Why keeping Steve Clinkscale would be huge for Michigan
As Sherrone Moore’s defensive staff comes together, Steve Clinkscale is a name to watch. He spent the last three years as Michigan’s defensive backs coach, including two seasons as co-defensive coordinator.
Clinkscale seemed like a candidate to join Jim Harbaugh and Jesse Minter with the Los Angeles Chargers after they helped the Wolverines to a national championship this past season. However, The Wolverine’s Chris Balas reported he’s “unsure” about his future, and he could find himself back at Michigan next season.
If Steve Clinkscale can stay with the program under new defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale, it would be a big boost for Moore, according to The Wolverine’s Clayton Sayfie.
“I think it’s huge,” Sayfie told Andy Staples on On3 Roundtable. “It seems like that is likely to happen, I don’t think that’s completely set in stone at this point. From what we’ve heard, maybe there were issues with Los Angeles paying his buyout or just kind of the finer details there. So it does seem like he’s indicated that that’s likely going to be the decision, but until Jim Harbaugh hires a DBs coach, I think people here will be a little bit nervous. But it’s huge.
“I mean, he’s an ace recruiter. He’s a guy who develops guys, going back to his time at Kentucky or even Cincinnati, and has done a great job with the DBs here at Michigan. He’s already been the co-defensive coordinator. He knows the system, too, which is huge. So that’s a big one. A parent of a DB was kind of saying the same thing the other day when this news kind of came out that he’s made that indication. So I think it’s just really, really big to keep that continuity because they lost a lot on that defensive staff.”
Moore made a big splash at defensive coordinator as he hired Martindale to replace Minter, the architect of Michigan’s top-ranked defense. The Wolverines led the nation with 247 yards allowed and 10.4 points allowed per game en route to a national championship. Martindale runs a similar scheme, which means it could make for an easy transition for the defense in 2024 as Moore starts his tenure.
To Sayfie, it was a home run move.
“You’re keeping it in the family. The scheme is going to be similar,” Sayfie said. “He’s 60 years old. He hasn’t been in college football since 2003 at Western Kentucky and a few of his years at Western Kentucky were under Jack Harbaugh.
“It’s a splash type of hire, getting a guy out of the NFL. And, I think it could be a pretty good fit for Michigan at least for a couple of years, if that’s what they get out of him.”