Jordan Kovacs Michigan coach?

Submitted by Eskimoan on

According to Jordan Strack, Jordan Kovacs is back at Michigan helping coach the Special Teams and  Defense. Strack also mentions that it is a limited role. I'm not 100% sure of the guys credibility, but seems kinda legit, he does have the blue checkmark on twitter lol! I know we have a maximum number of coaches so not sure how it will work, but cool to see him get into coaching. Here are the tweets.

 

Jordan Kovacs tells me he has returned to Michigan. He's coaching special teams & defense for the Wolverines.

— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) March 28, 2017

It's neither actually. It's a limited role as he breaks in to coaching. https://t.co/oL3moPc5Ht

— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) March 28, 2017

F-ckOhio

March 28th, 2017 at 8:09 AM ^

The Guy Brought a good post with valuable information.  Why attack him??  He is a local blowhard???  Who doesn't love themselves???  Who doesnt take more interest in things from where they are from.    Sorry for the negative post, I dont understand ripping fellow U of M fans for trying to add to the community.  Go Blue!!!!

1VaBlue1

March 27th, 2017 at 10:09 PM ^

Would love to see Kovacs helping out around the field!  Not the best physical thing we've ever seen in the Big House, but you can't measure heart and football IQ.  He just always seemed to be in the right spot to nullify his athletic disadvantages.  That kind of instinct is good to have in a coach.  Welcome back, Jordan!

Coldwater

March 27th, 2017 at 10:57 PM ^

He'll be a good mentor to the safeties on the team. He played 3 seasons in the NFL. I just wonder if he's coming in as a GA...or Harbaugh using him as a coaching intern.

funandgun

March 27th, 2017 at 11:27 PM ^

Jordan Strack is highly respected and gets a lot of scoops on Toledo area information. I don't know if I ever remember him being wrong on stuff like this. If he said he spoke to Kovacs, he spoke directly to him.

As a side note, he is the reporter that asked Brady Hoke if Michigan is still an elite job. I was hoping he would ask Harbaugh the same question at his opening press conference.

BIGBLUEWORLD

March 28th, 2017 at 5:06 AM ^

Brady Hoke's contract had a bonus of $500,000 (I think that was the number) for winning the Big Ten Championship, and made no mention of anything for a National Championship.

Not a good sign from the start.

In any case, Jordan Kovacs has the heart, intensity and football IQ to be an excellent coach.

 

lhglrkwg

March 27th, 2017 at 11:56 PM ^

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like guys like Kovacs who were walk-ons and managed to excel at the highest level are likely to be great coaches because they don't have athleticism to rely on or to make up for mistakes. For Jordan Kovacs to be a great strong safety, he had to be on his game with positioning, reading the play, the offensive line, etc. It seems like he at minimum should have a deep understanding for the game and how to read and react, more so than say a guy who is freakishly athletic and can get away with being sloppy. Awesome to have him back if true

UMfan21

March 28th, 2017 at 12:45 AM ^

it's probably true that they mentally grasp the game really well (thinking of Pat Fitzgerald for example). bit IMO the difficult part Kovacs will have to prove is if he can take his knowledge and teach others. And to do it on a short timeline while adapting on the fly to an ever changing game.

I think of all the shit I learned in school. just because I know it doesn't mean I would be an effective teacher.

dragonchild

March 28th, 2017 at 7:01 AM ^

I wouldn't describe Kovacs' head game as "football IQ" like so many others here.  He certainly had a knowledge of the game, but he seemed to play on a level above that.  He was slow, but played several speeds higher because he was in the RB's head.  Not instinct, but thinking at the speed of the game.  That level of intelligence isn't unique, but not everyone can do that, either.  In fact, if some players try to emulate Kovacs' style that could be a very BAD thing.

He can certainly learn to coach, since coaching involves getting concepts across to all sorts of minds.  He'll be fine in that regard.  But any expectations that Kovacs can turn Michigan's safeties into "Kovacs, but fast" should be tempered.  Not all of them, anyway, and the really smart ones won't need the help in the first place.

dragonchild

March 28th, 2017 at 8:56 AM ^

One of the things inspiring (I'd argue deceptively so) about Kovacs is that he became a starting safety at Michigan, briefly a pro even, with a physique most schlubs like us feel is attainable.  Bear in mind out of HS he couldn't even get an FCS scholarship and made the team through student body tryouts.  He certainly sees the game faster and works a whole lot harder, but his athleticism looks like anything but a physical gift to anyone who doesn't have a disability of some sort.  The guy worked his way up to 205-210 pounds and could probably throw me like a rock, but I might actually have been faster than him before I grew a 20-pound tire around my waist.  The thing about his playing career was that all changed when he puts on pads.

