Joel Klatt blames blitzing Wink Martindale for Michigan's defense regressing

The Wolverines have regressed badly defensively, and Fox Sports' college football analyst Joel Klatt points to a clear reason why...

Matt Lounsberry | Sep 18, 2024

Sep 7, 2024; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale calls a play against Texas at Michigan Stadium. / Junfu Han-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

In this story:

Michigan Wolverines

Coming into the 2024 season, the general belief surrounding Michigan football was that the offense would need time to gel with 10 new starters, but the defense would keep the Wolverines in every game until that side of the ball got sorted out.

Unfortunately, Michigan's offense has been every bit as discombobulated as some feared, but the defense has not upheld its end of the bargain.

One year after leading the nation in points (10.4) and yards (247) allowed per game, the Wolverines have plummeted to 57th in points allowed (19.7) and 54th in yards allowed (304.3) on average this season. The loss of several key defensive players — such as Mike Sainristil, Mike Barrett, Junior Colson, Rod Moore to injury, and a host of others — can certainly be pointed to as a reason for Michigan's regression, but Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt believes there's a deeper issue going on in Ann Arbor.

"What did they not do over the last couple of years? They did not manipulate the structure of their defense in order to create pressure," Klatt said on a recent episode of his podcast. "They were not blitz-heavy. Over the last three years, they blitzed 29% of the time. That was 48th in college football, so about average. They weren't manipulating their structure in order to create pressure."

Although current Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale called himself "the O.G." of the defensive philosophy and style that previous coordinators Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter brought to Ann Arbor, Martindale's play-calling and operation of that defense has been vastly different than his predecessors.

"The problem now is, that's Wink Martindale's entire M.O. He wants to blitz," Klatt said. "They were over 50% blitz against Texas, and on the season Michigan is blitzing at the fourth-highest rate in college football at 48%. So, they went from 29% over the last three years, in which they were dominant, didn't lose a Big Ten regular season game dating back to the '21 season against Michigan State on the road, and they were blitzing 29% of the time. Now, they're blitzing 48% of the time, and I don't believe that their structure is quite as sound."

Michigan allowed 389 yards of total offense to the Longhorns in Week 2, including 246 through the air. On average, the Wolverines are allowing 234.3 passing yards per game, which ranks 90th in the country. This comes one year after Michigan had the second-best defense nationally against the pass last season, allowing 157 yards per game on average.

"I came into this season thinking that Michigan was just going to be able to maintain all of the things that they did before," Klatt said. "They were one of the most well-coached teams in the country, their game plans were incredible and they had this ability to play a cohesive brand of football that was...very team-oriented. It was very cohesive. It was complimentary."

Michigan's style of football under Jim Harbaugh was abundantly clear. The Wolverines wanted to possess the ball as long as possible, run the football effectively, keep everything in front of them defensively and force field goals when pushed back into the red zone.

"What I see from Michigan this year is not complimentary football," Klatt said. "I see the offense turning it over. They didn't win the field position battle against Texas. They couldn't get off the field on third down against Texas. So, now all of a sudden, you're fighting with yourself because you're making life more difficult for yourself within situations within the game.

"Part of their plan was to hold the ball, sustain the drives, grind it out, limit the number of snaps on the opposite side so they could limit the number of defensive snaps their defense had to play. Once the defense went out there...the defense was playing a style of game that was, listen, we know we're very good so what we're going to do it line up properly, we're going to leverage the football and we're going to tackle really well, and we're not going to take a lot of chances. Because of that, they were forcing teams to snap the ball nine, 10, 11 and 12 times in order to score. And I can just tell you from experience, covering football and playing at this level myself, it's really tough to get a college offense to execute nine, 10, 11, 12 plays multiple different times in a game. It's almost unheard of, and that's what Michigan banked on."

This style of play led Klatt to coin the phrase "the boa constrictor" when describing Michigan over the past two seasons.

"Here's what would happen. They would be in a one-score game and the offense would score to [take or extend their lead], and then that was the time for the defense to get aggressive. Because they knew a three-and-out at that point was really putting pressure on the opposition, get that opposing defense back on the field...and with the style that they play, it was over. That was the boa constrictor. It was squeeze, squeeze, you don't think your dead, you don't think you're dead, I'm kind of living, I can kind of breathe, and then you can't. And then you can't. That was Michigan."

Either willfully or because they no longer possess the personnel to do it, the Wolverines have not resembled that style of play in 2024.

"This version of Michigan is different. They don't play complimentary football right now, because they don't win the field position battle, they're turning the football over and they're blitzing too much on defense. Those are my concerns with Michigan."

The full segment of 'The Joel Klatt Show' referenced in this article can be viewed below:

- Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI -