Who is this particular coaching staff member?

Submitted by Flying Dutchman on

With the many, many sideline shots of Harbaugh that are seen each game, a particular coach is often seen on his hip, and I'm trying to figure out who this is.    Who can help?

This page doesn't show the coach/staff member (http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/coaches-m-footbl.html), leading me to believe he has some other title.

It's a youngish (30, maybe younger) black man with a beard.  I think he often/always wears the blue M hat with the pink visor, which I'm assuming is deliberate to make him visible among all those bodies on the sideline.

He seems particularly involved on offense.  It seems like this guy is doing a lot more than simply carrying JMFH's headset.   He's not talking a lot but seems very involved in what goes on out on the field.

Sorry I don't have a screenshot, but this board will know who I'm talking about.   This seems like an awesome job to have for a young coach.   Is that a Grad Assistant?   Is this a former player?   Just the view alone of witnessing Harbaugh that closely all game long would be fascinating.   (Let's put a GoPro on this guy, /s)

Help me out MGoBloggers.   Who is this dude?  What is that job?

Lampuki

January 4th, 2016 at 10:20 AM ^

Funny to see a coach/analyst in his HS player pic .  I like seeing Wheatly on the sideline and always point him out ot my kides because  I raced him a couple of times in States back in the day (he always smoked me) and he looks to be in about the same shape I am in now...lol.  

If I moved back to AA, and worked on S. Campus in a stressful job, I would probably be reminisicing with a lot of Spots Originals, and cheese fries,  followed by Pizza Bob's chocolate chip Shake or some Blimpy Burgers (althought I hear that place moved). 

On a related note someone negged you for this post. Really?

ijohnb

January 4th, 2016 at 10:37 AM ^

just call him the "meltdown coordinator."  I thought his primary job was to keep all the cords and wires and shit out of Harbaugh's direct path during meltdowns.  I thought that actually may have been what he was hired to do.

MotownGoBlue

January 4th, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^

Does anyone think Jaybaugh could coach both the TE group and STs? I like Baxter but he's getting older and expendable, IMO. As far as coaches leaving (retirement, released, outside offer) I think spots will open up over the next few years, in relative order: 1. Mattison 2. Fisch 3. Jackson 4. Baxter 5. Zordich

EastCoast Esq.

January 4th, 2016 at 12:00 PM ^

My main question is why do you think Jay is at all prepared to coach special teams?

"Son, you're doing well teaching big guys how to run routes, catch, and block. Naturally, I will now assume you are good at teaching kicking, punting, snapping, and kick coverage."

Does that sentence make sense? If not, Jay isn't the answer.

TIMMMAAY

January 4th, 2016 at 1:10 PM ^

You drop something like that and want us to give our thoughts? You're the one who needs to explain, and carefully. 

Baxter took our ST units from the doldrums to top 5 in the country overnight. He has proven his worth, and if you notice, during games he's usually pretty close to Harbaugh (that indicates the value Harbaugh places on him). 

Damn, man. 

MotownGoBlue

January 4th, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^

Serious question, how great were special teams this past year? Peppers is Peppers, without him punt returns are meh. I liked what Chesson and Lewis brought to the return game but again these guys are our best athletes. So how was the protection/coverage really? We had 3 major mishaps that I counted. I'd like to see the numbers compared to last season.

the real hail_yes

January 4th, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^

Norfleet was a tremendous athlete as well, and even if he didn't have opportunities/couldn't find space on offense he still should have been able to create on ST with decent play from the other 10 (or 9) players... never happened. Punting, kicking... all improved significantly.

I used to be scared when we were returning kicks, and just assumed returns were getting 20-30 yards under Hoke... no more.

Again, this is a crazy idea.

jmblue

January 4th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^

Over the course of a season, even the best ST unit will have a few breakdowns.  No one's perfect.

Coverage was good the vast majority of the time.  We gave up a long return to Rutgers when a penalty was questionably overturned, and to Indiana when we just plain missed a tackle.  That was about it.  Protection was fine aside from the one blocked punt against PSU.  (I believe O'Neill would have gotten the punt off vs. MSU if he'd handled it cleanly.)  

On returns, you should also note the excellent blocking we had.  Chesson had a monster hole to run through on his TD.