January 13th, 2021 at 5:14 PM ^
Somebody better tell Jay harbaugh.
seems like a very good move. Welcome home Mike.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:16 PM ^
Time to mend the Bo and Carr guys and treat the community as 1.
and huge congrats to Mike. This has to feel like a well earned accomplishment. Good for him.
January 14th, 2021 at 12:16 AM ^
The youth movement may continue. Mike Macdonald may hire one more from the Ravens defense. On offense, I have said it before, still shopping for possible CO-OC type.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
Jay will either coach ST full time or go onto the defense somewhere and be good just as he had been for RBs and TEs.
Jay has become Jim's swiss army knife coach it seems.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
And in the process is building knowledge of every position on the field.
Young JH may end up being a better HC than his old man.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:39 PM ^
Just as good? So like, below average? Our running backs and tight ends have been nothing to brag about the last few years. There was absolutely no reason he should've been coaching the running backs besides the fact he is Harbaugh's son. Our running game has desperately needed a legitimate running backs coach.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:49 PM ^
I don't know what crack pipe your puffin on, but Jay has done a pretty good job for himself. Running backs have been pretty good, he doesn't run the offense. His recruiting is above average as well. Everyone is always clamoring that guys can't recruit and Jay has been one of the better ones. Jay Harbaugh is not a problem and belongs on this staff.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:50 PM ^
Stop. The last time Jay coached TE's he helped Butt earn the Mackey award, then he moved positions and the RBs improved vs what the were under Wheatley
January 13th, 2021 at 5:54 PM ^
"Our running game has desperately needed a legitimate running backs coach."
Seems our running backs are the least of our problems. Our problems on offense are the lack of commitment to a philosophy. Manball? Speed in Space? This is on Jim Harbaugh. Not Jay.
January 13th, 2021 at 11:41 PM ^
Is it manball or speed in space? Let’s call it Spaceballs.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:57 PM ^
The Jay Harbaugh hate on this blog is so dumb. People are so hyper focused on the nepotism that they can't objectively analyze that he's been at least a decent coach. The position group he's coached has never been an issue since he's been on staff
January 13th, 2021 at 6:03 PM ^
Agree. If Jay Harbaugh was the weakest link on this staff, we would have two CFP appearances under our belt by now.
January 13th, 2021 at 6:15 PM ^
There's also this weird undercurrent of "we need to have someone who played the position to coach it", which is just silly on its face.
I think Hart joining should be viewed as an upgrade on the recruiting path for guys like Zordich and Shoop and, at best, a lateral move at the RB position.
January 13th, 2021 at 7:09 PM ^
This right here cracks me up. It's downright ignorant. Quick facts: Urban Meyer coached wide receivers before being named head coach at BG; position played: defensive back
Ed Warinner is arguably a top 3 OL coach in the country; position played: running back and quarterback
Brady Hoke is one hell of a defensive line coach; position played: linebacker
Mike Leach is one of the most ingenious offensive coaches ever; position played: spectator.
Paul Johnson was one of the best triple option coaches in the land; position played: spectator...
January 13th, 2021 at 7:55 PM ^
Jedd Fisch: Arizona head coach, multiple time college OC/passing game coordinator, NFL assistance coach
Sport played? Tennis.
January 13th, 2021 at 10:35 PM ^
I'll be perfectly honest, I had completely forgotten about that one.
January 13th, 2021 at 10:45 PM ^
I agree. It's always been weird to me that we assume someone had to have played the exact position in college/pros to be able to coach such things as "block this guy" and "run this way".
January 13th, 2021 at 6:23 PM ^
Jay is a good coach. This misconception is beyond me.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:58 PM ^
In the four years that Hart has been a RB coach at IU they've averaged, as a team, 3.48, 4.41, 3.63, and 3.13 ypc. Over the same 4 year span (Jaybaugh's time as RB coach), UM has averaged 4.37, 4.83, 3.96, and 4.59. And Jaybaugh has been one of the better recruiters on the staff.
Mike Hart the player was great at Michigan and that isn't up for discussion, but if he didn't have that name recognition I don't believe anyone would be particularly excited about him as a RB coach. That may change when he arrives and is in the system at UM, but right now this feels a bit underwhelming of a hire.
January 13th, 2021 at 6:06 PM ^
I think this is a decent hire. I know you're not saying different, but there are a lot of things that can affect team rushing statistics outside of how good the RB coach is. I don't watch indiana enough, nor understand the RB position enough to be able to realistically assess his performance but he seems to be a good recruiter at the least and will maybe bring some fresh personality/thinking on board.
I will say that the two hires we've made so far indicate to me that coaches aren't beating down our door right now.
January 13th, 2021 at 6:11 PM ^
Yeah, I think he's decent. I also think that Hart coming to UM was ordained in the stars for what felt like years; my guess is he'd have been brought on even if UM had gone 6-2 or something. I just am not sold he's a major upgrade as a coach. I guess I just don't get the Jaybaugh hate generally, which seems to be coming from the subset of this fanbase that assumes everyone is a failson and couldn't possibly be good at his job while also sharing the same last name as the HC.
