[BC Eagles Dot Com]

Hello: Anthony Campanile, Defensive Assistant Comment Count

Brian January 11th, 2019 at 12:25 PM

Michigan's filled one of their two defensive position coach openings with a gentleman who had risen to the "co-DC" spot at Boston College:

Multiple sources have confirmed for The Michigan Insider that Jim Harbaugh has followed up his splash hire of former Alabama co-defensive coordinator Josh Gattis by filling one of his two defensive vacancies with former Boston College co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Anthony Campanile. The Fair Lawn (N.J.) native spent the last three seasons helping the Eagles field one of the nation’s top performing secondaries. He interviewed with the Wolverines Tuesday, and now will bring his expertise to Ann Arbor.

At Michigan Campanile could wind up coaching safeties OR outside linebackers and vipers.

Like Gattis, Campanile is young (36, Gattis is 34) and a former D-I player. Campanile was a Rutgers LB/S in the early aughts; since he was a coordinator at Don Bosco for a few years before moving up to Rutgers as a position coach. He coached DBs at BC the last three years, getting the co-DC title last year. BC was 27th, 10th, and 42th in passing S&P+ the last three years, and his recent track record is pretty good:

Noted for both his coaching ability and his prowess on the recruiting trail, Campanile has nurtured several pros in recent years. Los Angeles Rams safety John Johnson was selected in the third round of the 2017 draft after starting all 13 games at free safety for the Eagles. The following year Campanile's cornerback tandem of Isaac Yiadom (third round to the Denver Broncos) and Kamrin Moore (6th round to the New York Giants) made their way to the NFL. That run will continue this month when three more of his protégés are expected to be selected. Junior corner Hamp Cheevers declared early and joins senior safeties Will Harris and Lukas Denis as projected picks.

The guys coming out this year have spent much or all of their careers under Campanile—and since the guys before him were Don Brown recruits that seems like a fine fit. Last year 24/7 named him the DB coach of the year, FWIW.

[After THE JUMP: another battle in the WAR ON RUTGERS]

Campanile's name sounded familiar and I figured out why: his brother is also a coach. He's now at Rutgers. During the brief but intense New Jersey Satellite Camp War he was the head coach at Bergen Catholic, and had some takes to get off his chest:

“Obviously, Michigan wants to conspire with Paramus Catholic to do whatever they want to [Nunzio] do,” added Campanile, whose brother Anthony is on the staff at Boston College, one of five programs that will join Michigan at Paramus. “So I don’t think they’re making friends from that standpoint with a lot of these schools. I really don’t know what to say about it. But it is what it is. They’re obviously aligned with those guys, and if that’s what they want to do, it’s their business.

“But I don’t think Rutgers should let those guys come in here and have their way. I also think that any high school coach in New Jersey who lets their kid go to Paramus Catholic has to kind of rethink what they’re doing. I’m glad that Rutgers is doing it. I’m glad that Ohio State is doing it. And I hope it’s extremely successful.”

Gonna be an awkward Thanksgiving.

Michigan still has a DL spot to fill and will be gently ushering an offensive coach to another job. Jerry Montgomery, a former M assistant now with the Packers who Sam Webb had said was in contention for the job, is apparently being offered the opportunity to stay with Green Bay and may be off the table. No other names have sprouted forth.

Comments

umaz1

January 11th, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^

He must be going nuts knowing he gets to work with Dax Hill now. If he turned those BC guys into draft picks, I can only imagine what he will do with Dax.

jdemille9

January 11th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^

Metellus has been a damn fine safety here, not sure how much improvement you're expecting from a guy heading into his 4th year.

Biggest knock I see for Metellus is he isn't an elite athlete (but not many are, guys like Dax Hill don't grow on trees) other than that he's done a great job during his time here. 

michgoblue

January 11th, 2019 at 2:34 PM ^

You're not totally wrong.  He has been a very good safety for us, and overall he is plus member of the defense.  However, there have, in fact, been a number of times when he was out of position or unable to recover on busted plays.  Basically, he has played great, other than those few times.  I think adding the word "often" with respect to him being out of position is being too critical, thought. 

Unfortunately, at safety, when you are out of position or can't recover, it shows up, usually in a big way because it means a bunch of yards, if not worse.  Reality is, though, that every safety gets out of position from time to time, but some can cover it with elite speed.  

MadMonkey

January 11th, 2019 at 4:26 PM ^

You rang?

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Despite the name, the sauce does not involve monkeys in any way.[4] Instead, it is made up of chopped onion, garlic and ginger, with a combination of chutneysoy saucemustardWorcestershire sauceketchup, and wine. At the time the sauce was developed, there was a lot of speculation in the popular medical press regarding the use of monkey glands as a means of keeping young due to the pseudoscience of Russian quack doctor Serge Voronoff.

Red is Blue

January 11th, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^

Wonder what the implications are for Devin Bush Sr.  I expected he might be in line for a spot, but looks like that is no longer available.   With Jr going to the NFL, will Sr stick around?

Everyone Murders

January 11th, 2019 at 1:16 PM ^

Meanwhile, in East Lansing, Coach Mark Dantonio is having another news conference this afternoon to announce that he is adding "Senior" to each of his coaches' titles and getting them each different-colored hats, so that MSU can maintain its competitive coaching edge.

MGoBlueUrns

January 11th, 2019 at 1:40 PM ^

Love this- appears to be a great hire from a fit and recruiting standpoint.

What are the board’s thoughts on bringing back Hoke for the DL spot? We know he can get it a done from a talent development standpoint (at the DL position) and would be a plus from a recruiting standpoint. He certainly wouldn’t be a risk to the maize n blue by electing to pass on a QB recruit every other year.