January 27th, 2022 at 10:47 PM ^
Jim does so well with D coordinators I have all the faith. That being said I will miss Macdonald. Anyone that shuts down that all star squad team from down south like that will always have legend status with me.
January 28th, 2022 at 7:08 AM ^
Yup, Jim makes excellent defensive coordinator hires so I’m not worried at all. His only sin on that side of the ball has been hanging onto Don Brown a little too far beyond his shelf life.
January 28th, 2022 at 8:18 AM ^
Yeah, we all saw the end of Don's time was 2019. But you don't cancel the guy that had given you a top 20 defense in 3 of the previous 4 years (incl two top 3 defenses!) because of one partially bad season (2019). Even if the trend is looking bad! So I get why he stuck around. But that doesn't replace the fact that Don's shelf life had been over-extended.
January 28th, 2022 at 7:26 AM ^
It was a refreshing change. Rather than sticking with "a system" or throwing up his hands, he did the most with what he had. He wasn't going to shut that team out but he did limit them - no huge one/two play scoring drives that took only 10 seconds off the clock - many double digit drives with multiple 3rd and even multiple 4th downs. The defense played with heart and the offense got ahead and stayed ahead.
January 27th, 2022 at 10:47 PM ^
Quoth the DC, "Nevermore."
He made the most of his gap year. Thank you for your service.
January 28th, 2022 at 9:40 AM ^
I wonder if the "gap year" was planned.
Two brothers got together to give MacDonald some DC experience while Martindale is 'left on an island' to see if he has kept up with the pace of NFL. If Martindale wasn't cutting it (without his young protege), he's gone (or he stays if the Raven D stays strong). Meanwhile, they get a look to see if MacDonald is worth his salt as a DC.
January 27th, 2022 at 10:57 PM ^
Wonder if he is gonna publicly say goodbye, thanking the coach and fans, etc. Because I'm bitter! Godspeed to him. Might be head coach here one day. Or at Georgia.
January 27th, 2022 at 11:04 PM ^
A head coach?
January 28th, 2022 at 8:35 AM ^
Yeah...HEAD COACH. Though I predict he will stay in the NFL, and be one within 3 years.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:44 PM ^
Lol that's fine, but if Harbaugh left...he wasn't going to be the HC here at Michigan. If it was internal, it was/is certainty Gattis or Hart.
January 27th, 2022 at 10:58 PM ^
Bring on Larry Foote as co-DC with Clinkscale.
Also would take a look at Baltimore's Anthony Weaver (more for the Baltimore connection/consistency, but his defense and DL I'm Houston post-JJ Watt was awful), and kick the tires on Tim Banks at Tennessee.
Don't love that Foote hasn't coached in college...Macdonald had, but even he struggled with parts of the transition. That said, he's coveted and would be a big time hire.
January 28th, 2022 at 8:30 AM ^
I'm not buying into the co-DC hype.
Harbaugh expects his DC to own everything related to the defense. He keeps his hands out of that side of the ball to the extent that his comments about the defense are forever left to praising the athleticism/ability of the players. I don't recall ever hearing him comment about defense strategy, tactics, or game planning - college or pro.
Given this context for what Harbaugh expects in a DC, why does anyone believe there will be two equal co-DC's? I mean, it might happen, but I just can't see it. Maybe co-DC, as in a deputy DC for day to day activities, but there will be one guy that JH goes to for defense status. There will be only one guy that talk's to the press as the DC.
I just can't see JH doing something that allows the defensive coaching to infight. He can personally manage the offensive coaches, but he stays out of the defenses business.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
Agree on the co-defensive coordinator bit. I've personally never been a fan of having co-offensive coordinators or co-defensive coordinators, or co-really any important job/position group coaches. Maybe it's just flashbacks to some of the messiness earlier in Harbaugh's tenure at Michigan, particularly with the whole catastrophe of Tim Drevno/Greg Fry co-offensive line coaches and the occasional confusion and muddiness of the whole co-offensive coordinator thing (perception-wise, maybe not in namesake if I remember correctly) of Tim Drevno and Jedd Fisch. Of course, that might be more of a testament to the individual coaches' abilities, but I don't really jive with the overall concept of having co-coaches very well. Just hire one guy for the job and let him run it. I get that may have some benefit of introducing more diversity and perspective in concepts, but it otherwise it just seems like unnecessary potential for systemic confusion/wonkyness by way of philosophical infighting and ego mashing.
At the end of the day, of course, it's Harbaugh's program. As long as whatever he does works I'm cool with it. I'm just a little wary of the whole "too many cooks spinning the soup" sort of thing.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:42 PM ^
If Macdonald stayed...he was already going to be co-DC with Clinkscale. It's in Clinkscale's contract.
So you were going to have to get on board one way or another.
January 27th, 2022 at 11:38 PM ^
This saddens me. However, I am thankful that John Harbaugh was apparently willing to facilitate it in the first place and Macdonald agreed to come and help give us this season.
Wish him nothing but great success with the Ravens!
January 28th, 2022 at 8:39 AM ^
No facilitating. It was self interest on both sides. John knew MacDonald was gone soon and didn't want to risk him being a DC somewhere else, early. And Jim needed him and could use him. Going to college a year or two, gave macDonald some needed experience, and John could call him back with an inside. And it's exactly what happened.
January 27th, 2022 at 11:42 PM ^
well, I was expecting Macdonald to leave eventually, but was hoping Michigan would be able to get one more year at least...
Disappointing we won't be able to see what a second year under the same system would have looked like...
Hard to turn down the Ravens though due to his familiarity with everything and everyone there.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:14 AM ^
But so and so’s contact with the Raven’s said he wasn’t a top candidate. I can’t believe this.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:31 AM ^
There are somewhere between 27 and 42 reasons why I'll miss Coach Macdonald.
January 28th, 2022 at 8:59 AM ^
So 34.5?
January 28th, 2022 at 9:28 AM ^
You need to spend more than 3-9 days a year on this blog to catch what he did there.
January 28th, 2022 at 1:08 AM ^
Going to miss him; was looking forward to seeing how his defense would adjust next year with new DEs, and had faith that he would make it work. Perhaps his heart and long term goals were always with the NFL. As many have said, successful college coordinators move onward and upward, some sooner than others.
January 28th, 2022 at 2:45 AM ^
Mike Macdonald, I hardly knew ye….at least we beat those fuckers from Ohio!!!?
January 28th, 2022 at 3:18 AM ^
Just a fabulous young coach, and we were incredibly blessed to have him for this year. Being able to put the clamps on OSU (wide receivers doing stupidly absurd catches notwithstanding) was a huge part of that iconic win, and will alone leave him in my good graces.
The crazy part is that he was seemingly only scratching the surface of his potential as a collegiate coach. Obviously, the college hurry up proved to be a weakness against MSU, but he was able to learn from that experience and demonstrated improvement as the season progressed. Year 1 of any scheme is going to be a handful for a new team and you have to imagine that year 2 would allow him to further implement his scheme. With him onboard, I had faith that this defense would continue to hold firm, even with all of the departures.
Still, it's not a surprise that John Harbaugh would want one of his wonderkids back, though it's disappointing it's so soon. I don't think anyone expected the Ravens DC to be fired this year, but with Macdonald shining at Michigan, I'm sure it made that choice easier for the Ravens. Best of luck to him, and here's hoping that Michigan's next DC(s?) can continue the momentum!
January 28th, 2022 at 3:59 AM ^
Let's put this in perspective.
MacDonald was a raw 5 star DC hire who truly proved he was a legit one and done. He lived up to the 5 star ranking and did wonders for the defense (sans MSU - everyone has one bad game).
Next DC up!
Let's have some faith in Harbaugh.
January 28th, 2022 at 5:30 AM ^
maybe we can pick up another 5* DC in the portal. at least now we don't have to worry about paying them, what with NIL and all.
January 28th, 2022 at 6:58 AM ^
Gotta move up Coach Clink. Great recruiter and coach. Can't afford to lose him to a DC spot elsewhere next year. Bummed to see Mac go. Thank you for showing us the light, sir.
January 28th, 2022 at 8:18 AM ^
Mac gets a lot of credit and he deserves it, but Clink helped transition our DBs in just one season. Some playing above their potential. Promote Clink!
Helow is a critical position coach to keep as well.
