Everything Wink Martindale said ahead of spring practices

Here's everything Michigan defensive coordinator said in a media appearance ahead of Michigan Football spring practices.

On Replacing First Round Talent

Well, it's just not like something that happens overnight. We've been trying to replace them through recruiting and everything else and the development of the other guys. We did a nice job in the portal with the two veteran tackles that we got in here. So, it's gonna be interesting to see how it all works out, just like I said before, we played Alabama. But also, I feel really confident in the depth that we have in that room. I feel more confident now than I did last year at this time with the depth, just starting off initially.

On Who Could Step Up

Yeah, I mean, let's just wait till we start spring ball and I'll be able to answer that better for you. Do I expect things big from Trey? Sure, same thing with Ike. And the other two guys that we brought in have done a nice job in the weight room and competing and the drills out there on the field and watching them move around. So, it's gonna be fun for us all to watch.

On Tre Williams and Damon Payne

Yeah, with film, it's just like recruiting a high school guy, except it's better competition and then meeting them in person and going through all that. So, it's gonna be fun to watch.

Year Two Comparisons

Yeah, like I said before, I've always said that that gets overrated. But yeah, personally, I feel more comfortable just because it's a year here in Ann Arbor and I'm used to things that far, that part. But the football part is the football part. Like I said, the guys really come on there the second half of the season and started playing well with each other and that shows up on Saturdays.

On Cornerback Depth

Yeah, like I said, everything is going to be, let's wait until after we start practicing, but there's some guys that are going to be fun to watch. Some of the freshmen are just getting here with Shamari and those guys, and some of our portal guys as well, that you just don't have a good enough feel and I'd just be straight lying to you if I said, hey, this, this, and this. You just got to wait and see it.

On Perception of Blitzing Too Much

What are they talking about? Well, I mean, all of that, it's like big time wrestling. You throw something out there and it catches on social media, and I know that you guys all have a job to do, and everybody has an opinion. It was just like when we played Ohio State compared to Alabama, it was two different game plans. That's what I was proud of. Not that it was two different game plans was I proud of it, but the execution of the two different game plans. Ohio State, the guys, like I told you, they executed the game plan and they played physical with it. And so, the scheme is the scheme. It's the same scheme for the last three years. Do I take pride in it? Did I let both Jesse and Mike know that we held Ohio State to 10 points and they didn't? Yes, of course I did. But we'll see what we can do with what we have. It's new people. It's a new year. It's the same thing I said before last year. It's going to be different. Don't know how it's going to be different, but it's going to be different. And we'll see how we adjust during the season and starting with spring ball here. But I'm really excited about, just like I said, seeing the guys compete.

Where Freshmen Could Have Impact

Well, all of them have a chance, where we wouldn't have recruited them. I've said many times up here that Lamar and BJ and Lou did a tremendous job in recruiting. We're excited about some of the young kids and some of the young kids are not even here yet. We're excited about them as well. So, once we get everybody here and we get a spring under our belt, I just know this in my career, any coach that's worth anything, as in, he's always going to play the best player. So if one of those new young guys are the best player, he's going to play. How fast he plays, we'll find out.

Which Players Excite Him Most

That's like asking who your favorite child is or favorite grandchild. It's just exciting that it's spring ball. Like I said earlier, let's get into spring and watch them compete and watch them move around. And all of us can make that decision on our own of who excites you the most as far as that goes. We have more depth than I covered earlier in the defense overall and in each room. And the quality that Lamar and Lou and BJ brought in has really helped us as a defense because we all have the same vision moving forward as all four of us know exactly what fits and how we can use it and everything else. So it's exciting times here for us defensively.

Setting the Foundation in Year One

Yeah, so as an entire staff, we did. We got to know each other, and the players most importantly got to know us. And we got to know the players well—what they do well, where's the best spots we can put these guys. And the execution of the defense improved throughout the year.

On Rod Moore Injury

Well, Sherrone's going to talk about all the injuries. I know he's progressing. I know he's doing well. When he'll be available, I'm not privy to that yet.

On Zeke Berry’s Role

Well, the corner was out of necessity. And I thought he played and competed very well there. The thing that's unique about Zeke is we can put him basically wherever we need him. He'll have some reps inside at nickel and reps outside at corner. And in the end, if he's one of the top three corners, for example, and the other two are primarily outside guys, then we'll move him inside. If one of the guys is an inside guy, then we'll keep him on the outside. That's the value of Zeke Berry—he can play both inside and outside. And that's rare when you're talking about coaching corners. But he's done a nice job in the off-season getting his body right and getting ready to go. So, like I said, it's going to be fun times for us.

On Competition at Corner

Yeah, there's a bunch of them. I mean, I don't even want to get into that. It's just, like I said, at a later date, I'll be able to tell you. We got some guys we got from the portal that look good, and there's some young guys coming. Obviously, Shamari Earls, the freshman, he looks really good as well. So, you got to wait and see when you actually practice football because the only way you get better at football is playing football and practicing football.

On Competition at Nickel

There's about six or seven guys, and there's too many to name right now. So, we have different packages that we looked at in the offseason of how we want to attack it. I know I'm boring up here just telling you we got to wait till we get into spring ball to see who stands out because a credit to them. They've all done well in the weight room and in prepping for this season. So it's going to be exciting to see when we actually can play some football.

