After beginning with five NFL head coaching vacancies, only two remain open. Both the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts are still searching for a new locker room leader, and the latter could be preparing to embark on a rare third round in interview candidates. This process could lead to bringing Don Martindale back for another face-to-face sitdown with the team’s top brass.
‘Wink’ Martindale is the current defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, who is coming off an impressive regular season performance that included a Wild Card win in the playoffs. Martindale’s defense surpassed all expectations, ranking 17th in the NFL in points allowed despite having just one Pro Bowl or All-Pro defender on their roster.
While at the age of 59 and having never been a head coach at any level, Martindale may be a bit of an unconventional head coach candidate, but when it comes to the Colts, who appear to seriously be considering re-hiring Jeff Saturday, nothing would surprise us anymore.
According to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, Martindale is emerging as one of the frontrunners to land the Colts’ vacancy.
In all, the Colts have interviewed eight candidates, with another scheduled for Feb. 4. But after Martindale’s in-person interview last weekend, the Giants coach is a strong candidate to return for a third round of interviews, according to Leonard’s sources.
Martindale may not have previous head coaching experience, but he has over two decades as a defensive NFL coach, including six seasons as a coordinator. His blitz-heavy schemes have caused plenty of headaches for opposing coordinators, which we saw in the playoffs, limiting Justin Jefferson to just 47 yards.
Now the Colts could be growing enamored with the idea of Martindale’s suffocating defense working wonders in Indianapolis instead.