Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka huddle with Post columnist Steve Serby for a wide-ranging Big Blue Q&A.

Q: Where do you expect your offense to make the biggest strides in the second year of this system?

Kafka: A lot of it will just be detailing up all the small things that caught up with us last year. I think we just gotta build off of that, continue to refine our details and our fundamentals and get our guys in the next spot. We’ve stressed that, I think the players have bought into that, and so having the flexibility within our scheme to do that.

Q: With your added speed, is 25 or 30 touchdown passes for Daniel Jones realistic?

Kafka: There’s no set number on that. Each week will be a little bit different.

Q: How exciting is it for you that you have more speed this year?

Kafka: Yeah, it’s great. Whatever those strengths are, you put ’em in that spot do that they can go and play fast.

Q: How does Daniel, as a dual-threat quarterback, compare to Mike Kafka?

Kafka: (Laugh) Daniel’s a high-level professional quarterback. There’s really no comparison between him and me, he’s way ahead of me.

Q: Where do you expect your defense to make the biggest strides?

Martindale: I think we’re definitely gonna make a big jump in run defense. It’s gonna be a focus. It’s gonna be a focus schematically, it’s gonna be a focus with personnel. The real fan of the game will see that immediately once we get to August and get in the preseason and start playing games. … The only chance you have of winning a heavyweight fight is if you can trade body blows, and that’s what the run game is, it’s just trading body blows. You gotta stand up, you gotta take some and you gotta obviously give some. With that, you need some size and knock-back, and I think we’re going in the right direction.

Q: What are the traits of the ideal Wink Martindale football player?

Martindale: Dabs [head coach Brian Daboll] has had the motto, and it’s true: smart, tough and dependable. I like players that are passionate about the game, and then play with old-school violence that’s made this game so great. It’s starting to shape up. Are we there yet? We’re just taking it one day at a time. It’s gonna happen, I just don’t know when it’s gonna happen eventually. We’re going in the right direction.

Q: The traits of the ideal Mike Kafka football player?

Kafka: For me, it mirrors what we stand for here with the Giants: smart, tough, dependable.

Q: How would you describe your leadership or coaching style?

Kafka: I try to lead by example — doing the right thing, preparing at a high level, trying to be a teacher and understanding that these guys may or may not have heard or know as much as I know, and I want to be able to be a teacher for them and help them understand whatever we’re trying to work through. As a former player, being in those shoes, just trying to understand what the coach is trying to get done, and so for me, I like painting a picture for those guys.

Martindale: I think it all starts with being honest in your relationship with the players. I think that a lot of coaches today make it about themselves instead of the players, and the game always has been and always will be about the players. And as a coach, the sooner you embrace that, the better it’ll be for both sides.

Q: Who are coaches or managers in other sports you admire?

Kafka: Some of my mentors — I know you asked for other sports but — Coach Fitz [Pat Fitzgerald, current Northwestern coach] is a mentor of mine, Coach [Andy] Reid’s a mentor of mine. I do enjoy watching the baseball draft and how things are built around baseball teams. They have a couple of different levels of development, so it’s a little bit different of a process there. A couple of buddies of mine are scouts in the MLB, so it’s always good to kind of hear their thought process and how they see things as they’re looking at players. It’s a little bit different than us, but it’s still cool nonetheless.

Martindale: I got a chance to go down to Tampa and speak with Aaron Boone. I think he does it the right way because he has the same approach what I was just talking about — he makes it about the players, he doesn’t make it about him. He doesn’t overreact in any situation. I think he’s a very authentic person, the way he was raised, and raised in the game himself. … John Calipari is another dear friend of mine. He’s always sending me texts, positive things, trying to make sure that I stay centered and focused on the job at hand, and don’t let anything else enter into the picture.

Q: How did your friendship with Calipari begin?

Martindale: We had a thing called Chasing Greatness during COVID, and we had several different speakers call in Zoom, because everybody was stuck in their house or wherever, and he was one of the speakers, and he talked to the defense. You could see why he’s such a great recruiter, a great coach, because he keeps it about the players.

Q: Dexter Lawrence said he wants to be and will be a Hall of Famer.

Martindale: I wouldn’t put anything past him. I think Dex, and I think Kayvon [Thibodeaux], second-year player, I don’t think they have ceilings. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I think that any goal that he has, I think that’s great that he’s talking about that.

Q: What excites you in particular about Kayvon in Year 2?

Martindale: Everything. He’s an exceptional football player and he’s an exceptional person. I really enjoy being around him.

