Wink Martindale talks Rod Moore's recovery, guys standing out in Michigan football's secondary

Trent Knoop | Mar 5, 2025

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As the 2024 season progressed, the Michigan football secondary went from being a weak-link on the team to being one of the best position groups. Fans saw a transformation in Zeke Berry without Will Johnson on the field, while seeing young guys like Brandyn Hillman and Mason Curtis really step up. Although Johnson is off to the NFL, the Wolverines and LaMar Morgan get plenty of players back from last season like Berry, Hillman, Curtis, Jyaire Hill, Jo'Ziah Edmonds, and most important -- veteran Rod Moore is back.

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Moore, who could've been the top safety selected in the 2024 NFL Draft with a productive year last year, was sidelined following a season-ending injury sustained last spring. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale spoke with Jon Jansen on 'Inside The Trenches' and was asked about Moore's return. The second-year defensive coordinator said it's still a wait-and-see approach with the fifth-year Wolverine.

“It's gonna be a wait and see with him on how fast he can come back," Martindale said of Moore. "I don't think he's running 14 months and as you know, as a player, ex-player, that's a long time to be off. So it's gonna be interesting to see, he's a leader and he also got us a penalty on the sideline during Ohio State.”

Martindale was also asked about other contributors in the secondary. Here's everything he had to say about Berry, Hillman, Curtis, and Hill.

Zeke Berry

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“I think it's really difficult because he was projected here as a safety initially, and he went the opposite way. He went from safety to nickel to outside corner because of injuries. So I think the beginning of the year will start him at the outside corner.

"And the thing that's great about Zeke is the athlete that he is, is we can put him where we need him. And I talked to Lamar about it as we're looking at the off season, going through all of our cut ups and stuff. We might have worn him out at nickel, playing him there all the time, where we need to do some different things with him and with others during the season, but I think it will help him.”

Brandyn Hillman

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“I think you gotta keep working on the little things with him and tackling circuits and things like that to make sure that he does keep his eyes up and he's hitting people in the strike zone, which he has, and it's just different because the way he does it. He has that natural explosion going through, whether it's a tie down or a wide receiver or a quarterback, and I mean, he's gonna be a fun guy to watch this year as well. So we just gotta keep slowing things down for him.

"I think his next step is learning how to disguise coverages and things like that, because he didn't have many mental busts for us last year when he was in there. He just knew his job and lined up in it and had blinders on to everything else. So we gotta expand.”

Mason Curtis

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“Well, the first thing that jumped out about Mason is like we came here, he played three different positions before we put him at safety. That's the type of athlete that he is. He is one of those guys that you've seen, probably a teammate that you can think of.

"The ball always finds him. Ty Law was that way. He's one of those guys that just the ball always finds him cuz he understands what his job is, he knows how to do it.

"And now he can see through studying where quarterback is gonna throw the ball and he has the range and the athletic ability to go get it. And I'm excited to see where he's gonna go from here.”

Jyaire Hill

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“And at times, I mean, he was as good as you're gonna find. But at times, it was a young player. He was a bumpy road.

"Double moves got him early.

“I think you just keep throwing double moves at him. And he'll build that confidence where he can see it and play it and know which ones to jump and which ones not to. He was just trying to jump everything early, and that's what got us.”

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