The Giants turned to the staff of a former defensive coordinator for their next interview to replace Wink Martindale.
Brendan Daly, the Chiefs’ linebackers coach on Steve Spagnuolo’s staff, interviewed for the Giants’ vacancy at defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
He got his first NFL job with the Vikings as their defensive line coach in 2006, and after additional stops with the Rams and the Patriots around a return to Minnesota, Daly was hired as the Kansas City defensive line coach in 2019.
Then, before the 2022 season that ended with the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl, he became Spagnuolo’s linebackers coach.
“I was kind of interested in evolving a little bit, challenging myself in doing something that was a little bit out of my comfort zone, Daly said in June 2022 about his changed role, according to Chiefs Wire. “I think that’s how you get better. I think that’s how you grow and improve. That was a big part of it from my perspective. I felt like there were some things that I could add to the group and some continuity that we can maintain with that transition as opposed to having someone from the outside coming in.”
Daly won three Super Bowls while serving as a defensive assistant and defensive line coach on Bill Belichick’s staff with the Patriots, along with the two other titles he won with the Chiefs.
Daly now becomes the latest candidate for head coach Brian Daboll’s staff after the team requested permission to interview Bills linebackers coach Bobby Babich, in addition to interviewing Ravens secondary coach Dennard Wilson, Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, Giants secondary coach Jerome Henderson and Chargers defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley.
Martindale and the Giants split after the defensive coordinator cursed out Daboll during a meeting that followed the head coach’s decision to fire Drew and Kevin Wilkins, marking the latest sign of a decaying relationship that first generated headlines with a Fox report during the season.
Since his exit, Martindale has interviewed with the Jaguars and was contacted by the Eagles, though Vic Fangio left the Dolphins and will become Philadelphia’s new defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.