Is Don Martindale related to Wink Martindale?

Don Martindale, or “Wink,” born May 19, 1963, is an American football trainer who serves as the defensive coordinator for the National Football League’s New York Giants (NFL).

Martindale served as the Baltimore Ravens linebackers coach for the previous six seasons before taking on the same role from 2018 to 2021.

Wink graduated from Defiance College, where he participated in football. Martindale joined his family’s trucking business right out of college, driving daily loads of brake parts from Dayton, Ohio, to Detroit.

After a year, he departed because he detested the exhausting six-hour roundtrip commute and decided to follow his passion for teaching football instead.

Martindale began his coaching career as an assistant for the Yellow Jackets at his alma mater, Defiance College, in the late 1980s.

Martindale spent three seasons as a head coach on Jack Harbaugh’s staff at Western Kentucky University. Additionally, he served as a defensive assistant at Notre Dame for teams that participated in the Fiesta Bowl and the Orange Bowl in 1994 and 1995. Wink also served as a coach for three years at the University of Cincinnati.