[Bryan Fuller]

Michigan has lost safeties coach Brian Smith after two years on the coaching staff. ESPN's Ivan Maisel reports that Smith, as rumored, will take the defensive coordinator position at Rice:

New Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren is hiring Michigan secondary coach Brian Smith as his defensive coordinator and North Carolina Central head coach Jerry Mack (31-15, four seasons, three MEAC titles) to run the Owls' offense. Bloomgren worked with Smith at the New York Jets a decade ago, and with Mack at Delta State prior to that.

TMI's Steve Lorenz has confirmed the report.

Smith had a solid track record in his two years as safeties coach, getting excellent seasons out of Delano Hill and Dymonte Thomas in 2016, helping Hill raise his draft stock all the way to third-round pick, and getting an early impact from promising youngsters like Josh Metellus and J'Marick "Ol' Woods" Woods.

His departure gives Jim Harbaugh some flexibility with next year's coaching staff. Mike Zordich has coached the cornerbacks, who have been downright great, for the last three seasons; he's also a former All-American and 12-year NFL veteran as a safety, and spent four years coaching the position with the Philadelphia Eagles before coming to Ann Arbor.

Michigan didn't have a wide receivers coach on the staff last year, allowing a grad assistant to handle much of the position coaching. It'd make a lot of sense for them to give Zordich control of the entire secondary and bring in a WR specialist, especially with so many talented young pass-catchers on the roster.

EDIT: I should clarify. A new NCAA rule means Michigan will have a tenth coaching spot beginning in January, so they have two spots open right now. Hiring a WRs coach is very likely to happen. The question may be whether to bring in another secondary coach or, alternatively, a full-time special teams coach. Zordich has had special teams duties since 2016 and there have been some notable issues in the third phase this season. Either way, both the receivers and Zordich should be getting some help in the near future.