Don’t let the game ball New York Giants coach Brian Daboll gave to defensive coordinator Wink Martindale after the 10-7 win against the New England Patriots on Sunday fool you: The friction between the two still exists.

Prior to the game, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that Daboll and Martindale were in such a “bad place” that the “tension” between the two could result in a divorce soon — during this season or after. Glazer said the relationship is “just getting worse.”

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The Athletic’s Mike Sando drilled deeper into this report on Monday, and he explained that what was originally hailed as a “genius” hiring process by Daboll, 48, when he became Giants coach last season is now being tested because of the lack of familiarity and comfort between him and Martindale, for example. Daboll targeted the best coaches and not the ones he knew well when he constructed his staff.

“Daboll learned from Bill (Belichick) and Nick (Saban), and we all remember Nick undressing Lane Kiffin and Daboll himself at Alabama,” a veteran coach who knows members of the Giants’ staff said. “A guy as established as Wink says, ‘You can yell at the young coaches, but not me.’”

Martindale, 60, has been part of NFL staffs for nearly two decades, joining the Giants as defensive coordinator after holding the role for four years with the Baltimore Ravens.

Saban chewed out Daboll, his former offensive coordinator (and graduate assistant at Michigan State), on the sidelines during the 2017 season’s Sugar Bowl because he didn’t like how the offense was finishing drives in the second half. In return, Daboll gave Saban quite a stern look. As Saturday Down South wrote, “Lane Kiffin was used to those from Saban, and it’s presumed that Daboll is, too, because he worked for Bill Belichick before Saban.” Daboll spent seven seasons with Belichick on the Patriots’ staff in the early 2000s.

While the Giants rank 28th with 364.3 yards per game allowed and 26th with 24.3 in points allowed per game, the defense has generally played better since allowing 31 points and 524 yards to the Miami Dolphins in Week 5.

“I addressed what I said last night, and I’m going to leave it at what I said last night, and I’m going to leave it at what I said last night,” Daboll said on Monday.

Sando wrote that a 4-8 season has exposed cracks in these relationships, and that it’s quite possible other staffers who aren’t strongly tied to Daboll could seek new teams after this season:

Beyond Martindale, Daboll’s other coordinators, Mike Kafka on offense and Thomas McGaughey on special teams, had never coached with Daboll previously. Tight ends coach Andy Bischoff, receivers coach Mike Groh and defensive line coach Andre Patterson also did not have significant ties to Daboll. The same was true for running backs coach DeAndre Smith, who left after last season for the same job with the Indianapolis Colts. Smith had worked with Colts coach Shane Steichen previously.