The OG Wink Martindale Makes First Comments As Michigan’s Defensive Coordinator, Embracing New Role

he also joined John Jansen on his podcast this week and you know shed a little bit of light into leaving the NFL after 20 years coming to Michigan uh what the system is going to look like and he said that one of the first things he told the players to reassure them that they're in good hands here is that hey in all humility I'm the OG of this system and he was the coordinator when Jesse Minter and Mike McDonald were position coaches there in Baltimore ran that defense for four years goes and runs the New York Giants defense for two seasons leaves and is now back in college he said this is a bucket list type of thing a dream job to be the defensive coordinator at Michigan and he's comfortable coming back to college after all those seasons in the NFL which is kind of amazing given the state of College athletics right now but he returns a lot of talent and one of the most interesting comments I thought he made when talking to John Jansen was about he loves he loves Mason Graham Kenneth Grant what he has returning on the defensive side he named other guys Josiah Stewart more he was here got nicknames for everybody he was calling Ernest hman Ernie so that he's Ernie now like to me that's you know he's Ernie works for me um exactly so but he likes the talent he said hey these players I told him come on into the staff meetings come on in and listen to what we're talking about what we're planning um and you know I kind of like how he's embraced and come in and he said he loves going to the basketball hockey soft he can't wait for softball and baseball like he's embraced being a college coach and I think that's important I agree I wonder how much he's going to recruit you know we've heard some things about that and uh you know I don't think the the former coordinators recruited a whole heck of a lot to be honest with you I think a lot of it was other guys and um but boy did they put ever put a team together if you look at the 18 guys that they sent to the combine and wink marale uh he's got an ego like all these coaches do he's got a strong will like a lot of these coaches do so but it's there's no question that he's the unequivocal leader of this defense now right and you had guys there before that were kind of in co-coordinator positions he's the guy so follow his lead let's see what he can do hopefully hopefully he's not over aggressive because you've proven that the way to beat the Ohio States and teams like that the Washingtons is to you don't have to Blitz all the time you just have to confuse them and uh and basically play good solid fundamental defense and Tackle well so I like the hire uh we'll see how it translates it's been a long long time but there's no question the guy knows football right so one thing about a great football team is that the staff really has to mesh and that's what we've seen with the Michigan guys the last few years hopefully that'll still be the case here because that's going to be important you've seen what happens on the basketball side if you've got a culture problem and and guys don't get along once John Sanderson left that thing went in the tank for Joan Howard and Michigan basketball I anticipate these guys will get along well under Chiron Morris guidance Chiron Moore again never heard anybody say a bad word about this guy so feel pretty good about the direction here in this first year they got a lot of talent guys the second year is going to be the one where everybody's like okay how well do these guys coach because they're going to be losing a lot more Talent too but to me this first year there's a real opportunity here to get it off on the right foot well the thing too that made Michigan so successful on defense under Mike McDonald and under Jesse Minter was the fact that uh Martin Dale even mentioned this you know when he watched Michigan on film all those guys play with great technique and they come right at you it just kind of when you have guys that are that disciplined that are that well taught all you have to do is call the defense and and I think that that's going to be a huge key with some of these new hires on you know on that side of the ball you know Greg Scruggs Brian Jean Marie Lamar Morgan you know how fundamentally sound will their position groups be um and how much does that take off of wink Martell's plate how much you know is his successor currently on the staff that's something that I think a lot of us will be watching and paying attention to um you know for me it's he's right you know and a lot ways he is the OG of the system that Michigan ran and we know we've talked about some of the differences between his style and M style and McDonald's style um so you hope that you know if there is some sort of you know that he doesn't get too bullheaded and just kind of yell well I'm the manufacturer this defense and what I say goes I think here's going to be a lot more pliability than that I think it's important too that it sounds like Chiron Moore is going to help set that identity of what they want to be on that side of the ball which a head coach needs to do he's not just going to hand the entire thing off the wink marale and say here you go it's his program he sets the tone I think that again when you look at what they've done on both sides of the ball with the staff again I know it's almost wholesale changes it is wholesale changes uh on the defensive side of the ball but man oh man with the players they have coming back with the you know the teachers of the game with some of the upand comers that they have I really do think that that that defense has a chance to be maybe not