Michigan football adds trusted assistant of Wink Martindale

Since the start of the end of the 2020 season, Michigan football has done extremely well hiring coaches who have ties to the Baltimore Ravens and the scheme made famous in Ann Arbor by Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter.

Macdonald, who is now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and Minter, the defensive coordinator of the Chargers, coached Michigan football to elite defenses over the past three years, in part by using the scheme developed in Baltimore by Wink Martindale.

Martindale is now the Michigan football defensive coordinator and on Monday, Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines added his right-hand man to the staff. Kevin Wilkins, who served under Martindale as a defensive assistant for the Ravens and Giants, will join U-M as an off-field analyst as first reported by Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports.

A smart move by Sherrone Moore

I've been impressed by the staff built by Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore and this was another solid move. There was some talk about Wilkins coming on board as a linebackers coach, but neither he or Martindale have any experience in college football recruiting.

That could have been a huge liability. Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program and after hiring a coordinator who is an unknown on the recruiting trail in Martindale, it made sense to prioritize recruiting with the other hires such as D-line coach Greg Scruggs who was officially announced on Monday.

Wilkins is still a good football coach and hiring him as an analyst is a huge boon for the Wolverines. He's got nine years of NFL experience and knows the defensive scheme like the back of his hand. The addition should also make Martindale more comfortable since none of the position coaches were really his guys.

It's a good move for Wilkins too who can add to his resume while he waits for another on-field job to open up and in 2024 at least, Michigan football will be the benefactor.