Sherrone Moore’s Avengers Assemble mission is going right as he planned. First, it was the person replacing Michigan’s X-factor Ben Herbert as his right-hand assistant for a year, who worked beside him for 8 years, six at Michigan and the two before at Arkansas, Justin Tress. Second was replacing Jesse Minter, who soared Michigan’s defenses right to the No.1 of the overall defense board in the previous season, something that hardly anyone did in the franchise’s history. So Moore thought, ‘Who better than the one who taught him the basics of defense?’ And hence landed Don ‘Wink’ Martindale in Michigan.

Moore continues to give college football a taste of his excellence in making the best thought hires, something that anyone, except the Michigan players, hardly expected from him. He followed the suit in his next staff addition as well. Sherrone Moore is set to make Kevin Wilkins the next defensive analyst at Michigan. The move is quite self-explanatory, as Wilkins was a part of the defensive staff of Wink Martindale at his previous teams, the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens. Per Maize and Brew, Wilkins worked with Martindale at both of his previous teams, the Ravens and the Giants as a defensive analyst. Hence, his joining Wink here was a no-brainer.

Wilkin worked as a video intern for the Ravens in 2015, later becoming their video operations coordinator in 2017. However, his on-gridiron knowledge came in handy as the franchise later hired him as the defensive assistant in 2021, soon after Martindale left. Wilkins’ nine years of NFL experience, paired with his special knowledge of the inside linebackers at the Ravens and the Giants, will be put to good use by Martindale, given his extensive experience.

The legacy of Wink Martindale at the Ravens

The Paul Dr. Z Zimmerman: a Lifetime Achievement award for assistant coach in the NFL honored Martindale knows his way around defenses. Martindale signed a contract with the Ravens in 2012 as their linebacker coach. In 2018, he was promoted to the position of DC before finally parting ways with John Harbaugh.

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During his 10 seasons with the Ravens, the franchise was ranked 12th in scoring defense and 17th in total defense in 2013, the year Martindale aided the Ravens toward their Super Bowl XLVII win against Jim Harbaugh. Being his brother, John knew right where to strike Jim, the information that he also shared with his staff. Will Moore capitalize on that information to keep things smooth at Michigan or will he run it “his way” as he claimed in his introductory speech?