Colts interview Giants DC Wink Martindale, who's waited a long time to be a head coach

INDIANAPOLIS — Wink Martindale has been doing this a long time, and he hasn’t shy about his belief that he’s ready to be a head coach.

Been ready for a while, in his estimation.

Martindale has come close before. The long-time defensive coordinator interviewed for the Giants head coaching job three years ago, and by all accounts, New York’s brass considered Martindale to be a strong, viable candidate before going with Joe Judge, a decision that didn’t exactly work out for New York.

Getting close again hasn’t been easy for Martindale, who interviewed with the Colts on Sunday as the 13th candidate in a wide-ranging Indianapolis coaching search that has touched on candidates from just about every background.

“I think it’s harder to get a head coaching job in this league than being in the Senate,” Martindale told reporters in New York this week.

Especially if a coach has a profile like the one Martindale put together.

Martindale, 59, spent all but one season of his first 14 years in the NFL as a linebackers coach, the lone exception coming as the Broncos defensive coordinator in 2010, the star-crossed final season of the Josh McDaniels era in Denver.

But he established himself as a key coaching presence in a decade with John Harbaugh in Baltimore, first as the team’s inside linebackers coach, then as the coordinator of a good Ravens defense beginning in 2018.

Martindale believes he had the necessary experience to be a head coach even before he was promoted into the coordinator’s job.

“Probably eight years,” Martindale told the New York Post when he was asked earlier this year how long he’d been ready to be a head coach. “The last eight years.”

Finding traction as a defensive coordinator, particularly an older defensive coordinator who established himself late, is tough.

Despite Martindale’s close call with the Giants, he hasn’t been one of the hot names on the market. The Colts are his only interview so far among the five coaching openings.

Martindale’s going to make the most of it.

“That’s the same thing I did three years ago, and that’s how I met (Giants president and CEO John) Mara the first time,” Martindale told New York reporters. “I sat down with him, and after that time on, I felt like he was a mentor and a friend. You’re talking about one of the titans in this league.”

If Martindale’s approach to the head coaching job mirrors his approach to defense, the Giants defensive coordinator would be willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.

Martindale, like a lot of Ravens defensive minds before him, throws a lot of different looks at offenses.

“He does a nice job mixing and matching those types of groups in different pressure packages that make it difficult, and then tying in the back-end part of it, the coverage, the fronts,” Giants offensive coordinator — and also a candidate for the Colts head coaching position — Mike Kafka said. “That’s what ends up making it really difficult, is they’re so multiple.”

Martindale’s decade in Baltimore makes it a little bit difficult to figure out what he’d want to see on the offensive side of the ball. Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman just left Baltimore, and it’s possible Martindale could go back to that well, but he’s been in the league for two decades, giving him a lot of time to figure out who he’d want as his offensive coordinator.

But Martindale also likes his place in New York.

“When I came here as a Giant, it wasn’t a stepping-stone for me,” Martindale said earlier this week. “It was a destination. I love it here in New York.”

As long as he’s been in the NFL, Martindale knows it’s not easy to land one of those jobs.

Not as easy as getting into politics, in his mind.

“It’s not a slam dunk anywhere,” Martindale said. “You just weigh your options and make a decision.”

Martindale is part of a Colts coaching search that has interviewed more candidates than any of the other four teams searching for a head coach.

Indianapolis interviewed special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen last week, along with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who elected to stay in Detroit.

Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday kicked off the second round of initial interviews Thursday, and the Colts have interviewed Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka in addition to Martindale this weekend. The Colts will also reportedly interview 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts coaching search: Wink Martindale, has been waiting for shot