New York Giants defenders see a lot of Wink Martindale in Dennard Wilson

In 2022, the New York Giants began to build their defense around coordinator Wink Martindale, a well-respected coach who had much success in the NFL over the years.

The Giants made the playoffs that year, and Martindale received much credit for the turnaround.

Then, when Martindale had a very public falling out with head coach Brian Daboll the next season and walked out, the Giants were left with Wink-like players with a new coordinator, Shane Bowen, whose philosophy was nowhere near adjacent to Martindale's.

The Giants' defense faltered as a result. They couldn't stop the run -- or pass -- and became one of the NFL's worst units.

This year, with the arrival of John Harbaugh as head coach, there is a return to aggressiveness. Martindale had coached on Harbaugh's staff in Baltimore for 10 seasons. That style of defense is returning to the Giants with new coordinator Dennard Wilson, who is part of Martindale's coaching tree.

Wilson coached the Ravens' defensive backs in 2023 under coordinator Mike Macdonald, the current head coach of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Macdonald spent nearly a decade alongside and then under Martindale in Baltimore.

When Harbaugh was forming his staff here in New York this past offseason, he sought out a coach who would install that old Baltimore philosophy. Wilson had just been let go by the Tennessee Titans, and Harbaugh jumped to bring him in.

"The defense is really going to take in a lot of his (Wilson's) personality," Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown said earlier this month. "It's going to be aggressive. It's going to be multiple. You're going to feel pressure from different alignments."

That's just what the Giants' players needed to hear. Last season, they basically sat on their hands and let offenses dictate the game to them. Those days are over.

"For those who have been watching and know ball," Kayvon Thibodeaux told an audience of season ticket holders on Monday night during a Giants Town Hall, "this is similar to the defense we ran when Wink was here."

And that defense was predicated on creating pressure. Thibodeaux recorded a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2023 playing in Martindale's scheme. After two injury-laden seasons, he was being considered as a trade candidate. The Giants are planning on turning him loose this season under Wilson.

Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Burns told the New York Post that Wilson has already made an impression on the defense as the OTAs are beginning this week. The Giants have gone from nonsense to no-nonsense overnight.

"He takes a lot of the gray area out of things," Burns told The Post. "He makes things very simple and very black and white, so there is no confusion. I think that’s going to allow us to play as fast as we possibly can.

"With that said, he doesn't tolerate any B.S. I like that type of approach. He let it be known, 'I'm not your (expletive) friend. I'm here to do a job. After you're done playing, we can be friends. I'm here to push as much as I can to make you the best player you can be.' That’s the type of respect I would love to have with my DC."

Giants fans are excited to get back to the style of defense that has won them four Super Bowls and has been the framework of their franchise.

Harbaugh and his staff are putting their stamp on this team early and often, even if it's simply by returning to the basics. Some things never go out of style.

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants defenders see a lot of Wink Martindale in Dennard Wilson