Wink Martindale
Not too long ago, Don “Wink” Martindale was the bell of the coaching ball. His ascension to defensive coordinator with the Ravens ushered in a new era of defensive dominance for Baltimore, perfectly pairing with the explosive emergence of Lamar Jackson on offense.
The gruff, aggressive mastermind eventually left for the Giants, partially due to disagreements with head coach John Harbaugh. There, he crafted a defense that routinely punched above its weight in his first year on Brian Daboll’s staff, during which the Giants surprised everyone with a playoff run.
But the personalities of Daboll and Martindale were like oil and water. The rocky relationship came to a head when Daboll fired Martindale’s top defensive assistants without informing him first, which led to Martindale cursing him out and resigning on the spot.
That led Martindale back to school, running the defense at Michigan following Jim Harbaugh’s departure for the NFL. The Wolverines finished both years inside the top 25 in the nation in both scoring and yards allowed. But with a new head coach coming to Ann Arbor, and reportedly bringing in a new defensive coordinator, Martindale appears to be available.
Martindale was known for being one of the most blitz-happy coaches in the league, routinely finishing at or near the top in blitz rate every year. While the approach didn’t always work against certain quarterbacks, his defenses were always a challenge for whoever they faced that week.
Clint Hurtt
If Schottenheimer decides he wants to pursue a recreation of the Legion of Boom, Clint Hurtt would be one way to go. We highlighted Ken Norton Jr. in the last list of candidates, and Hurtt brings a similar profile. Currently the defensive line coach for the Eagles, Hurtt spent seven seasons with the Seahawks, overlapping with Schottenheimer’s run there.
Hurtt came to Seattle as the defensive line coach in 2017 after serving under Vic Fangio with the Bears. When Seattle moved on from the aforementioned Norton, and as Pete Carroll sought to integrate some of the two-high safety schemes of Fangio, Hurtt was promoted to coordinator for the first time in his career.
Hurtt inherited a defense that had lost pretty much all of the key players from the Legion of Boom and they were in the midst of a rebuild on the fly. Hurtt didn’t lead a turnaround, and the Seahawks were actually 31st in EPA/play over the two years he led the defense, but Seattle was short on defensive talent as well.
When Carroll stepped down after the 2023 season, Hurtt went to Philadelphia to reunite with Fangio, where he’s helped maintain the franchise’s run of elite defensive linemen. Hiring Hurtt would be risky, for sure, but he would also offer some familiarity for Schottenheimer as well as bringing over the Fangio style scheme that’s taken the league by storm.