The Indianapolis Colts expanded their already large list of candidates for their head coaching job, requesting interviews with three more NFL assistants on Monday, per multiple reports.
On their wish list for interviews are both of the New York Giants coordinators — Mike Kafka (offensive) and Wink Martindale (defensive) — along with San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.
Indianapolis is the first team to seek an interview with Martindale. The Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans are interested in Kafka, and the Texans, Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals have set interviews with Ryans.
In all, the Colts have 11 candidates for the job, including interim head coach Jeff Saturday and seven other NFL assistants.
Martindale, 59, is in his first season as defensive coordinator for the Giants, who upset the Minnesota Vikings 31-24 on Sunday to move on to the NFC divisional round of the playoffs. He previously held the same position with the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos, among his many stops in a coaching career that started in 1986.
Kafka, 35, joined new coach Brian Daboll’s staff this season in New York after five seasons under coach Andy Reid in Kansas City, where he was Patrick Mahomes’ quarterbacks coach and then the Chiefs passing game coordinator in 2021.
Kafka does not intend to interview for any jobs this week, according to multiple reports. Instead, he will focus on preparing the game plan for the Giants’ clash with the Philadelphia Eagles, the No. 1 seed, this weekend.
Ryans, 38, has spent the past two seasons as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator. A former NFL linebacker, he joined the 49ers in 2017 working on defensive quality control, then was the inside linebackers coach for three seasons.
The 49ers surrendered just 277 points in the regular season — best in the NFL.
–Field Level Media