Don "Wink" MartindaleWink gets the Call - Martindale to lead Broncos defense /ref> (born May 19, 1963) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). From 2018 to 2021, he held the same position for the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...
after spending the previous six seasons as the team's
linebackers coach
In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators.
Common ...
.
Early years
Don Martindale was born on May 19, 1963, in
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
for the Trotwood-Madison Rams and was an All-State selection his senior year.
He is an alumnus of
Defiance College
Defiance College is a private college located in Defiance, Ohio and affiliated with the United Church of Christ. The campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary.
History
The college began as Defiance Female ...
, where he played on the football team. He got his nickname during his freshman year, when one of his teammates called him "Wink" after the longtime TV game show host,
Wink Martindale
Winston Conrad "Wink" Martindale (born December 4, 1933) is an American disc jockey, radio personality, game show host, and television producer. In his six-decade career, he is best known for hosting '' Gambit'' from 1972 to 1976 (and again fro ...
.
Right after college, Martindale took a job with his family's trucking company, hauling brake parts every day from Dayton, Ohio, to Detroit. It was a grueling six hour drive round-trip and he hated it, so he quit after a year to pursue his passion for coaching football.
Coaching career
College
Martindale started his coaching career in the late 1980s at his alma mater, Defiance College, as an assistant for the Yellow Jackets. Martindale also coached for three seasons at
Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...
on the staff of
Jack Harbaugh
Jack Avon Harbaughhttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Ebattle/celeb/harbaugh.htm (born June 28, 1939) is a former American football player and coach. He is known for being the longtime head coach at Western Kentucky. He is also th ...
. He also coached for three years at the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...
, and in 1994 and 1995 was a defensive assistant at Notre Dame for teams that went to the
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...
and
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...
.
Oakland Raiders
From 2004 to 2008 he was the linebackers coach for the Oakland Raiders and was at one time under consideration to be their defensive coordinator.
Denver Broncos
In 2009, Martindale was hired by the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
as their linebackers coach. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2010.
Baltimore Ravens
On February 2, 2012, the Ravens signed Martindale as linebackers coach. He had worked for Ravens head coach
John Harbaugh
John William Harbaugh (born September 23, 1962) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles and served ...
's father, Jack, when he was an assistant at Western Kentucky.
Martindale was part of the Ravens' coaching staff that won Super Bowl XLVII. In 2018, he was promoted to defensive coordinator. On January 21, 2022, Martindale and the Ravens parted ways.
New York Giants
Martindale was hired on February 11, 2022, by the New York Giants to be their defensive coordinator.
Personal life
Martindale and his wife, Laura, have two children.