quite as good as it was uh because that was a special defense that helped them win a title but there's a lot of pieces there and a lot to be excited about no doubt well another comment that stood out to me was a half joking wink Martell saying I wish we had a little bit easier schedule than what we have but I guess it's something I'm used to from where I just came from referencing the NFL and to me you know I think what you have to do as an NFL defensive coordinator where every single week it's a different challenge it's a you know a lot of great quarterbacks and you know different styles of play from week to week but they're all very good I mean these are great players you're going against going into this you know next season where you do have a really challenging schedule I think having somebody from the NFL and it would have been more ideal to have Jesse Minter in charge of this defense but having somebody that had to do that on a week- toe basis you know is not necessarily a bad thing either uh so I think he'll be able to challenge it and then the last thing that stood out was he was at the 1995 Michigan Ohio State game he said the Tim Baka Tua game and he said he was sitting on the 50 yard line the dfects were were hosting him and he said it was amazing you watch you look on the field and you see so much talent in scarlet and gray but somehow it was Michigan that was just mauling them up front and the running back was going wild and they were able to win that game and upset number two Ohio State and you know part of the 90s is you know the mental Edge that Michigan had over Ohio State it feels similar now and I think he he understands the dynamic you know maybe you know I'm sure he's watched other Michigan Ohio State games but that's a good game for wink Martell to have been at I think now that it's 20 you know whatever years later yeah were you alive clay back in the day I was not uh when they when Tim akuka ran Crazy in Ohio State I was not I think are you cutting in and out here probably can you hear me now yep we got you all right no I think that um yeah that was one of the best football games I've ever seen by an individual performance in that game uh it was fantastic and um and you were absolutely right though about the mindset back then uh they came in there with their bu Butch clenched uh Ohio state did even when they had more Talent than Michigan and you could tell that Michigan had the mental Edge in the series and I think we're there again now Ohio state has gone all in with the money right um it's almost like the Dallas Cowboys right we'll give you everything you need need you're going to pay and and pay and pay some more and you better win something uh that seems what to be what they've done with the Ryan day here if Michigan finds a quarterback guys uh they're going to go in there with a lot of confidence and an outstanding defense assuming they say stay healthy and that could be a lot of fun again we are not conceding any game on the schedule I've already gone on record as saying if Michigan has a solid quarterback they're GNA beat Texas uh they're gonna have a very good year and I think they're going to make the playoff uh I would not go down there and concede that Michigan's going to lose to Ohio State this year just because they bought a bunch of players and you know feel like they're better now I think in the trenches Michigan could has the potential to be better we'll see what the offensive line does but I trust Chiron Moore and Grant Newsome to do some really good things there um I I can't wait I gotta tell you it has really rejuvenated it really rejuvenates you when you win a championship and you come back and uh you can't wait for that next Michigan football game again right we saw 15 of them and it was some in some ways the longest years of Our Lives covering scandals and everything else but it makes it leaves you wanting more and I can't wait to see some of these new guys we're talking about the linebackers I think the linebacker do of of Ernie and Jaa barhum is gonna be really really good and that defensive line is gon to be dominant uh for the most part especially on the interior and then you've got an Elite Corner in will Johnson and an elite safety in Rod Moore guys let's get this thing going it's gonna be fun Ernie it just cracks me up he's a Muppet or something they're gonna call Bert ner they're gonna call him Bert Nery on the inside Jan's nickname's gonna be Bert that's Sesame Street for you young kids year old guys yeah I don't really have much to have there um yeah I I just I I think they're in about as good a place you can be after everything that happened you know the first six weeks of the off season and all the change they're they're in a pretty stable place and now you could actually practice ball and evaluate what you have and um I think one of the you know I wrote about this in a mailbag that I did earlier today over on the website is you know the one of the benefits of starting Spring football later than everyone else's is that you know not only are you GNA see some of these position battles play out nationally um it gives Michigan a chance to you know evaluate their guys maybe just a smidge longer not that their Spring ball is any longer but that the transfer portal window is going to open with about five days left still in Michigan spring camp so they're going know when that portal opens what they need and what other what might be available to them so I think that's a that's a good place to be in uh at this time and we may know who's planning on entering the portal based on maybe some guys sitting out the spring game it's going to be kind of interesting in that little window there