Moore finds new Defensive Coordinator in Don Martindale

'Michigan-Utah 7' Photo Credit: theterrifictc via Flickr

Sherrone Moore has gone outside the Michigan family and found his new Defensive Coordinator in Don Wink Martindale.  Martindale comes in to replace Jesse Minter after he followed Jim Harbaugh to the NFL.   The defensive coordinator position was Moore's first big hire outside of Schembechler Hall after taking over as head coach for Michigan. 

The 60-year-old Martindale heads back to coach in college for the first time since 2003 where he was the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach for Western Kentucky.   Wink also had coaching stops in college at Notre Dame, Cincinnati, and Western Illinois before getting to Western Kentucky.

Martindale heads to Ann Arbor after parting ways with the New York Giants this past year.  Wink served as the Defensive Coordinator for 2 years in New York.  Before getting to NY Martindale was the DC for the Baltimore Ravens when he worked with both Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter.  Wink served as DC from 2018-2021 where he was able to put together 3 top ten defenses in those years.

Moore's hire of Martindale should help keep the continuity that has been Michigan's defense the past 3 years.  Coming from the Baltimore tree, Sherrone Moore looks to keep the defense that has been working these past 3 years relatively the same with the Wink hire.  Although the playcalling will differ from Macdonald to Minter and now Martindale the defense should have a similar feel to it.  Martindale is known to be a player's coach and has an ultra-aggressive style of calling plays.

Moore’s staff is starting to take shape, with the hire of Martindale.  To go along with Wink, Michigan now has Kirk Campbell as OC, Ron Bellamy handling WR, Special Teams J.B. Brown, Run Game Mike Hart, and O-Line Grant Newsome. Michigan staff will need to remain focused on keeping any of their key players from hitting the portal in the allotted 30-day window.