January 13th, 2021 at 6:07 PM ^
Maybe Mike can make up the yardage delta in pure super hot fire?
January 13th, 2021 at 6:09 PM ^
Seriously? Indianas offensive lines are made up of 2 and 3 stars and an occasional 4 star.. you can put up the ypc pointless stats all you want, indiana has more running backs on nfl rosters than michigan
January 13th, 2021 at 11:01 PM ^
Well, Tevin Coleman and Jordan Howard weren't coached by Mike Hart, so not quite sure how compelling an argument that is when compared to Jaybaugh's output. Heck, at least Jaybaugh seemingly made someone better; Higdon went from a backup to first-time all conference as a senior.
As for IU's starting line, they didn't suffer losses of both their starting tackles and their center for most of the season, yet somehow Michigan still averaged about 1.5 ypc more than IU did. And that number would have been even greater if we ignored Penix's ability to keep defenses honest as a capable runner.
I think Hart will be a competent coach at UM, but like I said if his name wasn't "Mike Hart" I doubt people would be over-the-moon about demoting a guy who has been a good coach at a position group that has been consistent for a guy who helped lead the nation's 114th-ranked rushing offense.
January 13th, 2021 at 7:37 PM ^
It’ll be worth having Hart on staff if for no other reason he should have no problem getting the guys motivated to play MSU!!
January 13th, 2021 at 8:12 PM ^
Hart was a pretty consistent recruiter at IU, even out recruiting Jay a couple years at a much harder school to recruit at. Hart also helped Jarvion Franklin break a lot of records at WMU.
Recruiting rankings
Jay 13 79 40 22
Hart 44 40 37 40
January 13th, 2021 at 11:20 PM ^
I have no idea how those rankings are compiled, as Jaybaugh's 79th ranking this year comes off him being the primary guy for Edwards and Dunlap and secondary on Worthy. I guess he was the primary guy on UM's punter, but even then his star rating is one of the better on the team. Hart did fine but it's hard to judge guys considering what they are recruiting with. I mean, Don Brown was apparently the 6th-best recruiter in the conference this year per 247.
I think Hart will be a fine recruiter but, again, if you told me the 3rd-best recruiter at IU was coming to UM and his name was Marcus Hart, I'm not sure I'd be excited about him displacing a good coach already on staff at a position that has been pretty solid.
January 14th, 2021 at 1:31 AM ^
I think Jay probably wanted to move to ST full time like his uncle did and thinks that is a better career path for him to move up in the coaching world. At least, that is my hunch. From Michigan's perspective, it could also allow Jay to take on a more general recruiting approach like Moore does and not have him focus so much on just RB's.
I also think Hart will likely be a good recruiter here and this is a way to bring in another good recruiter on a staff that needs it.
January 13th, 2021 at 6:28 PM ^
Lighten up Francis
January 13th, 2021 at 7:44 PM ^
If you think Jim Harbaugh is truly a "below average" football coach then -- and I'm sorry, but there's no nice way to put this -- you are an imbecile
January 13th, 2021 at 8:42 PM ^
I’m not talking about Jim Harbaugh.
January 13th, 2021 at 8:22 PM ^
Hey I’ve shit on Jim all season and was very disappointed with how the season went. Having said that Jay has been an excellent recruiter and we just got Mike Hart on board! This is good news. It’s ok to acknowledge the good news when we get it.
January 13th, 2021 at 6:58 PM ^
+1 XM & OP!
Very happy about this hire & Welcome Home Big Brother!
January 13th, 2021 at 8:54 PM ^
Love this. We need a coach that can find and develop a 3 down back. A RB by committee doesn’t seem to work. Teams figure out that each back seems to have their own package of runs. Makes our running plays more predictable than other teams. Kind of like when McDoom would get on the field. It let the defense know a jet sweep is probably coming.
January 14th, 2021 at 6:33 AM ^
Jay to special teams coach
January 13th, 2021 at 5:14 PM ^
Word?
January 13th, 2021 at 5:42 PM ^
Word, Riggs.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:57 PM ^
Word, Rog
January 13th, 2021 at 5:15 PM ^
Did he say that Mike accepted or just that he was offered?
January 13th, 2021 at 5:42 PM ^
Apparently accepted and he's saying it as fact.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:48 PM ^
I’m ignorant: what’s his rep? Good coach good recruiter?
January 13th, 2021 at 5:16 PM ^
Did they confirm it?
January 13th, 2021 at 5:19 PM ^
I’d consider it unofficial til the University drops something but Morris sure sounded convinced.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
So, just another "it's already been posted" thread.
January 13th, 2021 at 6:32 PM ^
I'd say this is as official as we'll get for today.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:58 PM ^
Jon Jansen just tweeted it.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
Man I would love for this to be true. Seems like he understand our rivalries better than most on staff as he has a deep-seated hatred of them.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
That sounds absolutely ridiculous at face value when you consider the head coach also played for Michigan... then again you wouldn't even know sometimes given his post-2016 demeanor.
January 13th, 2021 at 5:53 PM ^
I hear ya but it sure seems like we're not as pumped for rivalry games as our opponents maybe Hart could be influential in that regard