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Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter a nominee for Broyles Award

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•11/15/22•

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(Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)

Michigan Wolverines football had a Broyles Award winner last season, and the Maize and Blue have another contender in 2022. First-year defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has been named as a nominee for the honor, handed out annually to the nation’s top assistant, one of 51 to make the cut. Last season, Michigan saw former offensive coordinator Josh Gattis take home the hardware.

The Broyles Award semifinalists will be announced Nov. 22, followed by the unveiling of the finalists Nov. 29.

Minter is one of seven Big Ten assistants to be nominated, joining Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters, Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker, Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak.

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Minter’s unit leads the nation in scoring defense (11.2 points per game), total defense (232.8 yards per outing) and rushing defense (72.7 yards per contest). The Wolverines slot fourth in the country in pass defense, yielding just 160.1 yards per game, and second in pass defense efficiency, allowing 5.3 yards per attempt. They’ve allowed just 127 first downs, the fewest in the country.

Through 10 games, Michigan has allowed 20 or more points to just one opponent (Maryland; 34) and held five teams to 10 or less points.

Michigan has been especially good in second halves, with coaches and players crediting Minter and the staff for making great adjustments. Over the last five weeks, the Wolverines have outscored opponents 117-3 after halftime. They’ve outscored teams 91-6 in the third quarter this year.

As of Nov. 9, Michigan also led the nation in stop rate (83.7 percent), a basic measurement of success from The Athletic that factors in the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. 

Michigan lost two first-rounders from its unit a year ago in defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and defensive back Daxton Hill. Outside linebacker David Ojabo was taken in the second round, but was a projected first-rounder before tearing his Achilles at pro day.

There were questions surrounding the pass rush and the defense as a whole heading into Minter’s first season in Ann Arbor. Statistically, the group is better at this point in the season, and the pass rush numbers bear that out as well. Michigan is averaging 3.1 sacks per game this season, compared to 2.4 a year ago.

Minter has loved how his defense has come together after losing stars from a season ago.

“When I first started looking at the personnel and looking at some of the things they did last year, I was like, ‘OK, we’ve got a lot of good pieces coming back that have played some snaps. I don’t know that there’s that one guy, a transcendent player like Aidan,'” Minter said on the Inside Michigan Football radio show Monday night. “But the guys have really, really bought in, and Coach Harbaugh said at the beginning of the year, the team defense, the ‘no-star’ defense. And I think that’s become kind of a mindset of ours, that it really doesn’t matter — we want somebody to make the play, it doesn’t matter who it is.

“The guys are having fun, they’re having confidence. They’re, at times, setting it up for somebody else to make the play or make the play themselves. They get excited when they’re not even on the field when another guy makes a play.”

He and co-coordinator Steve Clinkscale, who also leads the secondary, have put the players in great spots, and they’re excelling.

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