ANN ARBOR – In his first press conference as defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan, Don “Wink” Martindale declined to divulge any trade secrets regarding his plans for next season, but did not give away any trade secrets regarding plans for next season. It touted the successful plan created by Jesse Minter in two seasons. .
This system, premised on diverse formations with an amoeba front to hide pressure and keep the offense guessing, has been executed brilliantly over the past three seasons, producing a defense that ranked in the top five nationally each year.
Martindale is the self-proclaimed “OG” (originator) of the defensive system that McDonald and Minter implemented in Ann Arbor, and he introduced it with the Baltimore Ravens in 2018, when two of Michigan's previous defensive coordinators were on the team. introduced.
When first-year head coach Sherone Moore hired Martindale, it was believed that Michigan would be able to maintain the identity of the defense that contributed to the best three years in program history.
But the Wolverines lost eight players who played at least 40% of the defensive snaps last season and now have a coordinator in Martindale who spent the past 20 seasons in the NFL.
Perhaps more changes may occur than initially anticipated.
“I think every year is different,” Martindale said March 15. “I'm not going to tell Ryan Day or Sarke (Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian) what we're going to do. I believe these guys are going to play at a high level. I'm more aggressive than Jesse – the proof is in Jesse and Mike's pudding. Let's see how it works. If I can get to a quarterback rush three, I'll rush three. That's the way football is, people are adapting to us too, so we'll have to see how that changes.”
Michigan has only had a few spring ball practices, but players say there have been significant modifications.
“Absolutely not,” safety Makari Page said Monday. “Everything is different.”
Given that Martindale, Minter, McDonald, and Minter were all intertwined, Page's comments were surprising enough that several reporters questioned Page's claims.
“I feel like you're making fun of us,” the reporter replied.
“It's true,” Paige replied.
“You're saying this was supposed to be the same defense and it's completely different. Is that what you're saying?” another reporter said.
“Haha, yeah,” Paige said with a wry smile.
All of Michigan State's activities are closed to the media, so it's unclear how sincere Page was in his response. But junior defensive tackle Mason Graham also hinted at defensive adjustments.
“I don't know how to describe it,” Graham said Monday. “He (Martindale) changes it up a lot. We bring a lot of different styles, like we've always done, and keep the offense tense, but what we bring, how many guys we bring.” I don’t know if he’s coming or what he’s doing. I feel like he’s at least changing things up and continuing to chase the offense.”
Graham said the philosophy was the same under Minter, but “the approach was different.”
Michigan has played more zone defense in recent years, rarely blitzing more than four while maintaining a two-safety shell on the back end to prevent big plays.
Martindale has been the defensive coordinator for three NFL teams since he last coached at the college level in 2003, and he isn't shy about blitzing or playing in man coverage.
Having the safeties more involved in the pass rush is a welcome change for Paige.
“I think that's his plan,” Page said. “But like I said, it's still like the fourth day of practice. We don't have everything together yet, so I honestly don't know what he has planned for us. But if possible, I'd like to do more blitzkrieg.”
Regardless of whether Martindale adds new touches to the defense, the players have the standards to go through back-to-back seasons in which the unit ranked in the top four in yards allowed and points per game. I understand that.
“People are still hungry,” Page said. “We're not complacent. I think that's what we need on the defensive end. We're going to continue to accomplish what we need to accomplish. We want to be better defensively than we were last year. That's our goal right now.” ”