January 28th, 2022 at 6:59 AM ^
I have faith in Harbaugh hiring a DC but the underlying tone is I think that 1) we all just liked him. He seemed to adapt and learn and from a distance (and from my contact on the medical staff) was quite humble and 2) we all knew he'd be gone in 2-3 years, but wanted to see that year 1 to 2 bump in performance that we won't get to see.
Like I, and others are posting, I do have faith in Harbaugh finding a good DC and I think the Mac hire as well as some of the others indicate Harbaugh is evolving when we needs to and should.
January 28th, 2022 at 7:01 AM ^
Good luck Mike! Wish we could’ve gotten one more season with him, but I wish him the best. He’s got a long career in front of him.
January 28th, 2022 at 7:51 AM ^
I wonder if Macdonald after the OSU game was like, "what was so hard in beating these assholes?"
January 28th, 2022 at 2:12 PM ^
hahaha, this made me crack up.
Dude has been playing/practicing against Mahomey, Lamar, Baker..
He walked in and said "I got you Jim, but just one time"
Ill take it
January 28th, 2022 at 7:51 AM ^
The real reason I hate this is because OSU had to dump pretty much their entire defensive staff and I was hoping for another year of continuity for Michigan going into the off-season, especially with losing some of our most talented players on that side of the ball. That continuity would have given us an edge going into Columbus next year.
January 28th, 2022 at 8:34 AM ^
We'll see. You never know who they'll bring in or what the scheme will be. The scheme may end up being somewhat the same so there could end up being some continuity there anyway.
Even if MacDonald came back, if Michigan was going to win next year it was going to have to find some pass rushers anyway. Hutchinson and Ojabo were huge, huge reasons as to why Michigan came out of that day with a W, so who is going to step up and fill their shoes? Right now, we have no answer to that. There are certainly some talented guys waiting in the wings, but no one who has really proven anything just yet.
Truthfully, I'm more concerned about finding guys who can get to the QB vs. just keeping the scheme as it is. If they can get both, more power to them. But if Michigan can't find or develop at least one guy next season who can consistently get to the QB, its gonna be a looooong day in Columbus, regardless of the scheme they have in place.
January 28th, 2022 at 8:49 AM ^
QB Pressure
A dynamic M offense
and the flu will all aid Michigan in winning at the Shoe in 2022.
January 28th, 2022 at 8:12 AM ^
I was really hoping for one more year, but I do understand
January 28th, 2022 at 8:28 AM ^
He never struck me as someone who was going to stick around for very long. If John and Jim weren't brothers I doubt MacDonald ever even considers coming to Ann Arbor. But he made the most of his one year here and delivered a win over OSU. So I can't complain.
I bet John took one look at what MacDonald crafted up for OSU and said "That looks great. Now show me how you can do that against Kansas City and Buffalo."
January 28th, 2022 at 8:53 AM ^
There are multiple reasons to be/remain concerned here. My number one concern is that while it is popularly, and I believe correctly, stated that there was a significantly positive change in the culture of Michigan football this past season this insinuates that the previous culture was less than desirable. Macdonald is receiving much praise in this regard. My question is why was the previously bad culture allowed to be in place??? And who is ultimately responsible for this being so???
January 28th, 2022 at 10:15 AM ^
Not surprising but Sam Webb stated on his morning show that MacDonald didn't exactly like the recruiting angle of college. Add that being a NFL coach does allow you to have a life instead of being on the job every day of the year in college.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:04 PM ^
Yeah NFL guys tend to make good coordinators because they are extremely strategic and Xs/Os driven. Also why they tend to leave college is bc the recruiting angle takes up too much time and detracts from strategy sessions lol. But honestly the trade-off of having to get a new DC every 2 or so years isn't that bad, if you can get close to the level of impact Mac had this past year, and have solid recruiters at the position coach level on defense.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:39 AM ^
I'm assuming Jim knew this was in the works for a while now, which probably has lead him to delay any public mention of extension as he figures out next steps with this.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:17 PM ^
As long as we're not trading McDonald to Baltimore for Rob Ryan.....
January 28th, 2022 at 1:20 PM ^
Best of luck to him. I thought he did a great job overall save the MSU game. As Bengals fan, I still hope the Stripes torch them. This years games were especially fun.
January 28th, 2022 at 2:09 PM ^
We hardly knew thee...
Thanks for the Ohio State ass whoopin, you are forever a Wolverine for that coach