Wink Martindale is receiving plenty of NFL interest. Whether Martindale stays at Michigan or heads back to the pros remains to be seen, what we do know is Sherrone Moore wants Martindale to stay at Michigan.
The Michigan Wolverines have hit home runs with their defensive coordinator hires in recent years in Mike Macdonald, Jesse Minter and now Wink Martindale. Macdonald left to become defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens and is now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Minter left to become the Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator and now there’s a chance Martindale leaves to become an NFL defensive coordinator once again.
Martindale interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts this week and the Cincinnati Bengals are reportedly interested in Martindale as well. With that amount of intrigue, it feels like a coin toss as to whether Martindale sticks at Michigan for a second year or heads back to the pros.
On Friday afternoon, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was asked about Martindale and how he’s receiving NFL interest. Moore clearly doesn’t want Martindale to depart, but also realizes that it’s a possibility.
“He’s a great coach. Obviously, when your team has success at some points, especially on defense and the way they played, those opportunities are going to come. I always welcome our guys with opportunities, but don’t want to lose him,” Moore said Friday, per MLive’s Ryan Zuke . “Don’t want him to go anywhere. Want him to be here in Michigan, and I think he does, too. But he has opportunities that he has to look at.”
If Martindale does leave, Moore and Michigan will be prepared. Michigan has a list of candidates ready.
“I think you have to,” Moore said. “You have to have a list of people that you would look at if that were to take place, and you got to have that at all positions. It’s not just there, it’s any position. But we’ll take those steps if we need to.”
There’s no timetable in terms of whether Martindale stays or leaves, but we’ll be following this one closely every step of the way.