Q: Can he be a double-digit sacker?

Martindale: The screens and the max protection I know for sure, we’re No. 1 in the league facing those. You’re not gonna get sacks on those plays, and on top of all that, people understand that we know how to beat protections. When you know the team you’re playing against [can] beat protections, your quarterback coach and the offensive coordinator’s saying, “Get rid of the ball quick.” So I think you have those three challenges of not just sitting there which a lot of teams just rush four and play one coverage, and then blame the players when it doesn’t work — that’s not how we roll.

Q: Will Xavier McKinney be wearing the green captain’s dot?

Martindale: We haven’t decided that yet. I think with the addition of Bobby Okereke, I think that you could put him in the mix with that. We haven’t had an inside linebacker wear the green dot since we had C.J. [Mosley] in Baltimore.

Q: What did you like about … how do you pronounce his name?

Martindale: Just remember this, this is how I learned it, OK? It’s like saying, O Carrot Cake. He’s smart as heck and he’s gonna be a perfect fit with the other guys that have already been here.

Q: You’ve had your first in-person view of Deonte Banks?

Martindale: It’s baby steps right now. He’s a very humble kid. … He definitely has the skill set.

Q: What are your thoughts about how New York feels about the New York Giants defense.

Martindale: It’s a very passionate fan base that has seen this team have a lot of success with really good defenses … with the Jessie Armsteads and the Strahans, obviously L.T. [Lawrence Taylor], Pepper Johnson … I mean all those guys that played there in the past, add whoever else you want to add in there.

Q: Harry Carson?

Martindale: Definitely. Carl Banks. There’s so many Pro Bowl, Hall of Fame defensive players that have been New York Giants and there’s a pride to it.

Q: How much do you enjoy coaching in New York?

Kafka: This is a great organization to work for, I love working for Dabs and working for Joe [Schoen, GM]. We have a great staff here as well, and so I’ve nothing but enjoyed it.

Martindale: I love it. Everybody has treated us well here. It’s crazy what a big footprint coaching for the New York Giants is compared to other teams I’ve been at. I go to Florida with my wife and there’s five people come up to you in a restaurant and they’re Giant fans and they just want to say hi. It’s really cool.

Q: How much would you have given to coach Lawrence Taylor?

Martindale: Oh, that would be great. Bill Parcells can tell you all that. I think he was the best ever … edge [rusher], then obviously I was with Ray [Lewis] in Baltimore.

Q: What do you recall about Michael Strahan?

Martindale: I just know how dominant he was in important times of the game when you needed a play, he would step up and make that play. You could always count on him for that. But what I like most about him was how even-keeled he was. It didn’t consume him that he was so daggone successful because he treated people the right way. I’m talking about players in the league, and his teammates and everything else, and you can see it today in the jobs that he has — that’s no act, that’s him everyday on TV everyday, and that’s the person that he is, and it’s pretty cool to be around.

Q: What are your thoughts on Harry Carson?

Martindale: You didn’t have to watch him play, you could hear him play. How physical he was. But how much of a gentleman he was off the field. It’s like he was distinguished. And that’s not a description you say with a whole lot of middle linebackers.

Q: Whatever comes to mind: Darren Waller?

Kafka: Explosive.

Q: Parris Campbell?

Kafka: Explosive.

Q: Jalin Hyatt?

Kafka: Explosive.

Q: Describe your head-coaching aspirations.

Kafka: Getting an opportunity to show who I am, and be the coach and the teacher who I want to be, and help an organization get to the highest level.

Martindale: You want to be the CEO of an organization and run a football team just ’cause it’s the next challenge. We’ve come here to New York. The challenge and task now is build the same thing we did when we were in Baltimore. Joe and Dabs have done a great job retooling the roster and the pace we could do it at. I think there’s a lot of excitement down the road for the Giants.

Q: You still hold out hope? You’re not discouraged yet?

Martindale: I’m not. The process that I went through in both interviews with the Giants [2020] and with Indy [January], it was a great process, and this last one with Indy was so thorough. [Colts owner] Jim Irsay said, “We’re gonna draft a quarterback, I felt that we gotta have an offensive guy [Shane Steichen] as a head coach.” As an owner, that’s their choice. But I really enjoyed my time there with the interview because Jim Irsay is authentic. He says what he thinks, and he’s not apologetic about it. I admire that, because I think we should all be that way.

Q: What is the biggest adversity you had to overcome?

