3 thoughts on Wink Martindale being hired as Michigan football DC
![Dec 25, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants defensive coordinator Don Wink Dec 25, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants defensive coordinator Don Wink](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3646,h_2050,x_0,y_65/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/148/01hp70q9tgx19eey0sfb.jpg)
What it means for recruiting
The recruiting concerns are fair. I don't see a 60-year old Martindale being a star on the recruiting trail. He did work in college football before. His last college job was actually working under Jack Harbaugh at Western Kentucky which was two decades ago.
But if we're being honest, Macdonald and Minter didn't bring much on the recruiting trail either. Their job was to run the defense and they excelled at it. That will be the same job for Martindale.
That's also why keeping Steve Clinkscale was huge. He's an elite recruiter, plus he's exceptional coaching up the secondary. It does mean that Sherrone is going to have to focus the D-line hire on recruiting because there will need to be another ace recruiter on staff, but that hasn't been the defensive coordinator the past three years, so I'm really not worried about recruiting.
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If the defense keeps playing at a high level, the scheme, the results and the NFL draft picks will do a better job recruiting talent that Martindale ever could.