ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Last year, the promise from former head coach Jim Harbaugh on the Michigan football defense was that it was ‘scary good.’ It wasn’t exactly the first time he’s made such a promise which was promptly delivered upon, but this year, it’s different.
Gone is Harbaugh and he took his defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, with him. Despite having been thought of as one of the great offensive minds in the NFL, the expectations for Wink Martindale taking over the Michigan defense haven’t been particularly high from a national perspective. Instead, there’s a lot of talk about his aggression mixed with the Wolverines having lost some keystone players like Mike Sainristil and Mike Barrett.
However, the players who are now on their third defensive coordinator in four years (Mike Macdonald, Minter, and now Martindale) feel like there’s an opportunity for the defense to actually improve upon last season.
Indeed, that is a scary thought.
“He’s seen a lot. He said to us the other day, he was like, ‘How many huddles do you think I seen break before?” like, since his career coaching — like, bro,” senior edge rusher TJ Guy said. “It’s probably like 400-something huddles he’s seen break so he knows — one thing he brings is knowledge. And I’m just saying: this defense is going to be scary. Like, for real. Nobody’s going to know where it’s coming from. Nobody’s going to know what we’re doing. It’s going to be so fun. Everybody’s going to have a turn to eat. Everybody’s going to have stats. It’s going to be fun. So fun.”
Despite playing more games and facing some high-powered offenses (particularly Ohio State, Alabama, and Washington), Michigan finished first in total defense and scoring defense, and were top 10 in yards per play allowed, rushing defense, and passing defense.
Given the focus inside of Schembechler Hall and the desire to build upon the national championship, instead of falling off as many predict, Guy says that those who will play a part in this defense are maniacal about trying to improve upon what that unit was able to do a year ago.
“Yeah, we were scary last year, right? Telling you it’s gonna get bad, like it’s gonna get bad,” Guy said. “So we (were) good last year, we’re trying to get even better, you know? So every day, growth mindset, tightening down the details, iron sharpens iron, all that good stuff. We were good last year. We’re gonna get even better than last year.”
The Michigan defense does have a lot going for it. Though some others, like the one down in Columbus, get more hype, there are three likely first-rounders on this defense (Mason Graham, Will Johnson, Kenneth Grant) and more who could work their way into the early rounds like linebacker Jaishawn Barham or edge rusher Derrick Moore.
The personnel is there, the big question will be the execution. And if some of those role players from a year ago step up, this defense could be generational — despite each of the past three seeming to be better than its predecessor.