Exit: Don Brown
Per Bruce Feldman, Michigan has fired defensive coordinator Don Brown:
SOURCE: #Michigan has dismissed defensive coordinator Don Brown.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 22, 2020
Brown came to Michigan after a successful tenure as defensive coordinator for Boston College in December 2015 to replace DJ Durkin. His first season went well, as Michigan posted one of the NCAA's top defenses and "Dr. Blitz" made his mark in the maize and blue. Brown's defenses posted elite SP+ numbers up until, well, you know what date in 2018. Suffering from heavy attrition in 2019, the defense regressed but still put up solid stats as a unit. This season, though, the bottom simply fell out and Michigan ranks 56th in yards per play allowed.
For all the great defensive players Brown coached in his time in Ann Arbor, his memory to most Michigan fans will probably be his inability to adjust to Ohio State's mesh concepts and athletic skill position players in 2018-19, as well as recruiting failures that sunk this year's team. That fateful day in November 2018 triggered this slow fall and frankly, it's been a long time coming. After his cornerback room was ruthlessly exposed by MSU on Halloween, the end was clearly near and today it arrived. The situation with Jim Harbaugh's contract is still yet to be resolved, but regardless of who is the head football coach next year, Michigan football will be searching for a new defensive coordinator. There is no content after the jump.
December 22nd, 2020 at 4:41 PM ^
Let’s hope the next guy actually knows how to run zone. Would like to see something similar to the Aztec defense Iowa State runs.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:03 PM ^
Let’s hope the next guy can adjust his defenses to the personnel he has available and the schemes the opponents run. And can recruit a hell of a lot better too.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:54 PM ^
child, please....
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:01 PM ^
lol
8.5.5December 22nd, 2020 at 6:10 PM ^
Time to invest in a better spelling and grammar checker. You probably even misspelled your username.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:15 PM ^
dream on....
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:41 PM ^
Quit drinking and go to bed.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:55 PM ^
aaaand there's one for the horse you rode in on.
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:27 PM ^
Are you 14 years old?
December 22nd, 2020 at 8:10 PM ^
Lol... Up your nose with a rubber hose. Can't tell if this guy is 60 or 6...
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:52 AM ^
Well considering his previous (edited) post talked about watching the games with his dad, and a less than zero understanding of how football works... I'm going with early teens.
December 22nd, 2020 at 8:21 PM ^
Well, that escalated quickly.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:53 PM ^
well, if you insist.
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:05 PM ^
Like that Alabama D that gave up 46 pts to Florida and 48 pts to Ole Miss this year?????
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:18 PM ^
Good thing that wouldn't happen to Don Brown's defense.
December 22nd, 2020 at 8:03 PM ^
We need to hire the soup man!
December 23rd, 2020 at 1:31 AM ^
Not sure we need Soup Campbell right now? Unless you know something about Gattis...
December 22nd, 2020 at 8:15 PM ^
Notre Lame? Are you 6 years old?
December 23rd, 2020 at 9:38 AM ^
I’m 35 and fully support Notre Lame.
December 23rd, 2020 at 9:39 PM ^
Let’s hope Warde Manual and Jim Harbaugh soon resign. Firing Don Brown as the scapegoat is a chicken-shit move. One bad year in a pandemic versus 6 years of a consistently dog shit offense ? Pathetic
December 22nd, 2020 at 4:42 PM ^
Does this close the New England recruiting pipeline?
December 22nd, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
Not necessarily if Harbaugh hires Matt Patricia
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:05 PM ^
Talk about the worst case scenario. That would really suck.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:01 PM ^
Don't you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby
December 23rd, 2020 at 9:31 PM ^
I use this quip all the time and this is definitely in a better context than I've ever used it!
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:17 PM ^
No more freaking NFL guys.
Get successful college guys who know what college players, that change every 3 years, can actually do and not do in a game setting.
December 23rd, 2020 at 8:49 AM ^
So....Don Brown
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:26 PM ^
Let's close be more selective with the New England pipeline.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:31 PM ^
Exactly. People keep talking like it's an either/or between the NE pipeline and recruiting highly ranked players elsewhere. Keep the NE pipeline. Improve recruiting elsewhere. Win.
Coaching staffs can focus on multiple regions. All the top teams do it.
December 22nd, 2020 at 4:42 PM ^
Derek Mason, come on down!
