Michigan has found success utilizing the Ravens defensive scheme to the tune of three straight Big Ten titles, three straight College Football Playoff appearances and a national title under Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter.
Continuity in that scheme was important as Sherrone Moore set out to make the biggest hire of his young Michigan tenure as the Wolverines new head coach, and it appears he's been able to do just that.
Multiple reports in the early morning hours shared that Michigan is expected to name former Ravens and Giants defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale as their new defensive coordinator.
Martindale, an D-III alumnus of Defiance College, has spent the past two decades at the NFL level and has been a defensive coordinator at the aforementioned spots as well as with the Broncos.
He's also coached linebackers in Oakland and then in Denver and Baltimore as well before ascending to the play caller role.
His last stop in college football was at Western Kentucky from 2000-03.
The head coach at that time? None other than Jack Harbaugh, who he worked under as linebackers coach, before David Elson was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach in 2003. At that point, Wink took over as defensive coordinator for one season before leaving for the linebackers job with the Raiders.
Martindale, Minter and Macdonald all come from the Ravens defensive tree, which should bode well for the Wolverines defense moving forward under Sherrone Moore.
Joe Cullen, the defensive line coach for the Chiefs who spent five seasons in Baltimore working with the Ravens defensive line, was the other widely reported candidate for the job as the Chiefs prepare for the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.