Michigan football: How different will the defense be under Jesse Minter?

When Mike Macdonald left Michigan to return to the Baltimore Ravens, several names emerged to replace him. Several in the fan base were intrigued by Tampa Bay’s Larry Foote, the former U-M linebacker now coaching the position at Tampa Bay in the NFL. Wisconsin coach Bobby Aprill III also interviewed, and he was a serious candidate.

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But one name more than any other made sense, and for one big reason: 

Continuity. 

Former Vanderbilt D.C. Jesse Minter knows Macdonald’s defense well, having coached with him at Baltimore. The two are friends, and Minter picked Macdonald’s brain when it became clear he was a leading candidate for the Michigan job. 

And he was the correct and obvious choice. The terminology is similar, the returnees on defense know it well and Minter is the right guy to continue Macdonald’s outstanding work. Listening to him talk to Jon Jansen on his most recent In the Trenches podcast was just like listening to his predecessor. 

“In college there’s such a wide variety of schemes you can see week to week,” the new Michigan coordinator said. “The NFL is a matchup driven league. It’s not that there’s not different systems. There’s certainly a handful of systems in the NFL now. There is a [Sean] McVay system a quarter of the teams run. There’s Shanahan, all that stuff. A lot of them fall from the same tree or eat off the same plate. 

“But in college, you can pay Iowa one week, then can play Ohio State and they’ll spread you out. You can open up with Colorado State, who is going to be an air raid attack. I just think you have to have a diversity in your style to handle different types of schemes.”

In other words, adjust to the opponent, and don’t be predictable. 

That’s one of the big reasons Macdonald was so successful against the Buckeyes, for example. For years, there were rumblings OSU and others were stealing signals or reading ‘tells’ on the defense. Macdonald disguised his looks extremely well, especially against Ohio State, and had an outstanding year. 

Minter is well aware of the challenges and has done his homework to follow in his friend’s footsteps at Michigan.

“I think tempo is a big factor. In college, there are teams doing a really good job of mixing up tempo, trying to steal signals and all that,” he continued. “The operation is a lot different, where in the NFL you relay the call in through the helmet. 

“There’s a lot of that type of stuff you just have to be well prepared for, well-schooled for. It was good to get back in the college game for a year at Vanderbilt and get a sense of where all that stuff was. Now coming here, I think it will be better having served that year there.”

Plenty of returning coaching talent on the Michigan staff, too

He inherited plenty of help at Michigan, too. He started building relationships immediately with the returning coaches, and he’s pleased with the guys in the foxhole with him. 

“I think we have a tremendous staff. The coaches on defense … I had a little bit of a background with [new D-line coach] Mike Elston from years ago,” he said. “So, to get back with him I think has been a great deal. I think Coach Clink [Steve Clinkscale] on the back end does a tremendous job. I have been able to have a lot of conversation with him. Then, for him as well, he’s been here less than a year. He wasn’t here for spring last year. This was our chance from a coverage standpoint to almost start over, as well, with all of us getting on the same page. 

“Coach Jay [Harbaugh]  is one of the best football coaches I’ve been around. The special teams he’s put together speaks for itself, and he provides great insight, great value to the defensive staff with his offensive background. Then George Helow with our linebackers does an excellent job. I wanted to build relationships with those guys, have them get a feel for me.”

They’ve been making great progress, Minter said. The proof, of course, will come on Michigan football Saturdays in the fall, but they appear to be off to a flying start using a very similar system to last year’s.