ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Jesse Minter understands why he’s here.

Minter wasn’t hired as Michigan’s defensive coordinator because of his body of work at Vanderbilt, where he oversaw a defense that ranked No. 120 in the FBS in yards per play last season. He comes from the Baltimore Ravens coaching tree and mirrors his predecessor, Mike Macdonald, in both philosophy and temperament. Minter wasn’t brought in to put his stamp on the defense or fix something that wasn’t working, but to keep things as consistent as possible for Michigan’s returning players.

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“We’ve certainly done some things differently,” Minter said. “Our blitz rate might be different. The way we pressure at times might be different. But overall, it’s a lot of the stuff we’ve had in our playbook over the years.”

Through 10 games, Michigan’s defense has been much more than a knockoff of last year’s unit. Minter has done something that many people thought wouldn’t be possible: He’s taken a defense that lost three high-level NFL Draft picks and turned it into an even better version of itself.

The Wolverines lead the FBS in several defensive categories, including yards per game, rushing yards per game and points per game. They rank second in defensive yards per play and third in yards per rush. Though tougher tests await, Michigan has put to rest any fears that the defense would take a big step back without Macdonald, who returned to the NFL after one season, and stars Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo and Dax Hill.

𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞 » @Coach_Minter

The director of the nation's top statistical defense is a nominee for the award given to the nation's top assistant coach!#GoBlue

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) November 15, 2022

“I definitely think we answered that question pretty quick,” edge rusher Braiden McGregor said. “Everyone was freaking out a little bit. We’d see it all over Twitter. Our group is really strong this year. We don’t have a weak spot.”

Here’s a look at a few of the factors driving Michigan’s defensive success.

Continuity in the secondary

Macdonald implemented Cover 3 and Cover 1 as Michigan’s primary schemes in 2021. The Wolverines have played Cover 3 on about 28 percent of opponents’ dropbacks this year, according to Pro Football Focus, and Cover 1 on 26.5 percent. Last season, it was 32 percent Cover 3 and 22 percent Cover 1. The breakdown of man versus zone is virtually identical: 64.3 percent zone this year, 65.4 percent last year.

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Returning both starting cornerbacks and three experienced safeties has added to the continuity in the secondary. The one new piece was Mike Sainristil at nickel, and his transition from offense to defense has been smooth. The Wolverines are playing nickel on 68.6 percent of opponents’ dropbacks, almost identical to last year’s rate, with Sainristil stepping into the role occupied by Hill a year ago.

Having so much carryover in the secondary has allowed the Wolverines to play faster, which in turn has helped to address issues with tempo from last year.

“Going from Year 1 to Year 2 in that defense, with all the different checks and things we have, we try to simplify things a little bit more for them and put them in a position where they don’t have to think as much,” co-defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale said.

The Wolverines are allowing 5.3 yards per pass attempt, a full yard better than last season, and have allowed the third-fewest passing plays of 10 yards or more in the FBS after ranking 70th in that category a year ago. The schedule hasn’t been a murderers’ row of explosive offenses, but nonetheless, Michigan has been among the best in the nation at limiting big plays.

Improvement against the run

Michigan’s run defense was good last season but not necessarily great. The Wolverines ranked No. 32 in the FBS in yards per rush and showed some cracks at times, most notably against Michigan State and Kenneth Walker III.

This year, the Wolverines are yielding virtually nothing on the ground. They haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher this season, with the highest total belonging to Hawaii’s Tylan Hines (eight carries, 75 yards). Opposing ball carriers are averaging 1.26 yards per rush before contact, down from 1.9 yards a year ago, according to TruMedia.

Much of the credit goes to Michigan’s interior defensive linemen, especially starters Mazi Smith and Kris Jenkins. Block destruction has been an emphasis for Michigan’s defense, and that’s been apparent with the play of Smith and Jenkins.

The @mazismith effect

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) November 16, 2022

“When your inside guys can play like that, it gives you some flexibility,” Minter said. “We don’t always have to bring an extra guy down into the box. If you’re playing a team with some really good receivers, it might allow you to handle those guys in different ways.”

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To that point, Michigan has put seven players or more in the box on 37.3 percent of its defensive snaps this season, down from 43.1 percent last year. The Wolverines are stopping the run and doing it without a lot of extra bodies.

Depth up front

A year ago, the Wolverines leaned heavily on a few players up front: Hutchinson, Ojabo, Smith, Jaylen Harrell and Chris Hinton. This year’s team has gotten similar production from a larger cast of contributors, including McGregor, Mike Morris, Eyabi Okie, Mason Graham, Rayshaun Benny and Derrick Moore.

The distinction in Michigan’s pass rush is more qualitative than quantitative. The Wolverines may not look as dominant as they did last season, and they’ve struggled at times with mobile quarterbacks escaping the pocket. But the numbers show no drop-off: Michigan is pressuring opposing quarterbacks on 36.4 percent of their dropbacks, almost identical to last year, with a sack rate of 9.3 percent, up from 7 percent last year. The Wolverines have done it with a slightly lower blitz rate, 26.5 percent compared with 28.7 percent a year ago.

The improved depth is one component of Michigan’s second-half dominance. The Wolverines have outscored their past five opponents 117-3 in the second half and have allowed a total of six points in the third quarter this season. That’s the product of conditioning, depth, schematic adjustments and an offense that has controlled the ball for long stretches of each second half.

“It’s a total group, team, culture effort to play well in the second half,” Minter said.

The schedule

Any evaluation of Michigan’s defense has to acknowledge the woeful state of many Big Ten offenses, as well as the three teams Michigan faced in nonconference play.

Hawaii, Michigan State, Indiana, Rutgers, UConn, Colorado State and Iowa all rank No. 100 or lower in total offense. That’s 70 percent of Michigan’s schedule. The other teams are Penn State (No. 35), Maryland (No. 69) and Nebraska, which is ranked No. 86 and was down to its third-string quarterback.

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In the first 10 games of last season, Michigan faced four teams that finished the year in the top 50 of the FBS in total offense: No. 12 Western Michigan, No. 22 Nebraska and two teams tied at No. 43, Michigan State and Northern Illinois. Penn State and Wisconsin weren’t great, but at least they ranked in the top 100. Michigan’s 2022 schedule makes that lineup look intimidating.

Saturday’s game against Illinois should be a stiffer test. Running back Chase Brown leads the FBS with 1,442 rushing yards and is “trending in the right direction,” according to coach Bret Bielema, after an injury scare in last week’s loss to Purdue. Michigan’s defense should get at least a moderate step up in competition before the biggest challenge of the season.

Minter has done an admirable job of making Michigan fans forget about losing their defensive coordinator. The Wolverines have been able to replicate much of last season’s success, but to finish the job, they will have to replicate the final step.

“The story is far from being written on this group,” Minter said. “We’ll find out a lot over the next couple weeks.”

(Photo of Junior Colson and Mike Sainristil: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)