By Micheal Germanese
Today should have been a day of celebration in Columbus with the parade after Ohio State won the national championship. But instead, it turned to disbelief that defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is leaving for Penn State. Ryan Day now must replace one of the top coordinators in the country, which is something that won’t be easy. There is no doubt that Michigan fans enjoy seeing one of their rival’s top coordinators head out the door even if it’s to another team in the conference. What it should be is a warning on just how fast you can lose one of your top assistant coaches.
Michigan fans should be focused on Ann Arbor, not Columbus considering they are still not out of the woods with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. The NFL has shown significant interest this offseason in Martindale, but he has yet to be offered a DC position. That could all change if Giants offensive coordinator (OC) Mike Kafka gets the head coaching job with the New Orleans Saints.
According to a Twitter post from Jordan Raanan of ESPN, if Kafka gets the head coaching job, multiple league sources expect him to bring Martindale as his DC. If Michigan loses Martindale with most of the top coordinators gone and just before the late signing period it would be a big blow for the Michigan staff in 2025.
Interesting tidbit on this: If Mike Kafka gets the Saints job multiple league sources expect him to bring Wink Martindale as his defensive coordinator. They obviously worked together with the Giants and were key to the initial success in 2022. https://t.co/0hwUBo2THA
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) January 26, 2025
Martindale’s defense struggled to start the year but improved and by the end looked like the defense many expected them to be. Michigan finished the season beating Ohio State and Alabama in those games Martindale’s defense held Ohio State to 10 points with 252 total yards, and Alabama to 13 points with 260 total yards. It was by far the best Michigan defense looked all season, and in the Alabama game, Michigan was missing their three top players who all opted out.
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Michigan’s head coach Sherron Moore faced a coaching carousel a year ago, after Jim Harbaugh took assistants with him to the NFL, one coach resigning and another was let go after late-night mistakes. The last thing Michigan’s second-year coach needs is to go through the carousel again. Moore who fired his OC in December after a disappointing offensive season replaced him with Chip Lindsey who brings 27 years of coaching experience.
Moore who is entering his second season, appears to have surrounded himself with plenty of experience at the two coordinator positions. Moore who hired Martindale to replace Jesse Minter after he followed Harbaugh to the NFL looked like a perfect replacement having coached with both Minter and Mike Macdonald In Baltimore, Macdonald was the DC before Minter at Michigan.
Wink Martindale is the self-described "O.G." of Michigan's defensive system, but his star pupils set an elite standard he must now maintain if the Wolverines hope to contend in 2024.
Can he? https://t.co/f4SoMIvNp0 pic.twitter.com/v27WN117lB
— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) March 27, 2024
The Jim Knowles announcement should sound the alarms for Moore to lock in Martindale before the Saints announce their new head coach. Michigan, which finally looked to have stability at the head coach and coordinator positions with the hire of Lindsey could disappear if they don’t find a way to keep Martindale.
Martindale who had stops in Baltimore, Denver, Oakland and New York from 2004 to 2023 would be a great hire for a new NFL head coach. The only question is if Martindale wants to stay in college or would prefer to be in the NFL.
With Knowles’s move to Penn State, the top of the Big Ten has at least three teams who could win the Big Ten and national championship in 2025. Ohio State despite losing Knowles will be a top contender for the Big Ten and national championship. Oregon will be just as good if not better than this past season. Penn State looked ready to take the next step, and the Knowles move could be the piece that puts them over the top. And don’t overlook USC, Nebraska and Illinois, all of whom will be better, and Indiana will look to prove 2024 wasn’t a fluke. If Michigan is going to get back to the playoffs, it’s imperative for Michigan to keep Martindale in Ann Arbor for 2025.
