ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Any time that a new head coach or coordinator comes in at either Michigan or Ohio State, it’s fair to ask of their understanding of the importance of the rivalry. Some coaches get it, but others didn’t embrace it — and their records reflected that, fairly or not.
Jim Harbaugh always embraced the rivalry, but it took him until 2021 to get his first win over the Buckeyes as a coach. Now, of course, the Wolverines would like to make it two in a row when the maize and blue head south on the last Saturday of November later this year.
But, if that’s to happen, winning a second-straight over OSU, it will likely mean that the defense is operating at a similar level as to last year with Mike Macdonald at the helm.
Macdonald’s gone, having gone back to the Baltimore Ravens, but Jesse Minter — who is also from the John Harbaugh coaching tree — has come in to replace him. Minter says that little will change on defense from a schematic standpoint. The Buckeyes are set to feature one of, if not the most, vaunted offenses in college football, so the onus will be on Minter to slow down their attack.
And already, he’s embracing his role, knowing that there’s one team on the schedule more important than others.
“It’s a huge piece of this position. It’s beat Ohio, I think we talk about it every day,” Minter said. “We do drills that are dedicated towards trying to win that game and I’m excited just to be a part of it. And I think the players, it was great for them to get that feeling and get to know what it felt like to win that game and certainly what it did for the season — catapult them into the Big Ten Championship, into the playoff.
“So yeah, the rivalry is a huge piece of college football and you don’t back down from it. So there’s a couple on the schedule that we got to make sure we handle our business.”
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Co-defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale knows just how important the pass defense will be again this year.
Last year, despite struggling on offense, seemingly, Ohio State managed 394 yards through the air. Clinkscale doesn’t want to see that happen again in 2022 — easier said than done with QB C.J. Stroud, as well as Jaxon Smith-Njigba and other talented wideouts returning.
“Well, I think because you had success, you gain confidence. Now the biggest thing is not to be complacent,” Clinkscale said. “And even though we have players who made plays last year, and some of those guys are returning in the secondary, we still feel that we can make more. We still feel like we can help the team more, we can leverage the ball better on the perimeter. We can continue to keep the big plays in front of us. We beat the team the last game of the year and we still gave up a lot of yards passing. We want to continue to minimize that, can’t give him any, any room to breathe. So we always want to keep focusing on that.”
Michigan fans will get a chance to see the revamped defensive attack on April 2, when the Wolverines host the annual spring game at The Big House.
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