Skip to main content
New York Giants homepage
Advertising

Giants News | New York Giants – Giants.com

Coaching Staff

Presented by

Five things to know about DC Don Martindale

DON-MARTINDALE-ANNOUNCEMENT

Five things to know about new Giants defensive coordinator Don Martindale.

1. Martindale comes to the Giants after 10 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, including the last four as defensive coordinator. Martindale has 17 years of coaching experience in the NFL, in addition to 11 seasons in the college ranks and six seasons as a high school coach.

2. The Ravens defense was consistently one of the best in the league with Martindale as defensive coordinator. From 2018-2020, Baltimore's defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL in yards (307.8) and points (18.2) allowed per game. The Ravens also led the league in number of players to record a sack (33) and second-half points allowed (401), while ranking No. 2 in fourth-down stops (41) and opponent QB rating (81.9). In 2020, Baltimore finished as the second-best scoring defense (18.9 points per game) while allowing the seventh-fewest yards (329.8) per game. It was the third consecutive season in which the Ravens defense finished as a top 3 scoring defense, finishing third in 2019 (17.6) and second in 2018 (17.0). In 2019, the Ravens were fourth in yardage (330.6), fifth in run defense (93.4), and sixth against the pass (207.2). Four Baltimore defenders were selected to the Pro Bowl. In 2018, the Ravens allowed an NFL-best 292.9 yards per game and were fourth against the run (82.9), and fifth vs. the pass (210.0). Baltimore was the first team since the 1934 Detroit Lions to not allow a second-half touchdown in the first six games of a season.

3. Martindale's tenure in Baltimore began in 2012, when he started a four-year stint as the team's inside linebackers coach. That year, Martindale coached Hall of Famer Ray Lewis in his final season and the Ravens defeated San Francisco in the Super Bowl. Martindale guided and developed many outstanding players at the position, notably four-time Pro Bowler C.J. Mosley. From 2016-18, the Ravens led the NFL with 52 interceptions and were second with 79 takeaways, seven fewer than Kansas City. In 2016, Martindale was named linebackers coach and Baltimore tied the Chiefs and Chargers with 18 interceptions, including four by Mosley. After two years in that position, Martindale was promoted to coordinator.

View photos of the three Giants coordinators - OC Mike Kafka, DC Don 'Wink' Martindale, and STC Thomas McGaughey.

4. Prior to joining the Ravens, Martindale spent two seasons with the Denver Broncos. He joined Denver in 2009 as their linebackers coach, where he helped OLB Elvis Dumervil earn First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections after recording a league-high 17 sacks. He was then promoted to defensive coordinator the following season, where he coached a pair of Hall of Famers in cornerback Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins. Before coaching with the Broncos, Martindale spent five seasons with the Oakland Raiders, the first two coaching inside linebackers before coaching all of the linebackers in his final three seasons there.

Martindale spent 11 seasons in the collegiate ranks prior to joining the NFL. He served as defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach at Western Kentucky from 2001-2003, where he worked under head coach Jack Harbaugh, father of Jim and John. Western Kentucky earned a Division I FCS National Championship in 2002. Martindale also served as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Western Illinois in 1999, and prior to that, he worked alongside then-assistant head coach John Harbaugh at the University of Cincinnati from 1996-1998, serving as the Bearcats' special teams/linebackers coach. His first job in major college football was as a defensive assistant at Notre Dame in 1994-1995.

5. A native of Ohio, Martindale was an all-state linebacker at Trotwood-Madison High School. At Defiance College, he played linebacker, earned a bachelor's degree in business education and began his coaching career in 1986-87, first as defensive backs coach and then as the coordinator. He then was the defensive coordinator for three high schools in Ohio from 1988-1993, including his alma mater, Trotwood-Madison. Martindale and his wife, Laura, have a daughter, Cassie, and a son, Ty.

MARTINDALE'S COACHING CAREER

Defiance College (1986) – Secondary

Defiance College (1987) – Defensive Coordinator/Secondary

University of Notre Dame (1994-1995) – Defensive Assistant

University of Cincinnati (1996) – Defensive Ends

University of Cincinnati (1997-1998) – Special Teams/Linebackers

Western Illinois University (1999) – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers

Western Kentucky University (2001-2002) – Special Teams/Inside Linebackers

Western Kentucky University (2003) – Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers

Oakland Raiders (2004-2005) – Inside Linebackers

Oakland Raiders (2006-2008) – Linebackers

Denver Broncos (2009) – Linebackers

Denver Broncos (2010) – Defensive Coordinator

Baltimore Ravens (2012-2015) – Inside Linebackers

Baltimore Ravens (2016-2017) – Linebackers

Baltimore Ravens (2018-2021) – Defensive Coordinator

NYG_2022_PSL_1920x1080

2022 Season Tickets on sale now

Related Content

Advertising