Steve Clinkscale Gushes Over What Mike Sainristil Brings To The Michigan Football Team, Locker Room

You can't ask for a much better leader than Mike Sainristil. The Wolverines have one of the good guys.

Now that Mike Sainristil is an established cornerback, most people tend to forget that he actually was a wide receiver during his first few seasons in Ann Arbor. Jim Harbaugh switched Sainristil to nickel last season and Sainristil instantly became a seasoned natural. 

Sainristil, a captain on the team, recorded an interception last week against East Carolina and graded out as one of the better defensive players on Michigan. While his play is phenomenal, and you may not find too many better nickel backs out there, it's Sainristil's leadership that propels him to even greater heights. 

On Wednesday, defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale spoke with the media. He had some gushing things to say about the newly minted captain of the team. 

"In my opinion, you have followers, you have leaders and you have influencers.," said Clinkscale on Wednesday. "I think Mikey is an influencer. Mikey has changed the mindset of everybody on our team, not just the defensive backs. He's easy to be drawn to. If I was a player, if I wasn't Mikey, I'd be right there next to him."

"I tell the guys, hey, listen, we watched film last week and watch a guy play man defense and he made a good play. Guess who it was? It was number zero. Watch someone destroy a block. It was zero. He got beat on a play and the guy caught the ball running down the sideline, he punched it out. Sounds familiar guys? Number zero. He never stops. He's always going and going. When he makes a mistake, like I mentioned earlier, the great ones -- they correct it. He's a great guy to be around." 

Michigan lost DJ Turner and Gemon Green as veteran leaders this past offseason. Sainristil has the most experience on the team, but he is surrounded by some young, exceptional talent. Will Johnson has a chance to become an All-American at the season's end. Amorion Walker, Ja'Den McBurrows, Jyaire Hill, DJ Waller, and Cameron Calhoun are all young, raw, but extremely talented. 

Clinkscale says Sainristil is like a coach to the young guys and will watch film with them, or do anything he can do to help them become better football players. 

"He's always trying to do things with the players. He's never too busy, never. The young guys want to watch film and we may not be around or in meetings, Mikey texts them, 'hey, young guys, I'm in the building. If anyone is around let's watch film'. That's why they want to be around. He shows them just like a coach, he shows them that he cares and he loves them so that's why they always want to be around them. I love that kid. I love all our players but he's a special kid."

Sainristil and the Wolverines will take on UNLV on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.