Wink Martindale the highest-paid assistant in college football

[MightyGiants]

Martindale and the Giants parted ways in January after a falling out with head coach Brian Daboll. Less than a month later, he landed the defensive coordinator position with the University of Michigan where he reportedly signed a three-year deal with a base salary of $2.3 million in 2024.

That number will increase to $2.5 million in 2025 and $2.7 million in 2026.


https://x.com/thegiantswire/status/1771106032145588637?s=46&t=1vcQIN8GqF5J2oLdxEVEJQ

[kingm56]

Got to love football.  What other industry can you produce bottom 30/10% results for three consecutive seasons, act like a child, and still earn a top-tier salary!?   Good for him...

[MightyGiants]

Got to love football.  What other industry can you produce bottom 30/10% results for three consecutive seasons, act like a child, and still earn a top-tier salary!?   Good for him...

It would appear Michigan didn't share you view on Wink.  Full disclosure, I don't share your views on Wink.

[kingm56]

It would appear Michigan didn't share you view on Wink.  Full disclosure, I don't share your views on Wink.

Shocker...

[T200]

Got to love football.  What other industry can you produce bottom 30/10% results for three consecutive seasons, act like a child, and still earn a top-tier salary!?   Good for him...

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Presumably, he got no offers from NFL teams. Additionally, it was well-known that he wanted to be a head coach in the NFL and he got no interviews for the multiple positions that opened up. Sounds to me like he settled.

Here's a lesson for all the boys and girls: don't show up your employer and expect to get a better job elsewhere.

[kingm56]

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Presumably, he got no offers from NFL teams. Additionally, it was well-known that he wanted to be a head coach in the NFL and he got no interviews for the multiple positions that opened up. Sounds to me like he settled.

Here's a lesson for all the boys and girls: don't show up your employer and expect to get a better job elsewhere.

It's a good lesson for young people to learn, Tim.

[MightyGiants]

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Presumably, he got no offers from NFL teams. Additionally, it was well-known that he wanted to be a head coach in the NFL and he got no interviews for the multiple positions that opened up. Sounds to me like he settled.

Here's a lesson for all the boys and girls: don't show up your employer and expect to get a better job elsewhere.

Wink did take a $700K pay cut going from the Giants to Michigan.  No doubt, the public friction between Wink and Daboll hurt Wink's marketability.  I wouldn't read too much into Wink not getting HC interviews, as the league openly practices age discrimination at the HC position, and DCs are handicapped in terms of getting top jobs in a pass-driven league.

In some ways, I can sympathize with Wink. In my younger days, I was working on the squad for a crew chief who lacked the emotional composure to effectively manage the high-pressure situations faced by the emergency medical services.    When bad situations came up, and she would melt down, being under her in the chain of command was less than ideal.  It didn't matter if you maintained your composure, but by virtue of her authority, challenging calls were going to go less than ideal.

I am not saying Wink handled his challenging situation perfectly, but I will say he was in a situation that didn't appear to have any sort of easy solution or exit since the Giants controlled his fate and seemed unwilling to just release him from his contract. 

[T200]

Wink did take a $700K pay cut going from the Giants to Michigan.  No doubt, the public friction between Wink and Daboll hurt Wink's marketability.  I wouldn't read too much into Wink not getting HC interviews, as the league openly practices age discrimination at the HC position, and DCs are handicapped in terms of getting top jobs in a pass-driven league.

In some ways, I can sympathize with Wink. In my younger days, I was working on the squad for a crew chief who lacked the emotional composure to effectively manage the high-pressure situations faced by the emergency medical services.    When bad situations came up, and she would melt down, being under her in the chain of command was less than ideal.  It didn't matter if you maintained your composure, but by virtue of her authority, challenging calls were going to go less than ideal.

I am not saying Wink handled his challenging situation perfectly, but I will say he was in a situation that didn't appear to have any sort of easy solution or exit since the Giants controlled his fate and seemed unwilling to just release him from his contract. 

You're definitely more sympathetic to him than I am, Rich.

I'm definitely not trying to read much into it as I don't care for him all that much. He's lacking in the emotional intelligence department, especially for someone of his age and who has (had) dreams of being an NFL head coach. Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it. He didn't deal with it very well. Other teams took note.

As far as I'm concerned, it's addition by subtraction.

[MightyGiants]

You're definitely more sympathetic to him than I am, Rich.

I'm definitely not trying to read much into it as I don't care for him all that much. He's lacking in the emotional intelligence department, especially for someone of his age and who has (had) dreams of being an NFL head coach. Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it. He didn't deal with it very well. Other teams took note.

