Al Washington Leaves For Ohio State
A second Michigan position coach has left for OSU:
Al Washington, who served as Michigan's linebackers coach in 2018, is joining Ryan Day's staff as the Buckeyes' linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator.
This one makes more sense than Day hiring a 70-year-old Greg Mattison to be a defensive coordinator. Washington recruited well during his single year in Ann Arbor.
Michigan now has two open spots for defensive position coaches. Jim McElwain already left to be CMU's head coach and was replaced by Ben McDaniels. Temple's head job is open again after Manny Diaz left for Miami just days after taking it, and Don Brown is the last guy standing amongst the three candidates previously mentioned. It does seem like Temple's moving on from Brown, with "in person interviews" with new candidates scheduled this week and NIU head coach Rod Carey emerging as a new name.
January 8th, 2019 at 12:36 PM ^
Also we had to promise Partridge DC in waiting to keep him from bama. Couldn't do the same a year later with Washington. OSU can promote him to co-DC next year when Mattison retires.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^
You know what we should do ? All of us should create osu forum accounts and go on their sites and laugh at the hires posing as M fans, and some posing as OSU fans and openly bitch about it... perception is reality, and we have been losing in this perception lately...
and if BRIAN BARRINGER is reading this... fuk you, you POS cheat liar... fuk your family and your son, too...
January 8th, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
This makes more sense from the OSU perspective but it hurts far worse and it is just one more piece of evidence that there is something fundamentally wrong with the program. All of these player and coach defections may not be cause for concern in themselves, but in the aggregate they are deeply concerning.
January 8th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
If Brown leaves, the program will be 3-3
January 8th, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
Will need a whole new playbook against OSU now one way or the other, as they now have two defensive coaches that practiced every day against everything we currently run.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^
Yeah because they were so unprepared for our offensive scheme this year.
we need a completely new playbook regardless of who we are playing.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
39 points wins you a lot of games...
January 9th, 2019 at 9:16 PM ^
Had you even suggested that a team score 39 points in the big 10 back in October and lose people would have laughed at you.
39 points is significant.
January 8th, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^
Seems like OSU is still play the last game. Are we planning to get in the game?
January 8th, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^
Everything sucks
January 8th, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
Coaching stability for more than 1 season may be good for the program.
January 8th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^
Is it time to panic yet...? What does the crystal ball say?
January 8th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
Change happens. Relationships matter. Washington wasn't very invested in Michigan having been here for all of one season and his friend Day probably offered Washington more than a step over to Linebackers at OSU. He will need to backfill Mattison after a year or two of grooming the new guy from the 49ers. While Washington had ties to Brown, he's been with Harbaugh a short time. I don't think Brown is going anywhere. He turned Temple down as "not the right opportunity at this time" and nothing has changed. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to hit the road because things got tough on the job.
So, all this goes under the category of change. We'll see who the new guys are that step in. Michigan is still a very attractive coaching destination. We'll know if it is a change for better or worse next season. Maybe the new guys stepping in will have some ideas to help with the holes in the D. There are plenty of young and hungry coaches out there looking to move up.
January 8th, 2019 at 12:58 PM ^
One thing we are all forgetting is that like a current player, a coach can be replaced just as easily. If had a better option come up than Washington or Mattison does anyone think that we wouldn't have let him go to get that new coveted coach? All in all losing Washington hurts because of his recruiting chops but it doesn't speak to the state of the program. Losing him to OSU hurts a bit more, but this is a promotion for him that takes him back home. Can't fault him there. Optimistically thinking that Brown and Harbaugh can replace them with even better coaches.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:03 PM ^
Lol, this is just comical. Despite their ties, a Michigan coach ditching Harbaugh and headed to the most hated rival, is a huge slap in the face. Make no mistake, there is smoke coming from Fort Schembechler today.