Martindale: When we got fired as a staff in Denver [2010], I think that changed the direction of where I was going with my career because that’s when I realized it’s not about me, it’s about the players. Take it the right way, stop watching TV after every press conference or every game, hearing what they’re saying about your defense, everything else — just keep the main thing the main thing and stay focused on the success of your players. I found that out after Denver, ’cause I was just the opposite before that. I’d watch everything, I’d read everything. I think it changes your personality and who you are. It wasn’t any fun. It’s a short shelf life. You hang on every word that’s said … especially today with Twitter and all the other stuff.

Kafka: Probably happened as a football player at Northwestern. Just battling through being a young player starting early, and then going through an injury process and kind of coming back and having to fight my way back into the starting lineup. That was like a two- or three-year span for me that really challenged me mentally and physically.

Q: If you could pick the brain of any coach in NFL history, who would it be?

Kafka: Probably Bill Walsh. When they brought up and were developing the West Coast offense and really the passing offense from LaVell Edwards, and he was doing it at BYU. That was such not the norm at that point in time in the National Football League. Just their thought process, how they problem-solved certain things within their system, and built their system. I think it would have been cool just to be somewhere as a fly on the wall as they’re working through that.

Martindale: I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know Bill Parcells, starting back in like 2020 … Charley Casserly … one of the biggest influences in pro football for me was working for Al Davis in Oakland. For some reason, he took a liking to me and gave me a lot of responsibility. You had to understand every time he asked you a question, he already knew the answer. It was just so satisfying if you could stay close to him. My grandma, my mom and Mr. Davis are the only three people that call me Donnie. My wife, too.

Q: What did you learn from him?

Martindale: How to build a team. He was a guy that built teams inside out, which started with the offensive and defensive lines. Then after that he chased speed. I asked him where did he get his speed philosophy and size philosophy? And he told me about going to watch the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees, and he said, “They were bigger and faster than every team they played back then.” He’s like, “Why wouldn’t you go that?” And he said, “God only makes so many big people that can do things like this, and you need to try to get ’em in your organization.” Which makes perfect sense to me.

Q: What wisdom did you take from Parcells?

Martindale: I think every time I talk to him I’ll learn something. You talk about authentic — he’s gonna tell you what he thinks. And, hopefully you stay on the right side of him (laugh). He’s one of the reasons why, like you asked me about have you’ve given up on [a head-coaching job] yet, I haven’t. He said, “It’s gonna happen. You can’t force it.” He said it’s a different NFL than what it used to be. Because age and experience used to be the thing that people looked for and the ownership was different, it was more sportsmen that owned teams.

Q: What’s it like as a defensive coordinator defending or preparing for Aaron Rodgers?

Martindale: I love Aaron Rodgers, I really do. I love him as a competitor. He and I have gotten to know each other not personally, but professionally going against each other so much. And it’s like he challenges everybody that’s involved in the game. I guarantee you he challenges the offensive coordinator. He challenges his opponents’ defensive coordinators, always trying to find something new, something different. I have the utmost respect for Aaron the way he’s approached the game and plays the game. He’s a football savant.

Q: So you think New York won’t faze him at all?

Martindale: No … He might faze New York (laugh). … ’Cause he’s just gonna be Aaron. He’s authentic. He’s the real deal. He doesn’t make it bigger than what it is. And he’s really good at playing the quarterback position, and there’s a lot that goes into that, there’s a lot of studying that goes into that. The game has slowed down for him immensely just because of all the different experiences he’s had, and that’s why it’s such a great challenge to play against him defensively because he’s seen it all. And I always try to find something different to do when we’re playing him. And when I do it during a game, whether it’s commercial break, timeout or whatever, he’ll look over at me and start laughing, or raise his head, you know. It’s like I said last year, I was quoted as saying, “When I retire, and he’s retired, I hope I play behind him when he’s playing golf so I can try to hit into him.” And then we’re in London, and he’s acting like he’s swinging a golf club at me.” So he reads everything, he reads into everything. Like I said, he’s just a football savant. And he enjoys the game.

Q: Ever go on a darkness retreat?

Martindale: No, I’ve never done that. … I’m scared to ask him ’cause he might ask me to go with him.

Kafka: He’s one of the best, if not the best, quarterbacks to ever play. He’s a Hall of Famer. He sees the game, he has insane vision, can manipulate throws from any platform. He’s a leader on the field. He’s what you’re looking for as far as a quarterback, he does it all the right way.

Q: Have you ever gone on a darkness retreat?

Kafka: I have not.

Q: Describe Patrick Mahomes as a rookie in 2017.

