-year deal with a base salary of $2.3 million in 2024.
That number will increase to $2.5 million in 2025 and $2.7 million in 2026.
“Wink’s awesome, man. I love Wink,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said, via The Athletic. “He’s such a great, vibrant person, a great human being, obviously an extremely intelligent coach. The boys love him. He brings such a great vibe to the team, and experience, obviously.”
Martindale has had quite a successful career as an assistant coach. He was the coach of several amazing NFL defenses including the Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens.
Most recently with New York, in his first year, he led the Giants to the 18th-best scoring defense after years of misery for Big Blue. His defensive prowess helped the Giants win nine regular season games that season and a playoff game.
However, the team’s defense stats fell to 26th in the league during the 2023 regular season. Martindale was not getting the trademark pressure on the quarterback from his troops that he was so well known for. He will now have big shoes to fill at Michigan as they are coming off of a national championship with college football’s best defense.
