The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2024 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 81 "I challenge our assistants on defense — one of our charges is we need to be to- gether to make him look even better, be- cause that's the way he makes you feel. You don't want to let him down." The Wolverine: Tell us about your de- fensive staff — how have you all meshed, and what do you like about them [line- backers coach Brian Jean-Mary, second- ary coach LaMar Morgan and defensive line coach Lou Esposito]? Martindale: "I think we've meshed great. They are great people all the way through. We have a group of different personalities, and it's been a lot of fun. "The thing that stands out for me is that all the position coaches have coor- dinator experience themselves, which is huge. We're going to run the same system, but each system changes every year, no matter where I've been. You have your system, your foundation. But as soon as you add somebody new to it, they have an idea that can help you. That's where the system changes. "It's been 20 years since I went out recruiting. The month of May, I think I was in 14 different states. Watching those four guys work and putting [special teams coach] J.B. Brown with LaMar, Lou, and BJ, who I've visited schools with, inspires me. Now, I can't let them down. "Sherrone did a phenomenal job hiring people, and I also brought a couple guys with me in Pernell McPhee, who played for me at Baltimore two different occa- sions, and Kevin Wilkins, who has been with me for 10 years. Then there are other guys, holdovers from last year's staff, an- alysts. … They've been great. It's a group of good people." The Wolverine: What's been your message to the staff in the first several months on the job? Martindale: "When you can get a group of people defensively thinking about 'we, ours, and us' rather than 'me and I,' that's when you have something special. That's what we're going to con- tinue to work on every day. "I'm at the point of my career that how I give back to the game is developing play- ers and coaches who can go on and have success. "A lot of the guys who have worked with me or who I've worked together with have gone on and are having success, as you saw with Mike and Jesse here. D'Anton Lynn, the defensive coordinator at USC, Anthony Weaver, the coordinator down at the Miami Dolphins — there's a bunch of guys we've had in this defensive tree that have gone on and had success. I take pride in that." The Wolverine: You've had success both in the college game and the pros. Does your approach change between one and the other, or are you the same guy in both situations? Martindale: "I'm the same guy in both situations. Everybody wants to be coached. Some of the college kids don't realize they want to be coached yet, es- pecially with NIL and everything else, but they want to play great. They know what the bottom line is if they do play great. They obviously want to go to the next level. I tell the players here and the guys we recruit, if you have a guy coming here from the NFL for 20 years, do you think I know what it takes to get to the next level? "We tell them it's not just getting to the next level … it's getting that second contract. We know how to do that, too. "We're going to coach you here to be successful when you move on. These kids here have such great success. They live and breathe football, and it's really enjoy- able to be around." The Wolverine: Your thoughts on the defense overall after going through spring ball with them? Martindale: "We need to continue to develop depth. I think we have nine to 11 players that will be on a pro roster next year, but we need to grow the depth be- hind them. That's going to be vital within the next few months before we kick the season off, just getting those guys to step up. "Where we saw weaknesses in our ros- ter, we tried to help with the portal in the spring, which is basically just free agency. "I'm excited to get this thing kicked off and see how all these guys jell. They are already jelling because of the people they are. There are a lot of them that have the same likes and loves, which is football. They are always talking football, always making sure they hold themselves ac- countable. "They discipline themselves. It's beau- tiful to see. It's old school football, and Jim [Harbaugh] had a big-time stake in that. I coached for his dad, Jack, [at West- ern Kentucky] and John [with the Balti- more Ravens], as well. I know that family, that system. I also know they've won a lot of football games as head coaches, and you can see why. Now, our charge as a staff is to keep that same vision rolling. "I know Sherrone's philosophy, what he wants out of the defense, and I know what he wants out of the offense, which is just as exciting for me." The Wolverine: What did you see from the Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter de- fenses here that was different or similar to what you do? Martindale: "It was the same system. They changed verbiage a little bit to sim- plify making one-word calls, things like that. It was some really good stuff, and we're going to keep it in the package. "Each one of us, Mike and Jesse and me, have different personalities. The dif- ference you'll see is not the system, but how each one of us will call the game. Jesse did a phenomenal job for two years of how he saw the game, how he attacked the game. It's a lot of fun for me to watch. "I'm very familiar with the players be- cause I was always watching Jesse. When I was going to different cities to coach the pro game, I would always find when the Michigan game was on and watch that." The Wolverine: You're probably al- ways going to be in demand given your history of success. How long can Michi- gan expect to keep you here? Martindale: "I took this job to stay here all the way until the end. But it's the same thing I told Sherrone, the same thing I told [athletics director] Warde Manuel — I took this job to finish my career here. Now, if somebody pulls a Brinks truck in here, I'm not going to say, 'I'm not going to talk to you.' "That's just the way the world works. I'm not going to sit there and lie to them and say, 'No, I'm not going to listen to anybody. I'm staying here.' That's B.S. But I took this job to stay." ❑ "I think we have nine to 11 players that will be on a pro roster next year, but we need to grow the depth behind them." MARTINDALE