Mike Sainristil is one of the top nickelbacks in college football—a dangerous combination of an ultra-athletic defensive back with the brain of a wide receiver. “It’s getting in their heads a little bit and thinking like them,” Sainristil told 247Sports.
The receiver’s release off the line of scrimmage was the first clue to Michigan cornerback Mike Sainristil. The steps were wrong.
So, Sainristil peered toward Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt, who was backpedaling with his eyes stuck in Sainristil’s direction. Sainristil knew what was next—the screen! Sainristil jumped the pass, made the pick and returned it for a touchdown that took Michigan off of an upset alert against Rutgers.
Making plays on the ball comes naturally to Sainristil. He’s Michigan’s version of Dallas Cowboys corner Trevon Diggs, whom Alabama recruited as a receiver before Nick Saban turned him into a terrific cornerback. Sainristil caught touchdowns early in his career as a starting receiver in Ann Arbor. Now he’s one of the top nickelbacks in college football—a dangerous combination of an ultra-athletic defensive back with the brain of a wide receiver.
“It’s getting in their heads a little bit and thinking like them,” Sainristil told 247Sports.
Sainristil did it twice last Saturday, saving Michigan’s season with a pair of interceptions against Maryland. His five picks lead the Big Ten and rank second nationally. Earlier this season, Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh described Sainristil—less than two years removed from playing offense—as a “Michigan legend.”
Michigan co-defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale calls Sainristil an “influencer,” and not in the TikTok sense. Players are often followers, sometimes leaders and rarely influencers. In Clinkscale’s mind, Sainristil is everything he wants in a player. He inspires. Sainristil’s work ethic and that he pushes his teammates to work a little harder and watch a little more film.
Clinkscale believes Sainristil’s impact extends well beyond Ann Arbor, too.
“He’s influencing guys around the country,” Clinkscale said. “They’re seeing a guy that’s converted from a wide receiver to nickel, and he’s doing a great job. I think he’s made a big, big splash in college football the last two seasons.”
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The steps couldn’t have been smaller. Houston, Texas, safeties coach Stephen Adegoke, then a graduate assistant at Michigan, helped guide Sainristil through his offense-to-defense transition in the spring of 2022.
Sainristil had played some defensive back in high school. But he’d never drilled into the intricacies of the role. So for an hour or two every day in Michigan’s indoor facility after practice, Adegoke taught Sainristil how to move as a defensive back, one slow backpedal step at a time.
“The first time he walked in, he wanted to know everything about playing defensive back,“ Adegoke said. “Everything. Start to finish. That guy is all ball.”
The Wolverines didn’t have a surefire replacement for Daxton Hill in the spring of 2022. Hill, who’d go on to be a first-round pick, ranked among the best nickelbacks in the country the prior season. A few days into spring ball, the Wolverines were looking for answers.
That’s when Harbaugh told Clinkscale: “I’m telling you, I feel like Mike has the skill set and the instincts. He’ll be a really good nickel for you guys.”
Sainristil had always been on the radar for Michigan as a potential defensive back. Former Wolverines defensive coordinator Don Brown recruited him, at least in part, as one. But given the choice on arrival in Ann Arbor, Sainristil preferred wide receiver. He loved making plays with the ball in his hands.
Some 10 or 15 minutes into Sainristil’s first practice at defensive back, Clinkscale sidled over to Harbaugh to say, “I think we’ve got something here.”
Adjusting to defensive back came reasonably naturally. An excellent athlete who had dynamic moments as a slot receiver, Sainristil had the athletic profile to play in the secondary and, of course, could make plays on the ball. It didn’t take him long to cause havoc. He could read the quarterback and shadow familiar routes with ease.
Learning to think like a defensive back proved more difficult.
Wide receivers are taught to find the ball. They’re looking at the quarterback. They’re looking for the ball in the air. A defensive back must do the opposite. A defensive back is supposed to keep his eyes on his man. Losing track for a second allows separation and completions to occur.
Sainristil remembers feeling a bit panicked at first. His perspective and footwork had to completely flip.
“It’s almost like playing football backward,” Sainristil said.
It got easier with time, so much so that when Sainristil played hurt earlier this year, Clinkscale said he managed to play well thanks to his poise and mental understanding of the position.
Two years into his transition, Sainristil is a dynamic cover cornerback. Whereas a year ago he allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 65.2% of their passes against him, this year that number has dropped to 50%. His interception total has jumped from one a year ago to five in 2023.
Even in the NFL, Adegoke still keeps up with his former pupil. He has watched Sainristil backpedal one baby step at a time. Now, he’s an elite cornerback with a wide receiver’s brain making play after play on the ball.
Adegoke credits that to Sainristil’s need (and ability) to learn and adjust with ease.
“You ever seen a little kid when they learn a big word and they start to use it every day?” Adegoke said. “It’s like, ‘OK, you have to teach him something else.’ Mike always needed a new challenge.”
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