Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Wolverine Wednesday: I'm the OG of the System

Wink Martindale has a lot of ground to make up with me personally.  If you read this blog regularly, you know what I think of that hire.  Wink had some of his first public comments on "In The Trenches" a podcast by Jon Jansen. 


One line caught my eye:  "It's like I told the players: In all humility, I'm the OG of the system, so we're gonna be just fine."

On Mason and Kenneth: The thing that you see — and this is through the Draft process, and when you're evaluating college guys coming out — is the lack of technique that a lot of them play with. And these guys are square football players who play with knockback and they can make plays. And it warms my heart to see that.Some will say that they don't have enough of this or they don't — it's complete hogwash. Because if you can start with stopping the run, which those two are very good at, and they do it different ways. It's not just because they're square and play with knockback. They both move well, and it's gonna be exciting for us.


On Josaiah and Derrick Moore: It’s is a great starting point. We just need to build some depth behind them. But I think both both D-Mo and Josaiah, they’re hidden gems, and they did a lot. Just look at the final play against Alabama with Josaiah doing that to that tackle. I mean, that's what made the play, which a lot of people don't realize, but it is. That type of mentality up front across the board is going to win you a lot of football games.

On LB'sAnd we got the two linebackers with with Ernie and Jaishawn, the transfer from Maryland, that when you're strong up the middle, and you talk about those two tackles, those two inside backers, and then the two safeties that we have, that's a great place to start to have a great defense.

OK, he is starting to grow on me.  I like how he saw the Alabama 4th down stop.  

  • Josh Uche has agreed to a 1 year $3M deal to return to the Patriots.  It seems Josh gave the Patriots a discount because he wants to play for Coach Mayo.  His deal could be worth up to $8M with incentives.  “He’d be a coach I want to play for. I’d run through a wall for him,” Uche said last season. “I love players coaches. Guys that take it deeper than the x’s and o’s. It’s more personal. You want to go out and do a good job because you know you have someone behind you that’s backing and supporting you. (expletive), I’m all in on Mayo.”

12 comments:

Brady2017 said...

Read an article about Nick Saban, post retirement. He said he used to have barbeques with the new recruits to get to know them. The last one he held, his wife asked him why he's still hosting them. She said none of these recruits care about getting to know anyone or establish relationships. Said all they want is to get paid NOW and then go to the pros. Some would argue Bama was already paying their players. Now everyone's caught up. NIL, the death of amateur sports.

Brady2017 said...

Saban went on to say he knew it was time to go when he was at meetings with his staff and instead of talking about the game plan or the team they were playing, they were talking about what players that might be available in the transfer portal. He said players don't want to be developed anymore, just get paid.

Brady2017 said...

As for Wink, if you just looked at his resume and blotted out his name, you'd say hire this guy now! 20 years in the NFL. Creator and mastermind of defensive schemes still bein used and emulated by teams today. Top 5 defense for 3 consecutive years in Baltimore. Awarded in 2023 the Lifetime Achievement Award for NFL assitant coaches (The Zimmerman Award). Wink went to Madison, Ohio Trotwood H.S., so you think he understands the rivalry? Yep. Pretty easy for him to recruit, too, when all he needs to do is flash his Super Bowl winning ring. So ya, Id say he checks all the boxes.

Brady2017 said...

How many years in the NFL did Don Brown have?

Ron said...

We're bringing in that school down south running backs coach...

Brady2017 said...

Ron- What!? Please elaborate...

Cormac said...

O.M.G! It's true! Michigan is hiring Tony Alford!

Brady2017 said...

Alford- If you can't beat'em, join'em!

Brady2017 said...

Taking OSU's coach reminds me of the 80's rap song, Boom! I got yo girlfriend, I got your girl. Boom! I got yo girlfriend, I got your girl. Lol

Chowman said...

Brady,

I might be all wet, but I don't think Nick had to play for players at the end. He built Bama into a juggernaut, and recruits were willing to come to Bama to play for the CFP every year. Now in getting to the juggernaut stage, did he bend a rule or too? No, he eradicated them!

We won't know anything about Wink and his defense until after the 1st few games. Good college coaches don't always translate to good Pro coaches and vice versa. I'm taking a wait and see approach!

OSU's RB coach probably got tired of Day abandoning the run to show he was the smartest pass happy coach in college football!

Rudy said...

As for the NIL game; how about this for a rule….if the player is gonna get paid, then it’s a contract. How about making it a rule that it’s a 4yr contract? You take a nickel and we own you for 4 years just like the pros they are trying to be.

Brady2017 said...

Chowman, whatever Saban did, it worked. And he never got caught breaking any rules, so you gotta give the guy his due. I'd hire him in a heartbeat.

Rudy, yes to all those proposals. Something needs to be done. This is not what NIL was supposed to be. It was supposed to allow kids to make a few side dollars doing a car commercial or signing autographs. Not a bidding war.