Michigan went from the nation’s No. 1 total defense to the No. 48 defense after nine games of play. The Wolverines are struggling to get off the field on third downs and are also struggling with some fundamentals such as tackling and position. The Wolverines lost players like Junior Colson, Michael Barrett, Mike Sainristil and Josh Wallace, among others from last season’s team and it is evident that Michigan is missing some key pieces of defense.

Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale believes that as recruiting and the transfer portal go, there is a silver bullet for Michigan’s defense in 2025.

“Oh yeah. Without a doubt. Without a doubt.”

What gives him this optimism? According to him, the position is that of coaches, who are not only good coaches, but good recruiters. Michigan will need to aggressively attack the 2025 and 2026 cycles, but also attack the transfer portal. Look at Indiana for example. The Hoosiers went from the bottom tier of the Big Ten to one of the best teams in the country under new head coach Curt Cignetti who used the portal as much as anyone to fill in the gaps.

“What gives me confidence is looking at the position coaches, and I’ve told you before, I think they’re the best in the country, not only at coaching their positions, but at recruiting as well,” Martindale said. “We’re going to have to attack this offseason as hard as we can to turn some positions around and turn some positions around, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. I know they’re working hard.

“I know with all the recruits we’ve had here, we’ve had good recruits. I know I’m not allowed to talk about them – I know a lot. But it gives me confidence – see the guys that are here But what’s crazy now is not just the recruiting, it’s the money, so it’s taking things to a whole new level.”

Some wonder if the transfer portal trumps development projects that could have an impact in a few years. Many players have made an impact during their junior or senior seasons after staying the course and learning. Martindale said attracting talented freshmen is just as important as using the portal to meet immediate needs.

“I don’t want to say that,” Martindale said of the portal trumping recruiting. “I don’t want to say that, because we have the opportunity to have some really good freshmen. I just heard Steve (Casula) talk about our opportunity games and things like that. We do always that. I think it’s, you’re going into the unknown because it’s going to go up to 105 on the list, and they’re saying they’re going to have this rule, they’re going to say they have this rule, you’ve got it all covered.”

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