The New York Giants officially announced the hirings of offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale on Friday.
First-year head coach Brian Daboll also confirmed Thomas McGaughey will return for his fifth season as the special teams coordinator.
“What we were looking for was intelligence, good communicators, good teachers that understood and were experts in their respective areas, and good teammates,” Daboll said.
Kafka, 34, spent the previous five seasons as an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs, the last two as the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
“Mike obviously comes from … a good system at Kansas City,” Daboll said “He was part of a winning program and culture. He did a great job in helping Patrick Mahomes develop. Played the position. Very smart, very thorough, very level-headed and a good teammate.”
Martindale, 58, is a 35-year coaching veteran, including 17 in the NFL. He spent the previous 10 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, with the last four as the team’s defensive coordinator.
“Wink is a very good communicator, has a good personality, is energetic and very passionate about the way his defense needs to play,” Daboll said. “Another good teammate.”
McGaughey, 48, has been the special teams coordinator since 2018. He was New York’s assistant special teams coach from 2007-10.
“I was very impressed with T-Mac’s overall knowledge of the kicking game and the things that we need to do to execute in that part of the game,” Daboll said. “He’s had a lot of experience, good evaluator and I would just say the same thing that I said about Mike and Wink — good communicator, detailed and a good teammate.”
Daboll was hired last month to replace Joe Judge, who led the Giants to a 4-13 record in 2021 and a 10-23 mark in two seasons. New York has not been to the playoffs since 2016.
–Field Level Media