Wink Martindale returns to the Giants for a second season with some new hardware.
The respected defensive coordinator was named one of three winners of the Professional Football Writers of America’s 2023 Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman Award, a lifetime achievement and recognition for distinguished NFL assistant coaches.
The late Bobb McKittrick and recently retired Pittsburgh Steelers D-line coach John Mitchell also were honored.
Martindale, 60, has sought a head coaching opportunity in recent years, interviewing for the Giants’ vacancy in Jan. 2020 and advancing deep into the Indianapolis Colts’ search this past winter.
But Brian Daboll was fortunate one year ago to land Martindale as his DC after Pat Graham bolted to Las Vegas, and then to see the Colts hire Eagles OC Shane Steichen this offseason instead.
Martindale, an Ohio native and former college assistant and coordinator through 2003, broke into the NFL in 2004 as the Oakland Raiders’ linebackers coach. He coached with the Raiders (2004-08) and Denver Broncos (2009-10) before finding a longtime home with the Baltimore Ravens (2012-21).
There, Martindale coached inside linebackers on the Ravens’ Super Bowl XLVII staff in 2012 and rose to defensive coordinator under head coach John Harbaugh, heading three consecutive top-three scoring defenses from 2018 through 2020.
His aggressive, blitz-heavy, man scheme is consistently cited as one of the most difficult for opposing offenses to prepare for, face and counter.
The Giants’ defense was far from perfect as the team began its rebuild last season, but it immediately improved in two critical categories under Martindale: third down and red zone defense.
They finished fifth in the NFL in third-down defense (opponents converted on 35.1% of their tries) and fifth in red zone defense (opponents scored TDs on 49.2% of their trips), per ProFootballReference.com.
Those were marked improvements on the 2021 season’s No. 16 rank on third down defense (39.8%) and No. 9 in red-zone D (52.1%).
