“Keeping It the Family”: Wink Martindale’s Appointment Dubbed to Warrant Minimal Change at Michigan Due to Eye Catching History

Carrying a legacy and keeping it in the family are the only two mottos Moore is carrying with him while building his team almost from scratch at Michigan. While he is particular about his style, he still wants to carry forward the flame of Michigan Wolverines that burns in millions of fans. The best way to do it? Trying not to wholly change the signature style of the franchise. It is a tough task, indeed, given the best of the coaches at Michigan bidding the organization adieu to join Jim Harbaugh. But Moore found the perfect way out to hunt two birds with one stone.

Michigan’s head coach did take his sweet time in finding the defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s replacement, but when he did, everyone had nothing but applause for him. Don ‘Wink’ Martindale is the mentor of the two who have handled the reins of Michigan’s defense for the last 3 years. Now, as they pass on their legacy to the one who taught them its foundations, ON3 analyst Clayton Sayfie uncovers that, for Martindale, “It runs in the family;” in Michigan’s family.

“This is keeping it in the family in terms of schematics. This is the guy who’s the coordinator in Baltimore when Mike McDonald and Jesse Minter were kinda coming up and then they kinda put their own twist on the system for the last 3 years in Michigan,” stated Sayfie. While this one was a popular fact among the football fanatics, Sayfie also had a lesser-known fact about the lineage ‘Wink’ would carry on of his mentor.

It was in 2003 when Martindale last stepped foot in the college football realm. His last position, which he handled for 3 seasons, was at Western Kentucky as the Inside and linebackers coach. It was during the same years, between 1989-2002, when Jim Harbaugh’s father, Jack Harbaugh, was serving as the head coach at Western Kentucky. Which is also “keeping it in the family,” per the ON3 guest.

Wink Martindale’s style to resemble that of Michigan’s?

Safe to say, Martindale inherited some foundational knowledge from Jim Harbaugh’s father, Jack Harbaugh, which he later passed forward to Jesse Minter and Mike McDonald. Minter and McDonald have worked under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan for the years. So this ‘family’ of theirs have their roots in the same style of playing.

READ ALSO: Did Wink Martindale Ever Coach Michigan’s Last 2 Defensive Coordinators Jesse Minter & Mike MacDonald?

As Sayfie stated, “Schemes going to be similar,” mainly because of their shared roots. Hence, Michigan fans would not get a stark opposite defense when they next visit Ann Arbor.

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