On Players Having Consistency at DC and Scheme

It's a factor. These kids are more resilient than anybody realizes, the way this thing goes with people going in the portal and coming out of the portal and all the other movement in college football and the NFL. Every year is a new year, and they're excited and ready to go. There is comfort that I was here last year and all the staff's back besides Kevin with the outside guys. So, it'll help us.

Confidence From End of Season

Yeah, the Ohio State game, the big underdog that we were, and then missing, what, five starters? One of the five starters off defense going into Alabama. And the way they competed was just awesome. They were just playing physical Michigan football, which obviously has a lot of success.

On Metcalf Brothers

I know it's very hard. The youngest one has really good feet. He just hasn't had a lot of experience compared to his brother. Like I said, it's going to be fun to watch them to see exactly where they fit. Can we move people in and out at nickel, and for bigger packages, maybe Tiger or whatever? So it'll be interesting to see.

On Portal Additions

Yeah, I really liked the portal guys that we added. We have more depth than last year at this time. So we'll wait and see when we get through the spring. There's going to be somebody that jumps out and surprises all of us. We just got to see who it's going to be. They've all had a good offseason.

On Mentoring Other Coaches to Potentially Replace Him

I did that last year. And if you ask those guys, they'll feel that way. Once again, at my age, my job is to develop players first and develop coaches second. I'm not going to be a keynote speaker at any college convention deal or anything like that. If you develop the people around you and make them good enough that other people are interested in them, you're doing your job, and you got to treat them well enough that they want to stay. That's what we've had this year.

I was with Kevin, who went to Jacksonville, for 10 years. It was time for him to leave the nest, just like it was for Drew, who's with the Rams now, his brother that was with me for 13 years. I'm confident that any one of those guys can be a coordinator. So I'm just going to keep bringing those guys on, and it's their job to bring the assistants that are underneath them on.

For example, if Lou gets a coordinator's job, then Double D's ready to step in and be the D-line coach here. That's how you build a strong organization when you have that type of philosophy. You're just not hiring guys to hire them.

On Jaishawn Barham’s Role

His role is definitely going to expand, playing SAM. But it goes game to game how we want to use him. Do we want to use him as a rusher off the ball, for example? That is a trait the NFL looks for. Can he rush off the edge? Sure, he can. We rushed him off the edge last year. He needs more work at rushing off the edge to fully prepare for the next step. We'll wait and see how that goes.

We played him on the edge quite a bit last year as well. But when you have the guys that were edge players for us last year, it's hard to always get those reps too. It's an exciting time, like I said. I feel really good about our depth overall as a defense.

I said this today in a staff meeting. Do we have any bona fide first-round picks? I'm not sure. We'll wait and see how this season goes. But we got some day two draft picks sitting there ready to go right now. I can say that confidently with the guys that we have, and we have more depth in every room.

What He Wants to See Early

The biggest thing that stood out to me is that we gave the offense 42 extra chances to get the football, whether it's a blocked field goal, holding somebody on fourth down, not just the normal interceptions, everything like that. We need to continue to do that.

Third and 11-plus was not good to us statistically. Seven to 10 is not bad, but 11-plus, when there's a missed tackle or a bust in the coverage, that stood out. It's not a crazy, let's-panic-because-of-it stat, but it's something we need to improve. We need to be more along the lines of our standard.

Late Season Success Momentum Into Offseason

It gave people excitement. There wasn't anybody banging on the door saying they wanted to transfer. They're excited about this season and where we're going with it.

This year is going to be different, just like last year was. It's going to be interesting to see right before the kickoff of the season when you got to get down to 105. That'll be interesting to see where we're all at, who's healthy, who's available to make that 105. You got to be exact with those numbers because it's going to be a completely different thing to watch on Saturday.

Competition sharpens players, so we'll see how that goes, but it's going to be a challenge.

On Derrick Moore Surprising

That's not going to be any surprise at all. I'm expecting Derrick to jump out there. He took off in just the bowl game and had, what, two sacks or something? Two and a half sacks? But sacks aren't the only measuring stick. It's all the other things he does. I'm expecting big things from D-Mo.

Defending Mason Graham to Skeptics

First of all, I don't have to defend Mason because his tape speaks for itself.

From experience in the NFL, they're doing medical examinations, mental evaluations, and all these different meetings. A lot of guys don't have time to eat. It wasn't like he dropped weight to run because he didn't run. I know he's 307 now, a good weight, lighter than what he was, a good weight to do all the testing. But with his wrestling background, he could be at 315 just like that if that's what whoever drafts him wants, or he could be lighter.

In Indy, when he weighed in, he was just as shocked as anybody else. But when you think about all the medical testing, the travel, and everything else, it makes sense.

The NFL process is at the stage where teams try to talk themselves out of drafting a guy. I had a head coach text me this morning asking about both the tackles. He was asking the right questions.

What are the right questions? Just whether he's football smart, whether he did well in the interview—those types of things. It's not an act. That's who they are. I think that's a benefit for our players because the guys I know in the league can call me, and I can tell them the truth.

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