With teams nearly settling into their final forms as the offseason progresses, pundits are busy making their predictions and game analysis. This season begins with an extremely high-octane matchup between Texas and Ohio State. But Week 2 is also going to have worthwhile action, particularly in the Michigan and Oklahoma game. Sherrone Moore and Brent Venables are both in dire straits in their jobs and desperately need to make a mark to pull their teams out of the dark days.
Michigan doesn’t just have to wash off the blot left by the sign-stealing scandal. It also has to do something about last year’s problems. The offense, in particular, saw some major flaws emerge. Eight weeks into the 2024 season, the Wolverines were 112th in points per game, 113th in yards per play. The passing game, too, was just as bad. Before the ReliaQuest Bowl, Michigan had 133.6 yards per game, which was the fifth-worst in FBS. This season, he’s got to brush all of it off.
Oklahoma, on the other hand, had a similar picture. Brent Venables’ offense performed so poorly that it had quarterback Jackson Arnold jump ship to Auburn after the season. Seth Littrell was fired as OC midway through it, too. Venables dedicated all the time possible to restructuring the team, with the full intention of keeping 2024 in the past. He’s worked incredibly hard this offseason, added some great talents from the portal. The Sooners in 2025 look much different from 2024. The new faces of both these teams make for an exciting matchup.
But Venables will have to be on the lookout for a dangerous new hire in the Michigan camp. “I’m expecting Oklahoma to take a real good step and a nice step offensively. What might be difficult is that they’re going to have to face a defense that is going to be outstanding,” Joel Klatt said in a June 23 episode of his show. “Wink Martindale figured it out late last year… they’re going to get Rod Moore back at safety. And all those players that were on the field in the bowl game, stopping Alabama, even with Jalen Milroe, are going to be back… Michigan’s going to be incredible on defense,” he added.
Wink Martindale came back to college football after 21 years, having spent all those years in the NFL. His defense had Michigan ranking in the top 10, while the offense crumbled. Martindale will be paid $2.5 million this year as salary, after earning $2.7 million, per Football Scoop. This makes Wink Martindale the highest-paid assistant coach in college football at the moment. Sherrone Moore will be relying on his tenured experience, which involves a Super Bowl win, to take the defense to newer heights. It was only towards the end that the unit started to shine, with some brilliant plays coming in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
That was despite important names like Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and Will Johnson not being part of the playing roster. Martindale’s defense unleashed repeated blitzes on Milroe, and he was sacked 5 times. It held back a top-ranking offense at 13 points and lower. This season, too, Martindale is hoping to carry on the momentum that came late last season.
Wink Martindale will lead a Michigan offense primed for the draft
Martindale has coached 4 NFL teams in his career, and helped the Ravens lift the 2013 Super Bowl. In his last stint with the Giants, the DC worked on improving a No. 21 defense from 2021 to one that finished as No. 18 in 2022. In 2023, he bagged the Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman Award. He is bidding goodbye to a career that spanned over two decades, to return to the arena where he started, and help Sherrone Moore lift Michigan back to its glory days.
Michigan’s new DC is entering 2025, with nearly the whole staff from 2024, save for Kevin Wilkins. Martindale is hopeful that the defense will produce some great NFL picks for the next year. “Do we have any bona fide first-round picks? I’m not sure. We’ll wait and see how this season goes. But I know we’ve got some next-day draft picks sitting there ready to go,” he told Wolverines Wire. Chief among this energized defense are Derrick Moore and Rayshaun Benny. The latter, in particular, is expected to bolster the D-line this season.
Martindale will meet his match in Brent Venables himself in their season opener. Venables’ defensive genius was a key element of Clemson’s golden years. Which is why the Sooners’ HC will call the defensive plays for this season. This game is going to be a coin-toss one. For both Sherrone Moore and Venables, this is where they make their marks. “The winner, like I said, establishes the depth of either the Big 10 or the SEC,” Klatt said. Both head coaches have some strong players lined up to generate impact, and both are looking at redemption in 2025. Will Venables be able to fight this new-looking Michigan defense?
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