Michigan's Wink Martindale confident in linebacker depth to withstand Jaishawn Barham's first half suspension

It didn’t take long for the Michigan football program to learn the fate of linebacker Jaishawn Barham for the first half of Saturday’s game against Oklahoma.

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With the targeting ejecting ruling upheld, the program will be without him for a half, and there is some disappointment and frustration that the ruling didn’t go the Wolverines’ way despite key members of the Big Ten Conference disagreeing with the call.

Perhaps that frustration could’ve been louder if U-M defensive coordinator wasn’t confident in the depth behind Barham at linebacker.

If Saturday’s play is any indicator, the group should be able to withstand one half without Barham.

“I think that it’s the coach speak of it as next man up, but the difference is we’ve been talking about the depth of our linebacker room, and you saw it in the game,” Martindale said on the Inside Michigan Football show on Monday. “Jimmy Rolder made some really good plays. Ernie played outstanding. Got a game ball from Sherrone after the game, well-deserved, and he’s been a great leader for us, and it’s the communication of that room with BJ, who’s done a great job of building up the talent in that room. We got some young guys on the come-up. You saw Troy end the game, which is another thing we could talk about, but we’ll do that after I retire. It was one of those games that showed our depth and what you and I have talked about all training camp, and I was really happy for the players.”

Another member of the linebacker group who the staff believes has star-power potential is Cole Sullivan, a second-year player who has caught the eye of both Sherrone Moore and Martindale with his play during fall camp.

Saturday’s first half is going to be another big test for the young linebacker.

“Well, with him and, like I said, I view Jimmy as a starter, and Cole’s getting there real fast,” Martindale said. “You know, his confidence, the second year, coming into his second year, has jumped out at him, at us as coaches. He’s just elevated his game. He’s had a great offseason in the weight room, and you’re just seeing the player that you knew, that you envisioned back when he was at his first spring ball. Back then, I was telling you, I don’t know what spot he’s going to play, but he’s going to play because of his size.”

Jimmy Rolder is another player that the staff will be relying on to step up and attempt to fill a short void left behind by Barham. An experienced player with the program, Martindale says that his play has reached new heights thanks to going through a fall camp healthy, which has made a world of difference in Rolder’s mindset heading into the season.

“I see it in physicality, because he’s confident, because he got through training camp,” Martindale said. “I shouldn’t say got through it, had a good training camp, and, you know, he came out healthy of it. He mentioned, I think it was BJ, that this is his first training camp period, like in the past six years, so he’s talking about high school too, where he didn’t get banged up, you know, with some kind of freak injury. When you fall on the ground and dislocate your elbow, that’s a freak injury.”