What’s going on with Wink Martindale seems to be the question on every Giants fan’s mind right now.
It was reported that Martindale resigned as the team’s defensive coordinator following a major coaching shakeup on Monday, but as of Tuesday morning, he had not yet officially submitted his resignation to the team.
To add to the speculation, Martindale, 60, was seen boarding a flight to Sarasota, Florida, on Tuesday morning.
X user @toddsaunders posted a pair of photos of Martindale standing outside gate A29 at Newark Airport seemingly waiting to board a United Airlines flight to his home in the Sunshine State.
There had been reports this season over growing friction between Martindale and Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
The defensive coordinator and the team tried to quell the rumors, and as recently as last Thursday, Martindale sounded as though he expected to return in 2024.
“Do I expect to be back? I don’t know why I wouldn’t,” Martindale told reporters last week. “You have those conversations after this last game and you sit back and you can reflect and you take the emotion out of it, the emotion, the grind, the stress of preparing every week and you sit back, and you talk things out. Say here’s where we are at, so I think that’s natural on every team.”
And Daboll had said Monday that the “expectation” was that Martindale and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka would be in the fold.
But the decision to let go of two close Martindale confidants — outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins and defensive assistant Kevin Wilkins — things seemed to change.
Martindale is under contract with the Giants for another season, and there could be some negotiating involved since the Giants could, in theory, block any potential job interviews.
While Martindale has not submitted a resignation letter, a source told Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano that Martindale is “not staying — it’s over.”
The decision had come as a shock to just about everyone, including the Giants players.
During an appearance on WFAN with Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata on Tuesday, corner back Adoree’ Jackson expressed his surprise over how the situation played out.
“It’s not like I saw any disposition in the body language that would display that there was something wrong,” Jackson said. “Me seeing that…it was shocking to see he just left like that. “Seeing them in our meetings or on the field and talking, maybe they can win an Oscar.
“Because if there was a problem, they did a good job acting and showing that there wasn’t one.”
Source