thank all that is holy for the early signing period or we could’ve been in a Miami situation.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
This is unfortunately the business. It was his job to recruit kids to UM while he was here. He did that, even if he would have preferred to be at OSU all along. That's sales 101...highlight the benefits (of UM) and minimize the weaknesses. That doesn't mean he didn't secretly like OSU better all along, he just never revealed that side of his personal preference during his tenure at UM or to recruits. But, given the opportunity to go to where he preferred...it would be silly not to. Just as it would be silly not to accept the offer to coach at UM just because he loves OSU. I'm sure he would have taken the OSU job over the UM one had both been offered last year. His love for OSU didn't prevent him from doing a good job for UM, it just meant he would be a potential flight risk down the road should the opportunity come up. JH had to know this and hired him anyways. I doubt many would have expected that opportunity would come this quickly, but it is what it is. This is the real world beyond our fandom.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:33 PM ^
Guys, as an outsider this seems like a whole "forest from the trees" sort of thing. You're die hard fans of U of M football and you can't see it. Something's clearly going on with the team dynamic here. The obvious answer is that Harbaugh is leaving. I don't know how much more obvious it has to get before it's announced.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:39 PM ^
Does this mean we will score 62 on Ohio State now?
January 8th, 2019 at 1:42 PM ^
Mattison and Washington know all the deep hidden secrets to Harbaugh's offense.
Now he has to change it.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:48 PM ^
Harbaugh was on the phone this morning talking to some guy named Chris Spielman about coaching Michigan's linebackers...
January 8th, 2019 at 4:17 PM ^
lol that would actually be a great hire.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:03 PM ^
probably just a good career opp for washington, but i hope it doesn't portend a don brown exit as well. as in, he thinks brown is on his way out so he went ahead and took the job
January 9th, 2019 at 9:20 PM ^
Stache Brown ain’t going anywhere.
Temple is a step down. Unless somebody like West Virginia gives him a call I see him on the sidelines all next season
January 8th, 2019 at 2:04 PM ^
Latest on the Temple search from Adam Rittenberg and Bruce Feldman, FWIW:
https://twitter.com/ESPNRittenberg/status/1082713963048198145
Rittenberg: - Excellent recruiter with ties to the state. #NIU coach Rod Carey and #EasternMichigan coach Chris Creighton also involved here.
Bruce Feldman @BruceFeldmanCFB - SOURCE: #Wisconsin offensive coordinator/OL coach Joe Rudolph has interviewed with #Temple for the Owls head coaching job, and word is he was impressive.
I did not realize Creighton was a possibility, but I mean, by goodness, in three years, he's taken Eastern to twice as many bowl games as they have ever made before. Hats off to you!
January 8th, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
Translation: not even Temple wants Don Brown anymore.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:12 PM ^
I'm broken. It's now obvious that there's something dramatically wrong with this coaching staff, and for the third football coaching hire in a row, the guy we picked is inexplicably terrible at his job, worse than any other time in his career, for reasons no one could have predicted.
Only two explainations are possible. Either, it's not the coaches; it's us. Or, this program is irretrievably cursed. Either way, drop football and join a basketball only conference. Demolish Michigan Stadium to prevent it ending up like the Silverdome. And while we're at it, move the Lions to Portland.
I'm done.
January 8th, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^
Have you considered upping your lithium dose?
January 8th, 2019 at 8:50 PM ^
I'm done.
Praise the mother fuckin' Lord!
Either, it's not the coaches; it's us.
Us? Don't put me in with you. It's definitely YOU, Matt! My question is, did completely negged out, pessimistic fools like you exist before the internet, but you lacked a medium with which to express yourself, or did the internet create you sorry sacks? Maybe you'd have been the guy writing a letter to the Editor in the AA News or the Free Press or something. But, that would actually take some real effort as you'd have to buy stamps and envelops, mail it in, etc. Now, it's a few key strokes and your worthless take is out there for everyone to see.
For the love of Yost you're pathetic.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:14 PM ^
Not concerned with the coaches leaving (Marty does this, major title and pay upgrade. Washington riots and OSU is the shiny team nowadays).
My concern would be is it because of a systematic illness spreading that we don’t know about yet?
January 8th, 2019 at 2:50 PM ^
This is more about thwarting UM's recruiting inroads to Ohio versus them needing Washington on staff. Was hoping he would stick around to take our DL job, but whatever.
