Raiders lose Martindale to Broncos

It’s offical, Linebackers coach Don Martindale has accepted the same position with the Denver Broncos.

There were rumors Martindale was a candidate to be the Raiders’ next head coach (which the Raiders denied) or possibly the next defensive coordinator. There were even rumblings that several teams were interested in Martindale taking over as their Defensive coordinator. The Broncos among them. But instead of leaving the Raiders for a promotion with another team, yet another position coach leaves the Raiders to take the same position elsewhere (Special Teams coach, Brian Schneider took the same position with USC). Martindale must think it is a better option to be tutoring the likes of D.J. Williams under new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.

Who can blame him though right? The Raiders have no Defensive Coordinator, no Head Coach and no GM. On top of that, what they do have is Al Davis. Martindale was probably looking for some long awaited stability.

This could be a big loss to the defense due to how close Martindale was with his players especially Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard who have credited Martindale with their growth and development.

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