Wolfman

March 28th, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^

as a college quarterback, I was a bit confused. I was thinking he is speaking about an All-American, a player that finished in third place for the Heisman Trophy twice, UM's all time leading passer, a record to be broken a few times after his progression into the NFL. I did not disagree at all about him being lightly recruited, but I wanted to know just, other than Bo, where the interest was Every result, no matter how I phrased it, Harbaugh as a high school recruit, schools recruiting Harbaugh? you name it, I typed it and every result was exactly as you described. 

Every one had something to do with Harbaugh returning Michigan's recruiting to the levels it knew under Schembechler, Harbaugh's early and rapid success  in  restoring MI to iits more accustomed location among cfb's elite. In fact, when thinking of Harbaugh as a college qb, and all the great running we saw in between with the likes of Leach, Franklin, Smith, et. al., I had to think back to Don Moorehead, Bo's first qb and first I saw, becoming a fan in 1969, to find someone I felt played a similar style. Even in the mid 80s, Bo was not going to simply dismiss the running qb and he wasn't going to quickly tear up his offensive playbook in favor of a USC But I recall Moorehead hitting timely passes and picking up critical first downs on the ground, and with the honors, playing successfully at the game's highest level, I realized Bo did want Jim for the reasons you stated, that fierce competive nature that would rub off on team mates, his leadership, his love for the game and studying it, whether he knew it or not since the first time he accompanied his dad to practice. He was, since Don Moorehead, the first complete qb Bo had. He was a more than capable runner, able to avoid pressure with his feet and probably one hell of a better passer than Bo had ever dreamed. 

We've had some unlikely stories here, with the name Kovacs being one of those. The Glasgow bothers joining that rare grroup that go from walk-on to the NFL. These are good stories all, and there are many others. However, I believe the Harbaugh story the greatest of them all, We are discussing the most important position in the game. I can see the "walk on to All Conference" story But after that, we're discussing some significant shit. I'm wondering,Frank, if being a two time AA, being in the thick of the Heisman battle twice, setting in front of his locker and saying, "I guarantee a vitory next week No doubt in my mind." was the result of his feeling snubbed, although I wouldn't view an offer from Bo in that light  I can't recall ever hearing anyone express doubt in his ability, so I don't think it was the result of trying to prove people wrong. It's entirely possible he simply went out, balled to maximum ability and proved more than even he knew. 

His coaching success, of course, speaks for itself, but Damn there cannot be a head coach in cfb with a storty like that at the ready for any player who may be doubting themself and needs a shot of confidence. Then there would be that thing about having to pretend as if he ever really had any doubt. 

Rasmus

March 28th, 2017 at 9:19 AM ^

It's all relative. I didn't know this, but according to Wikipedia, he had knee surgery (meniscus) his senior year in high school, which may explain why he didn't end up at Toledo with a scholarship. He had a second meniscus surgery at Michigan freshman year. But the following year, as a redshirt freshman, he was the backup safety out of camp and was starting by late September. [Admittedly, that was not a good defense.]

[Dammit -- supposed to be a reply to dragonchild, above.]

charblue.

March 28th, 2017 at 11:09 AM ^

about a positive development mushrooms into a mountain of speculative second-guessing about the nature of the tweet and its veracity. If he's in the directory, he's official. Whether he's a paid staffer, given up his NFL dreams, or simply working with Michigan staff during spring practice, seems like an easy question to have answered at the next press conference.

In any case, Jordan has networked well since leaving Michigan and entering the league at Miami, a great place for a Michigan grad to wind up. Now he's apparently back at his alma mater, and that is a good thing for the program and Michigan players he helps tutelage. He's got quirte a strory to share with any aspiring player seeklng to get all they can from their ability and talent. The way I see it,  this is another smart move in player development by our coach.