Don 'Wink' Martindale discusses why he came to Michigan, his defensive scheme: 'I'm the OG of the system'

Don ‘Wink’ Martindale is Michigan Wolverines football‘s fourth defensive coordinator in the last five seasons, with new head coach Sherrone Moore tapping him to replace Jesse Minter, now the coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers.

But while it’s a new man in charge of the defense, the scheme remains similar. Martindale was the coordinator in Baltimore while Minter (U-M’s D.C. from 2022-23) and fellow former Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald (2021) were position coaches. Speaking on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast, Martindale pointed out that he was one of the architects of the system.

“It’s like I told the players, I said, ‘In all humility, I’m the OG of this system, so we’re going to be just fine,'” Martindale said. “We’re all excited about it, and it’s going to be fun to see with the new crew that we have defensively on the coaching staff. That’s why I tell them, every year it evolves to everybody on the staff of what we do with the system, so it’s all of our system — starting with Sherrone.

“It’s one of those things that I think you have the advantage being at the University of Michigan because of the offense and how Sherrone runs the offense. I think that puts us in the right mindset to play great defense, because you better be physical if you’re going to play at the University of Michigan.”

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Martindale said he noticed some “verbiage changes because of the up-tempo [nature] of college football,” but that it’s largely the same defense as he ran in Baltimore from 2018-21 and with the New York Giants from 2022-23. Between Minter, Macdonald, who’s now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and others, Martindale is pleased to see that the scheme has become trendy across football.

“There are a lot of guys who have come up through our tree, if you will, who are having a lot of success with this system,” the Michigan coach said.

A big part of the Michigan defense’s success is being able to stop the run while keeping five defensive tackles on the field. That means the interior linemen do a lot of the heavy lifting, and U-M has two great ones to build around. Juniors Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant were named the No. 1 and No. 6 defensive tackles in the country heading into the 2024 season, per PFF.

“The thing that you see — and this is through the draft process, when you’re evaluating college guys coming out — is the lack of technique that a lot of them play with,” Martindale said. “And these guys are square football players who play with knock-back, and they can make plays. It warms my heart to see that.”

Being Michigan defensive coordinator a ‘dream job’

Martindale has been in the NFL for the last 19 seasons, including seven as a defensive coordinator, with his last college job being at Western Kentucky. There, he was hired by Jack Harbaugh, a former Michigan assistant and the father of former U-M head man Jim Harbaugh.

A couple decades after the Hilltoppers won the 2002 FCS national championship, Martindale has gone back to school, and he’s elated about the future in Ann Arbor.

“The excitement of coming back to my roots and just to have the opportunity … I mean, this is a dream job to come to the University of Michigan and be the defensive coordinator and have this opportunity,” Martindale said. “And it’s one of those things, I think our lives are full of bucket list things, and when you look back at it at the end, it’s going to be a bucket list thing that I did — that we did, my wife and I.

“I’m just really excited about it, and I’m excited about getting back to the pageantry of college football, because that’s different compared to the pro level.”

Martindale jokingly added: “I wish we had a little bit easier schedule than what we have, but I guess it’s something I’m used to from where I just came from.”

Martindale has also enjoyed being around the greater University of Michigan community.

“It’s been great. We’ve been excited since Day 1, when Sherrone and I decided that this is going to work,” he explained. “The people have been great up here. I’ve been to a hockey game, been to a basketball game. Can’t wait for baseball and softball to start. I enjoy that, as well, and just getting back to the campus life. It’s been really reenergizing for me. It’s brought me back to my roots of just starting as a high school teacher and a coach. And we’re really excited about it.”

The players have invigorated him, too. Michigan returns plenty of talent on defense beyond just Graham and Grant.

“The thing I love about being a coach is being around the players, and that’s what’s been great for me since I’ve been here, because there are guys here all the time, watching tape, asking questions,” he said. “We’ve had players … [senior safety] Rod [Moore] has been in there, [graduate safety] Makari [Paige] has been in there, Mason’s been just in our staff meetings. If they want to come in our staff meetings, come on in and let’s talk football.

“That part is all relative, whether it’s high school, college or pros, as far as the teaching and educator part of it. But there is a different excitement of guys wanting to learn, and it’s been a lot of fun.”