Three years ago, it was something of a coup for Michigan football to manage to get a rising NFL assistant in Mike Macdonald to leave the pros to come to the college level (though many Wolverines fans were unsure of the hire at the time). Under no circumstances would any believe back then that the man who was above Macdonald, and leading the Baltimore Ravens defense, would eventually come to Ann Arbor to be the replacement for both Macdonald and his other protege, Jesse Minter.
After Jim Harbaugh left Ann Arbor for the NFL, Sherrone Moore managed to somehow lure longtime pro-level defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, ‘the O.G.’ of the defense, back to college. So how did it happen? Certainly, Martindale was a hot commodity, yet the Michigan job was appealing enough that he didn’t entertain any other possibilities.
It all started through a notable ESPN personality who made a phone call to Martindale, gauging his interest in the position. Martindale shared more with Jake Butt on a Champions Circle subscriber podcast.
“How that all came about was through Adam Schefter,” Martindale said. “And, I talked to some other people — Steven Eisenberg, I’ve known for 12 years now. And when I was down in Sarasota, in my mind, Jake — and you know, from being in the program — I was going to take this year off, and then just go back. And I received a phone call from Adam Schefter. He said, ‘Hey, would you be interested?’ And I’m like, ‘Sure. I’d be interested, I want to talk to (Sherrone Moore).’
“And I talked to the guy, his passion — not towards Michigan — his passion towards the kids. I’m like, ‘This is my guy.’ He wants to do everything right by the players. And what’s the best way we can do it for the players?
“And he had questions for me, and I had questions for him. And we talked, I want to say twice for about an hour each time when I was down in Sarasota. And he said, ‘Why don’t you come up here?’ And we talked for another two hours. Warde came over, and I didn’t realize, and Sherrone told me later, when I came up here, I already had the job, I didn’t even realize it. And you know, we got to be around some of the players.
“And we watched the Ohio State game and it was just like, like I said before, I wish I’d come up with something even more clever. But if you love the game of football, you love Michigan football, because it stands for what’s right.”
That was the how, but what about the why? Why leave the NFL for the same position in college, certain a step down in terms of prestige.
Martindale says that it was the players and how they operate that coerced him more than anything. Because the work ethic in Ann Arbor is at an even higher level, as is the personal accountability, than that of the NFL, as far as he’s seen.
“These guys, they want to win. That’s the first thing that attracted me to this job,” Martindale said. “The thing that surprised me because I didn’t really know what I was — it’s been 20 years, I didn’t know what I was going back into.
“With the players themselves, these guys love football. And I said this the other day, I was talking about Will Johnson, who’s a very humble kid who has just so much going for him that he doesn’t even know it yet. And that’s a good thing. Because the way he works, and as many things as we do football-wise within the program, I’ll see Will during a time out there with 10 or 12 teammates, they’re just out there working on their own. And I don’t care what anybody says, I don’t think you see that anywhere.”