Phil Martelli shares how he felt after first win as Michigan interim coach

Michigan interim head coach Phil Martelli told the Big Ten Network he probably wouldn’t eat before the Wolverines’ game against Rutgers on Wednesday. Even afterward, he didn’t seem hungry — but said he might be later.

Apparently, one of his “rituals” — not superstitions — is to not eat before games. It’s been a while since he’s had to do that, though. Wednesday was his first game as a head coach since 2019.

So, after the game, Rick Pizzo asked how Martelli’s stomach was holding up. He answered in typical fashion.

“I’m pretty good right now,” Martelli said. “I’ll probably go home and probably sometime around 2:00, I’ll eat, because I haven’t had anything all day today.”

He had to be feeling pretty good about the way his team played, though. Michigan rode a 9-0 second-half run to take control of the game and come away with the 71-62 victory in its first game without coach Juwan Howard, who’s suspended for the rest of the regular season for his role in the melee after Sunday’s game against Wisconsin.

Phil Martelli deflects the spotlight in first win as Michigan interim head coach

During his postgame interview, instead of basking in the victory, Martelli took a much more subtle approach.

“The biggest deal was, what we wanted to do was play hard, play smart and play together,” Martelli said. “And what we asked each guy to do was to be able to look in the mirror and say, ‘I gave my very best.’ If we were short, then we were short. But we were going to give everything that we had. Everybody. Support staff, managers, coaches, and those players. Magnificent performance.”

Not only did he dish out credit to everyone who took part in the victory for the Wolverines, but Martelli also used that moment to highlight and praise two other assistant coaches on Michigan’s bench Saddi Washington and Howard Eisley.

“Saddi Washington and Howard Eisley,” Martelli said. “America needs to know their names. They are ready to be head coaches, and they did this, not me. They did it.”

Martelli, who formerly served as the head coach at St. Joe’s, will be leading a program for the first time since 2019, after being named the Wolverines’ acting head coach while Howard serves his suspension. Howard, of course, was suspended for the remainder of the regular season for his postgame scuffle following Michigan’s loss to Wisconsin on Sunday. Howard appeared to have thrown a punch at a Wisconsin assistant after the two exchanged heated words in the handshake line, prompting the suspension.