Michigan losing defensive analyst Kevin Wilkins to the NFL

Michigan Wolverines football is set to lose one of its key defensive analysts to the NFL with outside linebackers assistant Kevin Wilkins joining the Jacksonville Jaguars. The news was reported late last week by Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports before Wilkins penned a social media goodbye on Sunday.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside the great people and incredible student athletes at Michigan,” Wilkins said on social media on Sunday. I can’t thank [Sherrone Moore] and Warde Manuel enough for the opportunity this past season. It was one of the most special seasons of my career and I will miss everyone at Michigan very much! I’m excited for the next chapter, but I will be a Michigan fan for life!

“A huge thank you to the best Defensive Coordinator in the game… a great leader, a great coach, and most of all a great man. I am so lucky for the countless lessons he has bestowed upon me in life and in football. He prides himself on making the people around him feel important and empowered, and gives so much to the game of football in his development of the coaches and players. Thank you for 10 amazing years, 10 is a huge number in this business (unless you’re talking about points allowed in a rivalry game) and I’ve cherished every one of them!

“The coaches at Michigan are ELITE [and] are as good as they come, and the players who get to benefit from their coaching are truly blessed. Their abilities to develop on the field, teach in the classroom, game plan with immense detail, and guide young men on their journey through life and football is unique and they embody being the best at getting better!

“And lastly, the players. I was so fortunate to be welcomed into a room full of smart, physical, relentless football players who have a passion for the process that made my life easy and made coming to work a joy. We worked hard at getting better every day and had fun while doing it. I’m so grateful for each of them! They made me better and I’m so proud of each guy in the room. The sky is the limit for what they can achieve in life, and I’m fully prepared to watch them take over college football next season!”

Wilkins is set to become the assistant linebackers coach under Liam Cohen, hired in January by the Jaguars. He joined the program last season after defensive coordinator Wink Martindale was hired and is a mentee of the Michigan play-caller. He worked this season with Michigan’s outside linebackers, including Josaiah Stewart, who led the team with 37 pressures and 9 sacks, per Pro Football Focus.

Wilkins has worked with Martindale since the 2015 season, coming up as an intern in the video department with the Baltimore Ravens. He worked his way up through the organization, serving as a video operations coordinator from 2017-20 before his promotion to a defensive assistant in 2021.

Martindale has leaned on Wilkins for nearly a decade and advocated to Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore to bring him into the program last offseason.

“Sherrone hired the staff,” Martindale said last spring after he was hired. “We interviewed [defensive backs coach] LaMar Morgan through Zoom and with previous relationships, I told him I needed Kevin Wilkins because he’s my right hand. He’s going to be here as an analyst. Everything else has just sort of filled out how its filled out. It’s a fun process to go through, I’m glad it’s pretty much over and we can start doing football. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Martindale himself had some NFL interest this offseason, interviewing for the defensive coordinator jobs with both the Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons. The Colts wound up going with former Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, while the Falcons hired former Jets defensive coordinator/interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich.

Martindale signed a three-year contract last winter, coming in at an average of $2.5 million over the duration with base salaries of $2.3 million in 2024, $2.5 million in 2025 and $2.7 million in 2026. The second year of his contract began on Jan. 11, and if he left for an NFL defensive coordinator job, he would owe U-M $350,000.

Before Martindale arrived in Ann Arbor, Martindale spent two seasons with the New York Giants as its defensive coordinator. He was previously with the Ravens from 2012-21 as its linebackers coach (2012-17) and defensive coordinator (2018-21).