When it was reported Don “Wink” Martindale would be the next defensive coordinator at Michigan, I was less than thrilled. Thoughts of, “He’s too old,” “He is out of touch with the college game,” and, “He’s just the NFL Don Brown,” flooded my mind.
But the more I dug in, the more fascinated and intrigued I became. After all, Michigan has been running derivatives of his defense since 2021.
Martindale is simultaneously creative and aggressive; a mad scientist who specializes in exotic fronts, positional versatility and organized chaos.
“You want to dictate to the offense instead of sitting there and letting them dictate to you,” Martindale said when speaking to reporters in 2022.