Michigan
Analyst: Don 'Wink' Martindale known as blitz-heavy but will 'do what's appropriate to win games'
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Michigan Wolverines football defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale comes with loads of experience at the NFL level, having been a D.C. in the pros seven seasons — one with the Denver Broncos (2010), four with the Baltimore Ravens (2018-21) and two with the New York Giants (2022-23). That means there’s a big enough sample size to learn about his tendencies calling a defense. However, he hasn’t been in college since 2003 at Western Kentucky, and his philosophy will likely change some now that he’s under head man Sherrone Moore in Ann Arbor.
“You can claim that ‘Wink’ Martindale is more blitz-heavy than what [former Michigan defensive coordinator] Jesse [Minter] was last year. But ‘Wink’ is going to do what is appropriate to win games,” FOX analyst Joel Klatt said on the ‘Joel Klatt Show.’
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If that means blitzing more one game than the next, that’s what he’ll do, something he showed while coordinating NFL defenses.
Martindale’s Ravens defenses led the league in blitz rate on passing downs his first three seasons, and his groups were never lower than eighth over the last six years. The Wolverines, too, blitzed a lot — 44 percent of the time under Minter in 2023 — and used simulated pressures.
At Michigan, Minter didn’t run exactly what he did when leading the Vanderbilt defense in 2021. It’s fair to assume Martindale will mix things up, as well, playing to the strengths of his players and adapting to facing opponents on a weekly basis.
Klatt loves the Martindale hire, due in large part to the continuity it provides.
“Michigan needed to make a defensive coordinator hire after Jesse Minter followed [head coach] Jim Harbaugh to the Chargers,” Klatt said. “Jesse was great, obviously, and former Michigan defensive defensive coordinator and then Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald got the Seattle Seahawks job. And these guys are stars.
“We all know how successful that style and philosophy was for Michigan over the last three years. Run wall, hard edges, hybrid players in coverage — that’s a philosophy. Reduced down to its most minimal form, that’s the philosophy.
“So, who do they go hire? Sherrone Moore gets the head job, promoted from within, loses all of the defensive staff and yet gets to hire ‘Wink’ Martindale, who comes from Baltimore and [head coach] John Harbaugh. Both Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter coached, cut their teeth, were mentored by ‘Wink’ Martindale. So, philosophy wise, I don’t think a lot is going to change.
“The crucial part is, they’ve been recruiting to and developing to a very specific system and philosophy, and they get to stay in that very specific system and philosophy. I think that’s an important piece.”
Macdonald and Minter — both in their 30s when hired at Michigan — worked out for Harbaugh, a veteran in coaching who’s spent his entire life around football. But Moore, the second-youngest coach in the Big Ten, is entering his first season in charge of a college program with the defending national champions. Surrounding himself with the kind of experience Martindale possesses is another positive that Klatt identified.
“He’s also a veteran, I think that’s important for Sherrone, who’s going to be a head coach for the first time, to have some veteran pieces around him on the coaching staff that he can lean on,” Klatt explained. “‘Wink’ Martindale has been around. He was an assistant under John in Baltimore for 10 years, the last four as the coordinator. He was replaced as Baltimore’s D.C. by Mike Macdonald two years ago. Last time he coached in college was for Jack Harbaugh [at Western Kentucky]; that was 20 years ago. He was an assistant coach under Rick Minter, Jesse Minter’s dad, at the University of Cincinnati in the ‘90s. He’s 60 years old, OK, so you’ve got that veteran presence.
“Just in contrast, Macdonald was 33 when Michigan hired him. Minter was 38. Both Macdonald and Minter were assistants under Martindale. The fit is really good here, and I like the hire from Sherrone.”
While the Wolverines lost most of their starters from last season’s national championship-winning team, immense talent remains on defense, including three potential first-round NFL Draft picks in 2025 in junior cornerback Will Johnson and junior defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant.
“The truth remains that Sherrone wanted to maintain the philosophy and schematics of what that defense was because of two reasons: That’s specifically how they’ve recruited and specifically how they’ve developed,” Klatt continued. “So, don’t throw it out, don’t change it up. Don’t change front structures.
