It turns out that Michigan defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale and I have a lot in common!
Both of us are from southwestern Ohio, both of us spent some time delivering auto parts, and both of us have a long-simmering hatred of the stretch of I-75 between Dayton and Detroit; a 200 mile exercise of absolute tedium designed to make the human mind question multiple times per hour how bad it'd be, really, if you drove your car directly into a ravine.
Right out of college, Martindale hauled brake parts every day from Dayton, Ohio, to Detroit, a grueling 6.