Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter sees growth from Rutgers football. It is a sign, he says, that the developmental program mindset at Rutgers is working.
Rutgers plays No. 2 Michigan on Saturday (12:00 PM ET, Big Ten Network).
Minter is in his second season as the defensive coordinator at Michigan. He had spent the 2021 season at Vanderbilt as their defensive coordinator. Prior to that, he had four years on staff in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens.
Rutgers has played Michigan tough in the past three years, including taking a halftime lead at home against the Wolverines. Rutgers would lose that game 55-17.
As such, it was a natural question this week as to why Michigan has battled Michigan tough in recent years. Minter spoke about the style of Rutgers and what he sees as the upward trajectory of the program:
“I just think that they’re (a) tough physical outfit, they’re very experienced,” Minter said according to Wolverines Wire.
“Now, you look across their roster, they’re starting 11 on both sides, you see 22 starts, 33 career starts, 15 career starts, 14 career starts. So they have a lot of guys that have played ball there that — I know, it’s a developmental program, supplementing it with probably some transfers. But they’re there to that point now where they’ve developed a lot of good players.
“They play tough and physical, their style lends itself to sometimes keep games close, because of running the ball, playing really good defense, being a really aggressive outfit and productive special teams outfit. So I would just say that style lends itself to playing in some close games.”
The quotes from Minter come via Wolverines Wire.
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Rutgers is 3-0 following season-starting wins over Northwestern and Virginia Tech.
Ranked second in the nation, Michigan has a legitimate claim to be the top team in college football. They have three wins this season, all coming in non-conference play.
The game against Rutgers is the Big Ten opener for Michigan.