Brian Daboll vs. Wink Martindale: Inside the Giants coaches' messy divorce
The relationship between New York Giants coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale came to an explosive end on Monday, less than 24 hours after the team completed a disappointing 6-11 season.
Neither side looked good as details emerged about the final hours of their partnership, with Daboll firing Martindale's two most trusted assistants, Kevin and Drew Wilkins, and Martindale responding by saying, “F–you” and stormed out of the room, according to team sources granted anonymity by The Athletics because they are not authorized to discuss the situation publicly. The Giants announced Wednesday that the parties had “mutually agreed to part ways.”
Even in a decade full of dysfunction, the Martindale blowout stands out as a low point for the Giants. Such an ugly departure leads to an obvious question: How could a relationship that seemed so promising degenerate into such acrimony?
Martindale was available to Daboll in 2022 after a surprise departure from the Baltimore Ravens after 10 years as an assistant, including a top-three scoring defense in three of four seasons as defensive coordinator. A contractual impasse and a desire for a fresh start led to Martindale's departure from Baltimore.
Martindale had options, but he was drawn to the Giants because of his love for ownership after interviewing for the team's head coaching vacancy in 2020. The 60-year-old Martindale has made no secret of his desire to become a head coach, and he saw success in New York as a way to achieve that goal.
Daboll and Martindale had no existing relationship beyond the role of coordinators. That competition built mutual respect, and they discovered they had similar personalities when they started working together.
“I always respected him,” Martindale said last January. “I think we are very similar in personality. You know that when you meet someone.”
Bringing in a lauded defensive coordinator like Wink Martindale in 2022 was a coup for first-time head coach Brian Daboll. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Despite similar wiring as hyper-competitive football lifers, Daboll and Martindale brought different temperaments to the sideline. And it didn't take long for those differences to surface, and tension to start building during their first training camp together.
“You could probably see it growing a little bit,” a team source said. “Like the defense is getting set up and you might have 12 guys on the field and Dabes is losing, and he's calling coaches, and he's making it personal.”
Martindale presents a brash personality, cultivated with his standard attire – sunglasses, white long-sleeved compression shirt and basketball shoes – making him look like a WWE rendition of a football coach. But he prides himself on his calmness.
While it's not unusual for NFL head coaches to lose their cool, multiple team sources say Daboll goes overboard, especially during games.
“On game day he is a fool,” said a team source. “It's just cruel.”
That shouldn't be a revelation to fans who have witnessed Daboll's red-faced rants aimed at players for mistakes during games. And it has left the assistants confused as they have to endure Daboll's tirades while trying to coach.
“It's gotten to the point where you have to take off your headsets or take off one ear,” another team source said. “He just screams all the time. It's like, 'Gosh, I can't even think.'”
Martindale spent the past decade working for Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who has a much quieter side demeanor. Martindale did not appreciate the change in Daboll's style.
“Wink didn't like that at all,” a team source said. “The looks and the way he just looks at you, Wink couldn't stand it.”
Martindale's philosophical differences were hidden from outsiders as early as October 2022. His comments at a press conference now read as thinly veiled criticism of Daboll's side outbursts.
“What I tell the players all the time is, 'What I owe you during the game is my composure,'” Martindale said. “Some people say I should be more animated on the sidelines. You won't be animated thinking about the next piece, what you're going to call the next piece.
Martindale was more open about his displeasure with Daboll's outbursts behind the scenes.
“Wink just walked in (to a coaches meeting) and said something like, 'If so-and-so did this, I stayed calm. I just moved on to the next game,” a team source said. “He would throw things there and see if he (Daboll) could fly into a rage. Dabes knows. Dabes is not stupid. It just floated by in the meeting, and no one said anything.”
As evidenced by his explosive departure, Martindale isn't the type to quietly put up with something he doesn't like. So there were snide comments during meetings and the public allusions to his preferred coaching style.
“His personality kind of fits his defensive style – blitz zero, man coverage,” a team source said. “He's not a loose cannon. He is very calculated. But he just doesn't care if…
The gap was minimized last season by the ultimate salve: winning. The Giants unexpectedly raced out to a 6-1 start, with Martindale's blitz-happy scheme contributing to wins over former MVP quarterbacks Baltimore's Lamar Jackson — a particularly nice victory over Martindale's former team — and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers.