That's our guy.
December 22nd, 2020 at 4:50 PM ^
The swim lanes are small, but Mason, Freeman, and hopefully Foote are in the pool. Sounds like Chris Patridge not getting the job, but finding a way to get him back in the fold is still an option.
Cheers
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:01 PM ^
I want Foote on the staff in some way shape or form. Guy has won everything everywhere. Is from Detroit and has always been known as a tough guy. I am betting he would be a phenomenal recruiter as well.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:20 PM ^
Sounds like 2 more coaches gone, maybe 3. Also demotion.
Allegedly, McDaniels gone, Jay being demoted. But more to come.
Cheers
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:28 PM ^
Mike Hart? Please. Pretty please.
December 23rd, 2020 at 3:46 PM ^
Is this negged cause people don't like you?
Mike Hart coaching RB's would be the best case scenario outside of Wheatley coming back. Hart has been rising and successful as a coach. He would be a great recruiter for us to. Not to mention his hatred for msu and ohio are a perfect fit. What is there not to like?
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:34 PM ^
Have to imagine JH is coming back as he should be the one to both fire and hire coaches I’m sure this move is part of what needs to happen as part of the new contract for JH
December 23rd, 2020 at 12:20 AM ^
What would jay be demoted to? It's not like he's a coordinator, and he's running the strongest playing and best-recruited position group we have.
December 23rd, 2020 at 1:20 AM ^
Doesn’t he still run the RBs? What makes you think we’ve been successful in that area? We’ve recruited a ton of highly ranked backs, none of whom have lived up to their billing.
December 23rd, 2020 at 9:44 AM ^
Disagree on that. Other than Turner and maybe Charbonnet (I’m more inclined to wait another year because he’s been injured) - every RB Jay has recruited / coached has played at or above their ranking. For the last 5 years it has been the only position group where it looks like UM and OSU are even playing the same sport.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:15 AM ^
Well if the coaches would pull their heads out of their asses and not play all 11 RBs in a game maybe some of these guys would become household names. Hard to get anything going when everyone gets 5 touches each per game. Stupidest fucking thing I've seen since Pepcat.
December 22nd, 2020 at 10:31 PM ^
I agree with this.
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:46 PM ^
Who are Mason and Freeman? And what role are they being considered for?
Thanks.
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:52 PM ^
Derek Mason, recently fired Vandy HC. Former Stanford DC.
Marcus Freeman, Cincy DC. Supposed to be a top notch recruiter as well as heir apparent to Luke Fickell should he leave Cincy.
both would be for the DC spot
December 22nd, 2020 at 8:20 PM ^
Thanks!
December 22nd, 2020 at 10:32 PM ^
I’m here for Morgan Freeman and his press conferences!
December 23rd, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^
I have to imagine some halftime pep talks about his friend Andy Dufresne would put more fire under our asses than whatever halftime speeches Harbaugh has been giving.
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:58 PM ^
Marcus Freeman amd Derek Mason.
/Jonny beat me to it amd had better info.
December 22nd, 2020 at 8:21 PM ^
Still appreciated.
December 22nd, 2020 at 4:45 PM ^
Well folks I was writing this up because I didn't see Alex (thank you Alex!) had responded to my desperate call for someone who was available to post. Here's how far I got:
There was a time not too long ago that we were terrified of another school poaching Dr. Blitz. There was also a time when Michigan wasn’t dead last in the conference in havoc. There was a time when he stopped Army with the sound of his voice, a time when he gave the youngest Michigan team since ever a shot at beating Ohio State, a time when Dudes outnumbered Guys, and a couple of classes with tall slow dudes nobody else wanted and not enough defensive tackles were a concern for the future. There were so many New Englandmen we have a subscription to the one guy who covers high school football in the Commonwealth. There were tiny angry linebackers, anchors, and site tags for days.
May the next guy be 75% as good of an idea as hiring Don Brown was, and for all of our sakes may Michigan never again be in a position where they have to fire a legend for poor performance.
December 22nd, 2020 at 4:56 PM ^
Up to 2018 OSU he was having a fantastic tenure. If OSU hadn’t hired a guy who’d practiced against Brown’s D every day at BC, this story could be very different. But they did, and to move forward we have to do this. Just a shame that his great 2016 D wasn’t rewarded with a Big Ten title.
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