As far as I'm concerned, it's addition by subtraction.

Tim,

From everything I have heard, the guy lacking in the emotional intelligence department was Daboll.   Wink always kept his composure.

It also appears that Daboll didn't like that Wink sort of operated his defense independently, which I would also fault Daboll for.  A wise manager sees the big picture and doesn't sweat the minor details.

Firing Wink's men for the crime of being Wink's men also struck me as very petty and, again, lacking in emotional intelligence.

Wink has a long career as a DC and has never had this sort of public circus.  Daboll's career as an HC is two years old, and he already had one circus and coaches leaving him.

I am far more concerned with Daboll and his emotional intelligence and game-day composure (I have heard far too many NFL men I respect say this is a problem) than I am about Wink or how Wink handled the departure.

[T200]

Tim,

From everything I have heard, the guy lacking in the emotional intelligence department was Daboll.   Wink always kept his composure.

It also appears that Daboll didn't like that Wink sort of operated his defense independently, which I would also fault Daboll for.  A wise manager sees the big picture and doesn't sweat the minor details.

Firing Wink's men for the crime of being Wink's men also struck me as very petty and, again, lacking in emotional intelligence.

Wink has a long career as a DC and has never had this sort of public circus.  Daboll's career as an HC is two years old, and he already had one circus and coaches leaving him.

I am far more concerned with Daboll and his emotional intelligence and game-day composure (I have heard far too many NFL men I respect say this is a problem) than I am about Wink or how Wink handled the departure.

Place as much blame on Daboll as you feel is necessary. They both need a boost in the EI department. The one thing you cannot place on Daboll is Wink's handling of the situation. That is 100% on Wink.

Daboll still has a job in the NFL. Wink does not and it has absolutely zero to do with how Daboll treated him. Your focus is Daboll. Mine is Wink's. After all, the thread is about him. 

[kingm56]

Tim,

From everything I have heard, the guy lacking in the emotional intelligence department was Daboll.   Wink always kept his composure.

I suspect the lack of emotional intelligence was a significant barrier to securing a head coaching role.  There are few top-tier coordinators who tried and failed to secure a head coaching job; IMO, the reason is quite obvious.       

[andrew_nyGiants]

Ahh YES, another reason for me to dislike Wink!

GO BUCKEYES!!  LOL


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[MightyGiants]

Place as much blame on Daboll as you feel is necessary. They both need a boost in the EI department. The one thing you cannot place on Daboll is Wink's handling of the situation. That is 100% on Wink.

Daboll still has a job in the NFL. Wink does not and it has absolutely zero to do with how Daboll treated him. Your focus is Daboll. Mine is Wink's. After all, the thread is about him. 

Tim,

I was mentored by a very great man (in my opinion).  One thing that he drilled in my head is that the person in charge has to be a grown-up.   As a manager, you could never point to the behavior of a subordinate to explain the poor behavior of the person in charge.   He also taught me it was about getting things done, not stroking the ego of the person in charge.  The Giants leaked that Wink and his defensive staff ate lunches as a group separate from the rest of the coaches.   This was leaked to try and make Wink look bad, but in my eyes, it made Daboll look petty and ego-driven, as it's about getting things done, not who eats lunch with whom.

Still, if you want to point the blame at Wink, have at it.   Seeing how Daboll is an offensive coach with a hand in the offense (even took away play calling from his OC on multiple occasions) and the defense played better (admittedly not by much) than the offense, I think the results favor Wink more than Daboll.

Plus, I have a question for you and @kingm56 - Do you both realize that Daboll made the decision to hire Wink?  It's not like Wink was forced on Daboll.   Daboll decided on the hire and subsequent pairing.

[H-Town G-Fan]

Wink leaked info to the press midseason when he was upset via his "guys" (who had no real football background other than being his sycophants). That was it for him and rightfully should have been. Wink has now managed to politic his way out of two NFL jobs. Best of luck to him at Michigan.

[T200]

Plus, I have a question for you and @kingm56 - Do you both realize that Daboll made the decision to hire Wink?  It's not like Wink was forced on Daboll.   Daboll decided on the hire and subsequent pairing.

Your question and subsequent point have absolutely nothing do with Wink bearing 100% responsibility for his behavior.

You are blaming Daboll for Wink's reaction. Wink is not a victim. He's a full grown-ass man who acted like a toddler because he didn't like what his boss did and responded with a big "F*CK YOU!" and stormed out of the building. He ignored calls and texts from Schoen.

Daboll lit the fire and Wink poured gasoline on it. He's a college coordinator now because of his own actions.