Kafka: I think it was a sense of urgency to learn all the nuances about the offense, nuances about footwork and spend those hours in early morning and late at night studying and prepping.

Q: Why is playcalling so much fun?

Kafka: I enjoy it because you’re kind of running the show a little bit, as much as you can as a coach, and it’s competitive, right? You get an opportunity to put your plays against what you think a defensive coordinator’s gonna do. You try to give your players as much tools to go out and execute. It’s really all about getting your guys to play to the best of their ability and putting them in spots, so there’s a lot of thinking that goes on behind it, there’s a lot of preparation, there’s a lot of detail, there’s a lot of teaching that goes on behind it, and then to go see that come to fruition and be successful and score points and lead your team down the field, that’s what’s fun to me. Obviously being part of the team and be able to get guys to come together towards one common goal is super fun. It’s hard for me to explain it ’cause I played it, and now that I’m going through it again like you’re kind of running the show … it’s a fun experience.

Q: Why do you think Mike Kafka will become a head coach one day?

Martindale: He’s smart, he’s really smart. He learned so much from Andy [Reid] of taking the next step of the offense. He had a lot to do with the development of Patrick Mahomes. He knows how to involve and use the strength of his staff. And he’s very humble, and doesn’t have any ego. It doesn’t have to be his way, he wants it to be the best way.

Q: Why will Wink Martindale be a head coach?

Kafka: Because he’s authentic. He shoots players straight, he tells ’em the truth, he’s a great teacher. He obviously has an aggressive mindset. He’s a helluva coach and helluva play-caller. Those are traits to me that players gravitate towards.

Q: Describe Brian Daboll’s coaching style.

Kafka: Dabs’ coaching style is special. I think he has an ability to connect with players and get the players to see the game through his eyes. I think he has a demeanor about him that allows players to kind of build confidence, and have excitement and have energy.

Martindale: I think it’s throwback that I kind of like. He’s competitive … he’s really authentic. We didn’t know each other, but it’s like we have. I really like the way when he stands up in front of the team how he commands the attention of the team and the respect of the team. If you have the command of the team and the respect of the team, you can do a lot of fun things during the season.

Q: Boyhood idol?

Kafka: Brett Favre. His ironman toughness, would play through anything, always battled, always competed, played with great energy, and just was a leader on the field. … I loved the way he played the game.

Martindale: [Muhammad] Ali … Pete Rose … football-wise it was Dick Butkus. I went to an antique shop once with my wife in California. And they had this 5×5 maybe area of sports memorabilia antiques. And I found a Dick Butkus poster. … I think I bought it for like $75 or something. And then there was a frame shop next door … the lady goes, “We can fix these creases where the poster was turning white on the edges.” She up-saled the s–t out of me. And then she said we need to get theater glass to put in there. So I ended up spending like 500 bucks.

Q: What drives you now?

Kafka: I love competition. I think if you’re on this sport, you have to have a competitive bone in your body. I like the teaching aspect of it. Getting players to maximize themselves is what motivates me and why I love being a coach and being a teacher.

Martindale: I think it’s just the enjoyment of the game … but when the guys we coach make a play, I’m happy for ’em. I don’t want to say it’s as if I’m their parent, but it’s like it’s family and they’re making a play, and I’ve seen how hard they worked throughout the week and throughout the year and everything else and it’s finally coming to ’em and they’re having success — that’s what drives me, that’s what’s really cool.

Q: How come I haven’t seen you at a Knicks game?

Kafka: I’d love to. The family timing just hasn’t worked out yet.

Martindale: I’d wear my [Patrick] Ewing throwback.

Q: Are you a Ewing fan?

Martindale: Oh yeah, I’ve always been that — as soon as I moved to New York (laugh). Hopefully I’d be able to get to a playoff game. That’d be fun.

Q: Three dinner guests?

Kafka: My grandpa, he’s since passed. Mickey Mantle, New York legend, that’d be cool to meet him. Plus I’m like a baseball card collector, his cards are worth kind of a lot of money now, so it’s be kind of cool to talk to him. Steve Jobs.

Martindale: Can we do a golf foursome? … Myself, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan … it’d either be Ali or Jackie Robinson.

Q: Favorite movie?

Martindale: Any mobster-type movie, I love those.

Kafka: The original “Jurassic Park.”

Q: Favorite actor?

Martindale: Denzel [Washington].

Kafka: Denzel.

Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?

Kafka: Dave Chappelle.

Martindale: Justin Timberlake/Bruno Mars.