ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Michigan football defense saw a mass exodus going from 2023 to 2024 on several fronts. Some of the key players departed, such as Mike Sainristil, Mike Barrett, Junior Colson, Kris Jenkins, Jaylen Harrell, Braiden McGregor, and Josh Wallace. Though many of the returnees had ample playing time coming in, there was another exodus on the coaching staff, with the entire defensive side of the ball being revamped.
There wasn’t supposed to be much of a dropoff with Wink Martindale taking over the defense, yet, it took the Wolverines about 10 games to find their footing. But once they did, opposing offenses did not have a good time. According to fifth-year defensive tackle Rayshuan Benny, that’s because of the focus that comes with the regular season finale as much as getting acclimated to the coaching staff. With the Buckeyes on the mind, the Wolverines locked in.
“Well, the end of the season, you know what comes at the end of the season every year — Ohio State,” Benny said. “It’s really just like the guys in the building. We know we’ll come with it. The focus is up. The intent is up. Not to say that we’re not focused. It’s just like everybody knows that this is the week we’ve been waiting for all year. We all just jelled at the right time.”
This year, despite some new faces in terms of defensive starters, there’s optimism that Michigan can pick up from where it left off in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama — not only because the bulk of that defense will be this year’s squad, but also because the entire defensive coaching staff returns.
In 2021, the maize and blue had a new defensive coordinator, with the extant defensive line coach, a new linebackers coach, and a new cornerbacks coach. In 2022, again, there was a new defensive coordinator, a new defensive line coach, a returning linebackers coach, a familiar coach in Jay Harbaugh who moved to safeties, and the same setup with cornerbacks. That unit held strong, minus Chris Partridge coming in as linebackers coach.
In 2024, it was a whole new setup across the board, and every coach from last year returns. According to senior cornerback Zeke Berry, that should pay dividends.
“I feel like it’s a good thing for us, something that we’re comfortable with, having the coaches still there,” Berry said. “And still some of the older guys that’s been through the program, me, Rod, and some of the other guys on the other side of the defense. And I just feel like that’s going to help us build from there.”
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