ANN ARBOR >> If it’s true a positive performance in a bowl game can be a springboard into the next season, then Michigan’s defensive players must be feeling pretty good.

Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, entering his second season with the Wolverines, certainly is upbeat about his group as the team opened spring practice Tuesday. Michigan finished last season, highlighted by strong defensive performances, with three straight wins. They included a 13-10 upset at Ohio State and then a 19-13 upset of Alabama in the bowl game in which starters Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, Makari Paige and Will Johnson did not play.

In the final four games, starting at Indiana, Michigan allowed an average 48.7 yards rushing, 172.5 passing and 221.2 total yards. The Wolverines gave up an average 12.2 points. For the season, the defense ranked No. 5 against the run (90.7), 10th in total defense (307.0), 19th in scoring (19.9) and 63rd against the pass (216.3).

“It gave people excitement,” Martindale said Monday of Michigan’s late-season defensive surge and what it means for this fall. “There wasn’t anybody banging on the door saying they wanted to transfer. They’re excited about this season and where we’re going with it.”

Michigan will be without defensive standouts like Graham and Johnson, projected first-round NFL Draft picks next month, and Martindale and his staff are tasked with replacing that talent. The bowl game offered some evidence what this defense could look like this fall — the Michigan players at the recent NFL Scouting Combine all pointed to edge Derrick Moore as the one they think will be a standout — but the Wolverines made some significant additions in the offseason. They signed tackles Tre Williams and Damon Payne from the transfer portal, and Martindale likes the experiene they bring to the room.

Still, he cautioned that while the outlook is good, this is a work in progress, and the work begins during spring football practices.

“It’s just not like something that happens overnight,” Martindale said. “We’ve been trying to replace them through recruiting and the development of the other guys. We did a nice job in the portal with the two veteran tackles that we got in here, so it’s gonna be interesting to see how it all works out. But also, I feel really confident in the depth that we have in that room. I feel more confident now than I did last year at this time with the depth, just starting off initially.”

Martindale several times mentioned how pleased he is with the depth on defense. It also will benefit from the consistency of having him back for a second straight season. Martindale came to Michigan before the 2024 season after 20 seasons in the NFL, and he did interview for two NFL coordinator positions this offseason.

He’s ready for a second season at Michigan, though, and said he feels more comfortable and is used to life in Ann Arbor. Martindale also said having the same coordinator for a second straight season should not be undervalued. He is the architect of the defense from the Baltimore Ravens that Mike Macdonald installed at Michigan in 2021 and Jesse Minter built on in 2022 and 2023. Macdonald and Minter were on the Ravens staff with Martindale, so there is continuity on defense.

“These kids are more resilient than anybody realizes, the way this thing goes with people going in the portal and coming out of the portal and all the other movement in college football and the NFL,” Martindale said. “Every year is a new year, and they’re excited and ready to go. There is comfort that I was here last year and all the staff’s back, so it’ll help us.”

What hasn’t changed is Martindale’s feistiness when he’s asked about the perception that he blitzes too much. That has been a criticism that followed him from the NFL, and it irks him.

“It’s like big-time wrestling. You throw something out there and it catches on social media,” Martindale said. “I know that you guys (in the media) all have a job to do, and everybody has an opinion. It was just like when we played Ohio State compared to Alabama, it was two different game plans. That’s what I was proud of. Not that it was two different game plans was I proud of it, but the execution of the two different game plans. Ohio State, the guys executed the game plan and they played physical with it.

“And so, the scheme is the scheme. It’s the same scheme for the last three years. Do I take pride in it? Did I let both Jesse and Mike know that we held Ohio State to 10 points and they didn’t? Yes, of course I did. But we’ll see what we can do with what we have. It’s new people. It’s a new year. It’s the same thing I said before last year — it’s going to be different. Don’t know how it’s going to be different, but it’s going to be different, and we’ll see how we adjust during the season and starting with spring ball here. I’m really excited about that, seeing the guys compete.”