“You’ve got guys … and that defense should be really good. And how do you keep Will Johnson and Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant — they’ve got dudes and that defense is still going to be very good — keep them in the same philosophy, keep them in the same structure. And that’s what’s going to be happening at Michigan.”
Two employees who refused to serve a man and his wife because he was wearing a hoodie with President Trump’s name on it were fired after a video of the heated encounter went viral.
Erika Lindemyer and her husband, Jake, were forced out of a Smoothie King franchise location in Ann Arbor, Michigan, following a fiery clash with two young female workers on Sunday.
The employees claimed they didn’t “feel comfortable” serving the couple because of Jake’s pro-Trump hoodie, as captured by Erika in a viral video.
Jake and Erika fired back at the pair and insisted that they were being “discriminated” against based on their “political views.”
“We were just wanting a smoothie and you literally looked at us and I asked you if everything was OK and you said ‘We don’t feel comfortable serving you’ because of my husband’s hoodie. That is discrimination,” Erika spat.
“Okay, well, have a great day,” the first employee said.
“That is illegal,” Erika tried to insist again.
“I said Trump discriminates [against] us,” another employee chimed in.
“Okay, well that has nothing to do with us getting a smoothie!” Erika guffawed.
“OK, well that’s who you support though, that’s who you love,” the first employee chided.
“What’s embarrassing is that we’re American citizens and I wanted to get a smoothie,” Erika huffed.
The second employee noted that they “have a right to refuse service” and directed the couple to the exit.
“You asked a question and [the other employee] gave you an answer. Have a great day. Have a great day. The door’s right there,” the second worker said.
Trump merchandise. Leftism/X
Erika threatened to call the police while storming out, but it’s unclear if she did.
In a separate video shared Monday, one of the workers joked that she might’ve “accidentally started a race war” and called on the public to help remove Erika’s video.
“I am a minor and she recorded me without my permission. The people in the comments are all white and they’re all being hella racist, guys, please help me get this video taken down,” she implored.
Smoothie King confirmed that the girls involved in the viral confrontation “are no longer with the business” as of Monday.
“As a brand, Smoothie King is committed to ensuring our stores are a place free of discrimination of any kind, where every guest and team member is treated with care and respect,” the company wrote on X.
The owner of the Ann Arbor franchise location will also enforce “mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards.”
In early December, a woman who worked at a Target in California was berated by a customer for wearing a Charlie Kirk “Freedom” T-shirt.
When the employee insisted she was allowed to wear the red shirt, the irate customer accused her of supporting “a racist.”
The medical center where the agitated customer worked was bombarded with upwards of 6,000 “profanity-laced” phone calls after online sleuths doxxed her personal information.
Ann Arbor — The Wolverines won the outright Big Ten regular-season title with two games to go, but it came at a great cost.
L.J. Cason, Michigan’s backup point guard and a key piece of the rotation, tore his right ACL in the championship-clinching win at Illinois. Just like that, Cason’s season was over and Michigan was hit with a brutal blow.
But when adversity strikes, opportunity knocks. While the team won’t be the same without Cason, coach Dusty May believes Michigan has backcourt pieces who can step up and make up for the loss.
“This is a great opportunity for Roddy (Gayle Jr.), Trey (McKenney) and Nimari (Burnett) to play more, and those guys are really good players,” May said Monday. “Our rotation has been nine and nine, I think, is too deep. It’s playing too many guys, if you want to optimize everyone. But we felt like we had nine guys that deserved to play, that gave us a different element.
“We look at this as another challenge, but it’s also an opportunity for guys to play a little bit more, to play longer periods, to play through a mistake, to play a little bit different role. We do feel like these guys are a lot better than they were earlier this year, so we’re prepared to handle whatever comes at us.”
May said he doesn’t know exactly when Cason tore his ACL, and neither does Cason. The sophomore guard fell to the court and got up favoring his right leg on two separate occasions against Illinois.
