Giants’ coordinators in demand: Colts ask to interview Mike Kafka, Wink Martindale

When you win, other teams want a piece of what you have going on. Such is the case for the New York Giants these days. Teams with head-coaching vacancies are circling around Giants’ offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.

The Indianapolis Colts have formally requested interviews with both coordinators. Tom Pelissero was first with the Kafka news, and Adam Schefter reported the Martindale news.

Three teams have now requested permission to speak with Kafka. The Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans requested interviews last week. The Colts are the first team in this hiring cycle to ask for permission to speak to Martindale.

In a post here at Big Blue View when the regular season ended, I wrote that “I can’t help but think of Indianapolis as a place that could — more than anything else — benefit from a real leader and solid presence at the top of their organization. Martindale can be that guy.”

Neither Kafka nor Martindale has ever been an NFL head coach.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll said Monday that Kafka will not entertain interviews until at least after Saturday’s Divisional Round playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Martindale news broke after Daboll’s Monday media availability, and the Giants have since confirmed that will also be the case for Martindale.

“Everything’s focused on Philadelphia,” Daboll said. “There won’t be any interviews leading up to this game.”