The four teams that interviewed Kafka went elsewhere for their hires. Kafka was called in to speak with the Texans (twice), Colts, Panthers and Cardinals, those organizations interested in learning more about a rising star who in his first year with the Giants helped Daniel Jones play the best football of his career.ĭaboll, of course, would not stand in the way of anyone’s career advancement, but he said he thought to himself, “Am I really going to lose Kafka after only one year?’’ Keeping Wink Martindale (l.) and Mike Kafka (r.) was Brian Daboll’s top priority after his first year at the Giants’ helm. There were head-coaching vacancies coursing throughout the NFL, and Daboll’s top lieutenants were moving into the bloodstream.ĭaboll anticipated Martindale, who recently turned 60, would attract interest, but there was no way anyone could envision Kafka, 35, becoming such a popular figure on the interview circuit. What coalesced so seamlessly in 2022 was in danger of getting torn asunder. Wink Martindale speaking to the media at the Giants practice facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Daboll never before had worked with Kafka, and yet had no reservation plucking him off the Andy Reid tree and - get this - allowing him to call the plays Daboll himself designed, an assignment Kafka never before carried out, anywhere. Building together is the way to go, but it does not always work out that way.ĭaboll never before had worked with Martindale, and yet he entrusted the entire defense to him, acknowledging the veteran coordinator’s grizzled nature and big and bold personality not only would be tolerated, but also would be encouraged. That is what they have the opportunity to do. “It’s fun to build something from the ground up and see it all the way through, and that’s what we have the opportunity to do,’’ Martindale said. Brian Daboll (l.) and Mike Kafka during rookie camp. Of all the losses and gains and changes made to Daboll’s team and the Giants’ infrastructure, the returns of Martindale and Kafka can be viewed as the most critical to the promise of future success. One would be a deep cut, two would be damaging, possibly beyond repair.Ī few months later, Daboll and his coordinators on defense, Wink Martindale, and on offense, Mike Kafka, are working together, again, putting the Giants through Phase 3 of the offseason program, gearing up for the mandatory minicamp next week. That is what Brian Daboll, after completing his first year as a head coach at any level, realized had to be done to enhance the roster.īut first - before any of his own players could be re-signed, before any attractive free agents could be procured, way before the draft plan was set in motion - Daboll was immediately confronted with a real threat: possible defections from the highest level of his coaching staff. That is what the Giants embraced as the tasks at hand. The Giants were not overly impressed with themselves, which is why they realized, as soon as their productive and in some ways breakthrough 2022 season was over and done with, that they needed to add, add, add. Why Saquon Barkley should do all he can to work out deal with GiantsĮric Gray out to prove he can be part of Giants' backfield Joe Schoen, Brian Daboll's genuine cohesion led to Giants' draft haul defense companies.Kayvon Thibodeaux looking to increase sack numbers in Year 2 with Giantsīrian Daboll's lack of Super Bowl talk doesn't indicate lack of belief in Giants Schwartz had a long career in the legal profession at Hogan & Hartson, a D.C.-based international law firm, and at SAIC and Digital Equipment Corporation, two premier U.S. He is a frequent speaker on Russian military and defense policy and is routinely consulted on such matters by members of the media. Schwartz has also written extensively on Russia-China relations with special emphasis on the military dimension, and he has conducted in-depth research on Russia’s relations with Iran and the DPRK. Recent research efforts have focused on Russia’s ground forces, military training, and logistics Russia’s naval doctrine and Kremlin decisionmaking. He has been involved in numerous studies on Russia’s military strategy, capabilities, and doctrine its recent campaigns in Ukraine, Syria, and Georgia its military modernization and arms sales programs and its defense industrial base. His research portfolio is focused on the Russian military and its defense and security policy. Paul Schwartz is a non-resident senior associate with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
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