The first instance came in the final minute of the first half, when Cason tipped a long rebound ahead and chased it down to start a fast break. After he grabbed the ball in the air and bounced it backward between his legs to a trailing teammate, Cason went down. He got up hobbling, was subbed out and went back to the locker room.
Cason briefly checked back in during the second half and scored a driving layup a minute into his shift. But on Michigan’s next possession, he fell down after trying to score through contact and got up limping again. Shortly after that, Cason motioned to the Michigan bench to be taken out of the game and he exited for good.
“At halftime, the training staff came and said basically he’s passed all of his jump test. He just did the bike. He says he’s 100% ready to go. I was surprised, because I was expecting him to be out,” May said. “I said, ‘What about the test?’ They said both of his knees are loose, so it’s hard. We don’t feel that anything is torn.
“He comes back in. He lands funny again. … It’s unfortunate for him because he was playing so well. When an ACL pops on a noncontact injury, you’re like, ‘Man, what could we have done different?’ When it happens on a funny, quirky play, usually those are the ones that aren’t preventable.”
May added it hasn’t been determined yet when Cason will undergo surgery. Given the typical recovery timeline for a torn ACL ranges anywhere from nine to 12 months, May said Cason redshirting next season is a possibility that’s “on the table.”
“That’s certainly been discussed as well, and then that impacts the recruiting decision-making,” May said. “But right now, we’re still trying to figure out when he’s going to have it. What’s the timeline? Does it make sense to go ahead and sit out next year? … We haven’t made any definitive decisions, because all the information is so inconclusive.”
Moving forward, the plan isn’t to have just one guy replace Cason, who averaged 8.4 points and 2.4 assists in 18.6 minutes per game, shot 40.2% from 3-point range and served as a facilitator when starting point guard Elliot Cadeau wasn’t on the court. It’ll be a by-committee approach.
That said, Cason’s absence is certainly going to put much more on Cadeau’s shoulders. The Wolverines can ill afford to have Cadeau commit unnecessary fouls and miss long stretches at a time. Without Cason, Cadeau is the one guard who can break down opposing defenses off the dribble and create for others.
“This will force Elliot to be much more solid with his defensive decision-making when it comes to fouling,” May said. “He doesn’t have that insurance policy anymore named L.J. behind him, because L.J. came in and carried the load several games for our group. That’s not there anymore.”
While Burnett, Gayle and McKenney haven’t had to be facilitators in their roles this season, May expressed confidence all three can take on minutes with the ball in their hands and initiate the offense.
Even beyond the guards, May noted the team has “other capable weapons” who can serve as triggers on offense depending on the matchup, like forwards Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. and big man Aday Mara.
Add it all together, May feels the Wolverines can find a way to absorb the blow, fill the void and forge ahead with Cason sidelined.
“We have enough to overcome what L.J. brought to the team,” May said. “I don’t know if he’s the best backup point guard in the country, but I can’t think of one that’s better. We’re losing a lot, but once again, we’re not going to sit here and look at it from that angle.
“This is an opportunity for all these other guys to do a little bit more, and they’re more than capable. It’s on us to find the right rotations and situations. Without a doubt, we have a lot of confidence in our roster.”
jhawkins@detroitnews.com
@jamesbhawkins
The Michigan State Police is looking for the driver of a Jeep that the agency said hit one of its patrol cars on Lodge Freeway in Detroit Sunday night.
According to officials, the incident happened at 7:50 p.m. on the northbound side of the freeway near Shaefer Highway. The agency said a trooper was investigating a crash and had the patrol car parked on the right shoulder of the freeway with its emergency lights on when it was rear-ended by the Jeep.
“The impact forced the patrol car to strike the concrete wall on the right shoulder,” according to the agency.
The Jeep then went across three lanes of the freeway and hit a median wall, officials said. The driver, identified by law enforcement as a 29-year-old Detroit woman, left the vehicle and fled the scene.
Michigan State Police First Lieutenant Mike Shaw said that while the trooper was evaluated and cleared at the scene by medical personnel, he was still taken to the hospital as a precaution.
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