Michigan football: Jesse Minter building a defense around a special player
Michigan has a lot of talent to replace on defense, but there are a lot of playmakers returning in 2022, as well. New defensive coordinator Jesse Minter knew what he was getting in speaking with friend and former U-M D.C. Mike Macdonald before accepting the job, and he hasn’t been disappointed.
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Macdonald made the most of his one season in Ann Arbor, helping lead Michigan to a Big Ten title in his first year. Minter hopes to follow suit.
“I’ve had a Lot of opportunities to speak with Mike. Mike’s a good friend; a confidant,” Minter said. “As we both left Baltimore at the same time last year, we’ve had a lot of conversations over the last year … not knowing this might happen, but just talking college football. I had a little bit more of a college background, more recent than Mike, so we had a lot of conversations just about the way we might tweak the system to fit the college game.”
They had even more conversations when Macdonald to Baltimore became a very real possibility.
“So, I had a really good understanding of what the guys knew, what they were taught over the last year,” Minter continued. “Some of the backbone of the defense Mike was able to put in. It’s been a huge help to me just to know what terminology he used, how he called things … how he was teaching the guys.”
And a great idea of the talent in the building.
Minter spoke about the defensive backs Wednesday, a blend of veterans and young talent coming together nicely. That’s with sophomore and projected starter Rod Moore out for spring following surgery, too.
There’s also one player in the middle of the defense he knows will be a cornerstone for everything they accomplish.
“When you go down to the next level, Junior Colson is a guy we’ve got to build this defense around,” Minter said of the sophomore middle linebacker. “He’s a potential high level player when you talk about college and potentially down the line at the next level.
“But I also think we have some real depth at inside ‘backer with those guys. Nikhai [Hill-Green], Kalel [Mullings] and Mike Barrett all have capabilities of having roles within this defense.”
That’s true for every position, he continued. Losing David Ojabo, Aidan Hutchinson, Josh Ross and three starters in the secondary, among others, leaves him with a lot of work.
That’s what happens, though, when you recruit high-level talent. It comes and goes. Some years you’re rebuilding; some you’re reloading at a place like Michigan.
“Every year I think when you lose guys, it’s like, ‘who are your playmakers now?’” Minter noted. “It’s our job as coaches to say, ‘hey look — we might not have [everyone back] … but I think we have a lot of potential guys rushing, edge players.’
“But at the start of the season, Junior might be a playmaker for us. We’ve got to find a way for him to make the same impact-type plays that Hutch and OJabo and those guys made last year. It’s on us to figure out who those guys are.”
And on them to be comfortable in pretty much the same system.
There have been some tweaks, but Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh wanted continuity with the Minter hire. He appears to have gotten it.
“I want the players to fee; like it’s year two of the same system,” Minter said. “I think anytime you go from year one to year two, you may tweak some things. You may try to make things better from a term standpoint — say, ‘maybe we should call it this or that.’
“But I think they guys have a great grasp of the general scheme. Now I think with a couple new coaches — Mike Elston being new, myself being new — certainly, we’re able to tweak it. But I do think the players have a great understanding and feel like it’s year two for them in the same system.”
