3 reasons Michigan football has failed to meet expectations

A bad DC hire

I don't want to point the finger at Wink Martindale. But at least half of the Michigan starting lineup on defense are NFL draft picks and yet, the Wolverines rank 56th in scoring defense.

However, the pass defense is 115th in college football, allowing 259 yards per game. Michigan has one of the worst third-down defenses in college football and ranks 133rd out of 134 teams in plays allowed of 10 yards or more in the passing game.

Those are shocking numbers. Yes, there have been some replacements in the secondary. Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry are younger players, but even Makari Paige, Quentin Johnson, and at times, Will Johnson have just looked lost.

There have been a bunch of missed tackles. Worse than that, it seems like there are blown coverage assignments each week. Wink was hired for "continuity." Yet, it's clear that his defense is different than that Michigan was doing and the players haven't adjusted well.

It seems like there is more thinking than playing. The defensive line dominates, but when Wink gets cute, the Wolverines get torched and he loves to get cute on third down.

Hindsight always makes things easier, but Steve Clinkscale should be the DC and Mike Elston should be the Co-DC. That would have been the continuity hire. Maybe it doesn't work. The offense doesn't look great right now with Campbell, and the talent on defense dropped off some, but not to the point that Michigan should have one of the worst pass defenses in college football.

That's on the coaching staff and unfortunately, that feels like a common theme so far in 2024.