With these openings Brown has the chance to revamp and invigorate his staff. Will be interesting who he picks to fill these roles. Personally, I would like to see Partridge move back to the LBs/Viper and Zordich to take on all of the DBs ... S and CB could be better integrated, especially if we are going to add in more of the disguised zone looks. Clemson did an awesome job integrating zone and man concepts, which we flashed a couple of times during the season.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
Sounds great! I can almost see the similarities to Clemson. Without the Clemsoning. That title is up for grabs BTW ... So... how’s it going?
January 8th, 2019 at 2:56 PM ^
I can see the influence of Meyer in stealing Mattison away. Greg has always sought to maximize his career moves financially when offers arose, which is what he did last time he left Michigan as Lloyd Carr's DC for a lateral position at Notre Dame. Then, the move was associated with his daughter's education there and softball scholarship.
Whether he had not received a new contract from Michigan and Harbaugh and belatedly got one after OSU sought his services to help mold a new DC hire there and advance their recruiting while damaging their chief rival, this is still a big fuck-you move no matter how it wound up happening. I mean the hiring of Washington makes more sense in terms of going forward. Maybe this is ultimately payback for going after Warriner who had already left the Buckeyes and then got hired by Michigan. But Harbaugh didn't go after him until he was a free agent.
The coaching business is a revolving door and you are only as good as your next job opportunity. The work doesn't change, just the colors and alma mater of your next employer. Maybe Greg wanted to know how the other side lived.
This reminds me of a scene from Godfather 2 when Frank Pentagele's character meets with Michael Corleone, and Pentangele warns him during a communion party sitdown conversation while upset by by his family's treatment that whatever their business dealings, Hyman Roth and his Sicilian messenger boy, Johnny Ola, are not to be trusted.
Doesn't matter what their personal relations are, or how they conducted business now or in the past, Roth, like Meyer and Day are the enemy. It's a zero sum game. Maybe Harbaugh will see that in these latest moves. Maybe Mattison is simply a pawn and never was the Maize and Blue loyalist and Michigan disciple he led us all to believe.
His move just reinforced the old Godfather lesson of life and ultimate competition: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
January 8th, 2019 at 3:02 PM ^
Good lord, this board is filled entirely with whiny ass drama queens who think the sky is falling lately.
"Clearly this program broke before some time towards the end of the season"...uh, nope, we had injuries all over the DL, we weren't as good as we thought, OSU was better, OSU only prepares for our game, they had a godo game, we had a bad one.
"wah wah all the coaches are leaving because our program is broken"...uh, nope, one guy who we thought was retiring in a year or two took a promotion, one guy who was here 1 year took a promotion with the school he has the most ties to.
"Mattison is a bad DL coach anyway"...yeah, no, he has always been a fantastic one.
"Our DL was our weakness this year anyway"..are you smoking crack? I twas our strength all year, even with Aubrey hurt all year, even with Rashan hurt half the year, not until Chase got hurt (and Kiwty and Dwumfour) did our DL stop being dominant.
"lb was a weakness anyway"..uh, no, god you guys are dumb.
"DB sucks anyway, he's exposed, his defense is terrible"...pretty sure he's had one of the best defenses in the country for like 10 straight years, even with us getting blown out a few times, he's the most successful DC we've ever had, but because he's not perfect he's terrible?
For the first time I agree with everyone who says michigan fans suck, you guys suck.
January 8th, 2019 at 3:46 PM ^
I have a simple question: why would I hire anyone from a defensive staff I just torched for 62 points to coach my defense?
January 8th, 2019 at 4:22 PM ^
This is actually good for us. Hear me out.....our collective dongs were already sore, what's another punch? #silverlinings
January 8th, 2019 at 4:36 PM ^
Hear me out...
What if the Columbus born and raised Al Washington was just a spy for OSU? What if he was coaching the OLBs in a way that made them look good against most of the country, but provided a specific weakness OSU could leverage? Didn't Haskins and Co. just torch the OLBs?
What if Mattison has been in the pocket of Big Buckeye for years? We only beat OSU once during his most recent stint here. What if he's been working to make the M defense be really good against all comers except OSU? We didn't get any pressure on Haskins this last go round. Coincidence? Maybe Mattison purposefully put the OL in a position to fail against OSU.
