Former NY Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is no longer unemployed. However, Martindale's next coaching gig isn't one that many expected after it was announced that he had resigned from his post with the G-Men.
After failing to land a new job in the NFL, Martindale is headed to the college ranks. On Friday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Martindale is Ann Arbor-bound, accepting the defensive coordinator position at Michigan.
While Martindale won't be making pennies in his new role, keep in mind that he was reportedly set to make $3.25 million with the G-Men in 2024. As The Athletic's Dan Duggan noted, there's no way the Wolverines and new head coach Sherrone Moore will be able to match that.
Wink likely left a lot of money on the table. He was reportedly due $3.25M from the Giants. Jesse Minter made $1.2M as Michigan's DC last year.
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) February 9, 2024
Wink Martindale has been hired as Michigan's new defensive coordinator
Although Martindale's contract figures with Michigan haven't been released yet, it's safe to assume he's going to be taking a big-time pay cut. It's a bit of a surprise that he wasn't able to find another DC job in the league, but he went 0-for-2 during the known interviews he had since the season ended.
First, Martindale met with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the AFC South side gave the job to Ryan Nielsen. Then, Martindale had an interview with Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers, but again, they went in a different direction, hiring Boston College's Jeff Hafley.
With other spots filling up fast, Martdinale had to look at other opportunities and he'll now be joining the reigning National Champions. For someone who was hoping to become a head coach, this feels like a head-turning step back for Wink.
You could tell there were issues between him and Daboll throughout the season and things of course boiled over once the 2023 campaign ended. Martindale's exit from East Rutherford could not have gone worse, as he stormed out of Daboll's office and cursed him out while quitting.
Since then, the Giants have hired former Titans DC Shane Bowen to replace Martindale. There was hope that perhaps Coach Dabes and Martindale could end their beef, but that obviously didn't happen. Now, Daboll has a new leader for his defense and Martindale will be coaching in the Big Ten. Who saw that coming?