The Giants made the postseason and won their first playoff game since Super Bowl 46 in 2012. No one outside the team had any reason to suspect discord between Daboll and Martindale.
“If things go well, you put up with it,” a team source said. “If things don't go well, things get worse.”
Most observers believed the Giants' woes this season began with their 40-0 Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in front of a national audience on “Sunday Night Football.” But a team source said there was an extraordinary amount of tension on the sidelines during the Giants' game. preseason opener in Detroit.
Even as most starters rested, Daboll was outraged by mistakes made by players who wouldn't make the roster. In the TV broadcast, Daboll gave special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, who was fired Monday, a death glare after the Giants allowed a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter of the 21-16 loss. The entire staff felt Daboll's wrath during that exhibition game.
Brian Daboll's 👀 at Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey after that 94-yard punt return for a Lions TD. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/PWEo5Bk9yL
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) August 12, 2023
“That set the pace for the year,” a team source said.
The Giants never recovered from a disastrous 1-5 start. The offense, which drew much more of Daboll's attention, was a mess. But the defense wasn't much better during the rocky opening stages. The Giants allowed 441 yards in a 30-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3 and 524 yards in a 31-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 5.
The season reached a low point with a 30-6 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9. Quarterback Daniel Jones tore his ACL in the game, but the defense's drama surprisingly turned heads.
Safety Xavier McKinney told ESPN from the coaches: “I don't think they have done a good job of letting the leaders lead and listening to the leaders and the captains.” In keeping with the way he handles any hint of controversy, Daboll downplayed McKinney's comments the next day. McKinney said “everything is good” two days later.
The story could have ended there. But during his press conference later that week, Martindale talked about it at length how hurt he was by McKinney's comments, creating a new cycle of headlines. It was the opposite of Daboll's approach.
The growing tension boiled over during a 49–17 loss to the Cowboys the following week. With undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito making his first career start, the Giants were steamrolled by the Cowboys. Dallas gained 640 yards as the Giants' record fell to 2-8.
Fox sideline reporter Tom Rinaldi noted during the broadcast that Daboll and Martindale had a lengthy argument that began at the end of the first half and continued as they left the locker room for the second half. Tensions ran high as the Giants were destroyed by their rival for the second time in two months, with numerous 'animated discussions' on the sidelines between players and coaches.
Any simmering disagreement surfaced before the Giants' Week 12 game against the New England Patriots, when Fox's Jay Glazer reports this that the relationship between Daboll and Martindale was in such a “bad place” that a rift was expected. After a dominant defensive performance led to a 10–7 win over the Patriots later that day, Daboll gave Martindale a game ball in the locker room in a presentation deemed performative by team sources who knew the relationship had broken down.
🗣 Post-match speech pic.twitter.com/SwunL7mKzp
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 26, 2023
Impressively, Daboll and Martindale managed to largely shield the players from their feud. That was important in keeping the team together during a surprising 4-3 finish with DeVito and veteran backup Tyrod Taylor at quarterback.
Players view Daboll as a player's coach, even though they may be on the receiving end of his sideline explosions. One veteran player said the outbursts are usually an accepted part of playing for Daboll, even though they can be counterproductive in situations where emotions are already running high.
Players complained that Daboll's predecessor, Joe Judge, worked too hard during practices and held excessively long meetings. Daboll seems to have a better idea of how to manage players, with lighter practices and shorter meetings. The Giants staged a rare Wednesday walk-through in Week 18 and then delivered a spirited effort in a season-high 27-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
“He does a good job of keeping everyone together and feeling the pulse of the team,” a team source said.
That touch will be needed now more than ever with his staff. Daboll must find a new defensive coordinator and fill a handful of other assistant jobs opened during a mini house cleaning on Monday.
The problem with Martindale has been eliminated as the veteran coach is free to seek employment with any team after agreeing to give up the remaining $3 million on his contract with the Giants, a league source said. But as Daboll enters a crucial offseason, it will be interesting to see if the dynamic that led to the ugly split with his most prominent assistant prompts him to make changes.
“I'm confident in what we're doing and how we're doing things,” Daboll said Monday, hours before everything blew up. “Certainly, there are many things we can improve. That's really what the off-season is for, in every aspect.”
(Illustration: John Bradford / The athletic; photos by Brian Daboll and Wink Martindale: Kevin Sabitus, Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)
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