One of the most important hires Sherrone Moore had to make after being named Michigan football head coach was defensive coordinator.
Jesse Minter and Mike Macdonald were home-run hires. They led directly to Michigan football conquering Ohio State and winning a national championship. There were plenty of other factors, but without the Ravens’ defensive system, it’s hard to see the Wolverines winning it all.
Michigan isn’t short on talent, especially on defense with dudes like Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Derrick Moore, Josaiah Stewart, Ernest Haushmann, Rod Moore, Will Johnson, and Makari Paige all coming back, not to mention Quentin Johnson, who was ninth on the team in defensive snaps last season.
Moore wanted to run the same defensive system. For one, it works. Secondly, it was going to make things easier for the players, in addition to helping with player retention. So Moore hired Wink Martindale, the former Ravens DC who Minter and Macdonald both worked under in Baltimore.
As far as player retention, the fact that Michigan football has lost just one player of consequence (Keon Sabb) to the transfer portal is all you need to know. Players are buying in and Martindale shed light as to why in an interview with the “In the Trenches” podcast.
Wink Martindale expresses confidence in defensive system
“It’s like I told the players: In all humility, I’m the OG of the system, so we’re gonna be just fine,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is there’s been some verbiage changes because of the up-tempo of college football. You have to make a lot of calls just one-word things. But they kept the foundation of what we all put in together back in 2018. And that’s fun to see it work. And it’s not just worked for those two; it’s worked for D’Anton Lynn, who’s at SC now, Zach Orr, who’s the defensive coordinator at Baltimore. There’s a lot of guys that have come up through our tree, if you will, that they’re having a lot of success with this system.”
Michigan football is a “dream job” for Wink Martindale
Martindale said coaching at Michigan “was a dream job.” He also said his favorite thing was interacting with the players and talked about how Michigan football players such as Rod Moore, Makari Paige, and Mason Graham have been watching film and sitting in on meetings, which bodes well for them staying for the 2024 season.
“The thing that I love about being a coach is being around the players. And that’s what’s been great for me since I’ve been here — because there’s guys here all the time, watching tape, asking questions. We’ve had players: Rod has been in there, Makari has been in there. Mason has been in — in our staff meetings. If they want to come in and sit in a staff meeting, come on in, and let’s talk football. And it’s all relative, whether it’s high school, college or pros, as far as the teaching and educator part of it. But there is a different excitement of guys wanting to learn and it’s been a lot of fun.”
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