Maybe they're both gone because Detective Don Brown started to get wise to their shenanigans. Mattison bolted back to the Mother Ship thinking that would take the heat off Washington. Since Washington is younger he would theoretically have more of a future in the belly of the beast. Mattison take the hit and Operation Underbelly can continue unabated. BUT, Detective Brown was too close. They were both compromised and had to bail before the full extent of their espionage was exposed. Jim Tressel, who was obviously the mastermind behind all of this, arranged for them to get jobs with the OSU program as a reward for their courageous spy work.
January 8th, 2019 at 7:06 PM ^
This plotline would make a better football movie than "Draft Day" (which I loved). I can co-write the screenplay with you and also help with hiring a cast and crew.
All we need to do is find some financing and we can quit our day jobs.
January 8th, 2019 at 10:44 PM ^
Phase 1. Develop movie based on hair brained message board post.
Phase 2. Find someone to fund movie
Phase 3. ???
Phase 4. PROFIT!
I love it! When can we get started!
January 8th, 2019 at 5:08 PM ^
Apparently Day took Sarah Harbaugh out for a romantic dinner last week. May be the third domino to fall.
January 8th, 2019 at 7:34 PM ^
While I find the Mattison and Washington departures interesting, I'm not worried that it will negatively effect the program. Although I am sure Washington and Mattison were great recruiters, I suspect there are other great recruiters out there. Caveat - this could just be ambivalence caused by the BPONE
January 8th, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
I think you're forgetting this is a business for these guys. Them taking a job with the "enemy" isn't the same as a fan changing sides. It's just a business decision.
January 8th, 2019 at 9:12 PM ^
If Brown takes the Temple job, then something big will be coming down the line. JH to the NFL Dolphins?
January 8th, 2019 at 10:05 PM ^
*sigh*
=T
January 8th, 2019 at 11:21 PM ^
All this coaching turnover makes me more sympathetic to Jerry's position that we're really just rooting for the clothes the athletes wear
January 9th, 2019 at 11:15 AM ^
Why all the negative comments ? This is Michigan we are talking about. One of College Footballs true blue bloods . One of the highest winning %s ever .I am in my fifties and for awhile watched Michigan pound us into the ground year after year . Even with the struggles you have had the past several years people around the country still respect you . As much as I hate Michigan I damn well respect them . Honestly..It is better for Ohio State when you are good. You are a lot closer to being elite then you are to being bad. In my opinion the problem with Michigan is JH . Hey I thought the hire was a great one too , At first . Then I started looking back and he was just good at Stanford . He was Ok for awhile in San Fran . I thought like you he would revive a program and bring back The Game to what it used to be . I see now that JH isn't who we all hoped he would be . Again , We Buckeye fans want and need Michigan to be elite again . Do I want us to lose to you ? Of course not . But I can live with losing to an elite Michigan team once in awhile . In the big picture its better for the game of College Football if Michigan is elite again . In my opinion you lost to Ohio State because you were out coached . You lost to Florida because key players sat out . You can't convince me 1 elite player doesn't make a difference. You had 2 elite players sit out in my mind. When you mess with the chemistry of a team it throws everything off. The difference between elite and good is one maybe 2 superstar play makers . You are still Michigan and when another team see's you on their schedule . That game gets a big circle around it . I really don't think JH is the answer for you . I do believe most coaches around the country would walk away from most other programs for the opp to coach there. With JH you can be good but not elite. That being said ..You are MICHIGAN . People still fear you and never take you for granted .Hopefully the Alumni make a change next year and get a smart , young , Go getter in there that will start another dynasty . Best of luck in the off season my fellow College Football fans !
January 9th, 2019 at 10:47 PM ^
Nice try. The best way to make sure Michigan stays #2 (or less) in the B1G is to keep changing coaches every 3-5 years. Harbaugh is a very good coach. Firing him would be DUMB.
January 9th, 2019 at 11:40 AM ^
http://captiongenerator.com/1239562/Harbaugh-Reacts-to-the-News
I thought you guys might find this funny (In the spirit of our rivalry )
January 9th, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
What we need now is a dose of Dantonio style chip-on-our-shoulder attitude. Us against the world; circle the wagons.
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