Well, finally.

Sam Webb, Chris Balas, and others are reporting Michigan has come to terms with Kentucky defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale to be the Wolverines' new defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach.

Michigan had one name on everybody’s lips when co-DC/cornerbacks coach Maurice Linguist, hired just last January, couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be the head coach of Buffalo. It was the same name bandied about before Linguist was hired. And the same name this site was all but banging the table for a year before that, when Chris Partridge departed for Ole Miss and Michigan ended up replacing him with Bob Shoop. It’s also one of very few names you could be reading at the top of this post that might actually make you feel better than Linguist did, especially when it came to guys Michigan could find in mid-May.

Fist pump away. This was Michigan’s first choice when they lost Linguist, and you could make the case he should have been the top choice all along.

COACHING

His coverages at Kentucky have been a mix. Stoops has always been a Cover 3 guy, but they played a lot of Cover 2 the last few years, especially against even formations. They tend to sit back and look for picks instead of playing tight. When opponents go trips or have two backs, the Cats fall back on good ol’ Cover 3.

Before Clinkscale, this didn’t translate, but once the talent arrived the results were incredible. From my post on candidates yesterday:

SIGNIFICANT STATS: Passing defense YPA (sack-adjusted) under Clink:

KENTUCKY:
2015 (prior): 6.30, #70 ovr, #12 SEC
2016: 6.72, #83 Ovr, #11 SEC
2017: 6.69, #87 Ovr, #12 SEC
2018: 5.21, #21 Ovr, #4 SEC
2019: 5.08, #10 Ovr, #3 SEC
2020: 6.43, #64 Ovr, #6 SEC

CINCINNATI:
2012 (prior): 5.81, #39 Ovr, #4 Big East
2013: 5.34, #14 Ovr, #2 American
2014: 6.25, #70 Ovr, #7 American
2015: 6.49, #80 Ovr, #5 American

How much of that was Clinkscale’s work is unknown—UK head coach Mark Stoops was a defensive backs coach. Their efforts paid off in four UK defensive backs drafted over the last three years, after the school hadn’t sent a member of its secondary to the pros since 2012.

[Recruiting analysis after THE JUMP]

RECRUITING

If you haven’t heard the name Steve Clinkscale before, you’re not paying attention to Michigan recruiting (and should be rewarded for that.) In his time at Cincy (2013-'15) and Kentucky (2016-this morning), Clinkscale made deep inroads into Detroit-area recruiting especially, most infamously in 2020 when he ferreted away a five-star defensive tackle when the big in-state school needed one in the worst way. 24/7 Sports keeps track of the guys Clinkscale recruited if you want to see the list. Excellent UK blog/media empire Kentucky Sports Radio called him their best-ever recruiter after Vince Marrow, whom Michigan made a run at last year:

With Clinkscale leading the way, Kentucky established a talented pipeline in the state of Michigan. In 2018 he successfully recruited the Great Lakes State’s most talented player, Marquan McCall, then followed it up a year later by bringing in Justin Rogers, the highest-ranked UK signee in the internet era. Clinkscale was the lead recruiter for three starters on this year’s team — LB DeAndre Square, S Yusuf Corker and OT Jeremy Flax. Outside of Kentucky and Ohio, no state has produced more Wildcats in recent years than Michigan.

KSR also points out half of the Wildcats’ four-star commits in the 2021 class had Clinkscale as primary, including TN LB Keaten Wade, whom Michigan was after, and Belleville CB Jeremiah Caldwell, who received a Michigan offer last month.

Those pipelines did more damage to Michigan State, siphoning off players who’d normally find their way to East Lansing. Clinkscale also gives Michigan’s staff the member with deep Ohio roots they sorely lacked—he grew up in Youngstown and played then coached at Ashland for most of a decade. If not in the same circles, he  should be at least a match for Linguist in recruiting prowess. More immediately, Clinkscale has an existing relationships with 5-star commit Will Johnson, and has recruited Tennessee, where Michigan has Kody Jones committed and were in the lead for Junior Colson's old teammate Myles Pollard.

We’ll see in the coming weeks how the recruits themselves react. Most likely Michigan will be out for some of the big-time Texas guys Linguist knew, and we could see some shifts, but I would expect they should finish strong.