Exit Chris Partridge
Chris Partridge's rumored departure to Ole Miss has come to pass:
OFFICIAL | Ole Miss adds three to coaching staff
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) January 2, 2020
Welcome to the family‼️
https://t.co/NETLJ0ZXQ3 pic.twitter.com/G6kxU8aAMg
Partridge has not been announced as Ole Miss's defensive coordinator, which was the rumor because going from Michigan to Ole Miss without a promotion is a less than lateral move. You might also note that Lane Kiffin also hired DJ Durkin, because nothing in the world will prevent a football coach from getting a job.
Partridge's departure is a blow to Michigan, as he was reputed to be one of the better recruiters on the staff and did excellent work as Michigan's special teams coordinator in addition to his position coaching duties. He was Michigan's fourth-highest paid assistant behind the two coordinators and Ed Warinner.
Your guess is as good as anyone's as to who replaces Partridge. Devin Bush Sr would seem like a logical choice, FWIW.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:15 AM ^
Any new basketball recruits on the horizon?
Sigh...
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:16 AM ^
I didn't expect us to win vs. Bama. This hurts more. I like Partridge. I hope we keep the lines of communication open to maybe get him back as a DC in the future when Brown retires/leaves.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:28 PM ^
As Harbaugh likes to say, when one door closes, another opens. There is a lot of opportunity right now for Michigan to develop recruiting roots in California (USC/UCLA/Stanford tire fire) and Texas (Longhorns not getting it done under Herman). In the 90s, those were two of our best states. Time to tee it up to make up for our inability to get back into Ohio.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:46 PM ^
Hire a HS coach from Moeller in Ohio or De La Salle, Don Bosco etc from Cali
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:45 AM ^
Cincinnati appears to be the hotbed of football in Ohio now. OSU has recruited the area hard. But I don't think they'll be targeting the Moeller coach:
Football 11/8/2019 10:47:00 AM By Archbishop Moeller High School
Moeller Football Coach Todd Naumann Resigns
https://letsgobigmoe.com/news/2019/11/8/football-moeller-coach-todd-naumann-resigns.aspx
Elder, Colerain, St. Xavier and Princeton are programs that have probably surpassed Moeller over the past decade anyway.There are plenty of consistently winning programs in Ohio to target, if that's the way that Harbaugh wants to go, which I certainly don't think is a bad idea.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:46 AM ^
Don Bosco is in NJ. The CA school is St. John Bosco (although the namesake is the same guy apparently).
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:04 PM ^
This is the recruiting route they should have taken about 3 years ago. Hell, even the Florida schools are waning. That’s 3 recruiting hotbeds that needed to be emphasized and prioritized earlier. OSU does this in Texas and Florida for example, and Harbaugh went the New Jersey/Northeast route. I know it’s a hard sell to get these kids up to the great white north, but if we could get a couple more from each of these places, man, that’s gotta make a difference.
They no doubt got some highly touted kids from Jersey for example, but the number of flame-outs seems to have equaled the amount of quality players. Gary, Peppers, Ruiz success just hides the Singleton, Black, Walker flame outs.
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
Hell, even the Florida schools are waningI
I live about 20 mins from IMG Academy, some of the HS kids down here are insane, UM needs to get in on that action.
January 3rd, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
UM did, with Ruiz. And held a satellite camp there, before satellite camps were banned.
January 2nd, 2020 at 4:10 PM ^
Bring back Albert Karchnia stat . (check CMU recruiting past 2 years)
Cheers
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:18 AM ^
Devin Bush Sr. SZN
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
Assistants leave for promotions. It's what adults do in all professions. I don't think this is an existential crisis, but that won't stop folks from treating it as such in these parts.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^
The crisis is that we didn't promote him.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
Crisis? Promote him to what. Calm down. Move on. Not as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:35 AM ^
The position of the coach who routinely gives up 40+ points to any offense with a pulse.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:56 AM ^
Oh you mean the DC that held Bama to 28 non garbage time points, which was far less than alot of posters here were predicting while starting a walkon and freshmen at DT?
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
Preach. It's familiar but true, that we were a good, not great, QB performance away from beating Bama.
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:13 PM ^
But Bama started a backup QB and were missing two key defensive starters. Think they might have scored more with Tua?
January 2nd, 2020 at 3:42 PM ^
If Tua wasn't hurt they would have beaten Auburn and we would not have played them so this hypothetical is pointless.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:05 PM ^
That isn't true
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:33 PM ^
Promote the guy who's position group got abused not only by 'Bama but by any team with talent?
Gotta love UM fan logic.
January 2nd, 2020 at 2:57 PM ^
I don’t know that you promote him, $$$ talks though and Ole Miss must have thrown some at him. Last time I checked any post on this board, recruits are all that matters. Apparently we let our best recruiter leave. So maybe we pay him just to salvage our recruiting and not worry about his on field contribution as much? Maybe he still wouldn’t have stayed because he wants that coordinator job so bad. If that’s the case then I think we did all we could do.
January 2nd, 2020 at 5:52 PM ^
We have given up 40 points once this year...
January 3rd, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
Promote him to . . . what?
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^
“existential crisis” is the most over used phrase
January 2nd, 2020 at 3:50 PM ^
I can think of another.
January 2nd, 2020 at 3:41 PM ^
It may not be a crisis but it does hurt the program. The guy is a proven commodity as a coach and recruiter and you don’t want to loose your best ones if you can help it
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
Harbaugh found and hired Partridge. He can do it again!
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:19 PM ^
+1 underrated
It was Harbaugh who hired Partridge in the first place and slowly enhanced his responsibility under Brown over time.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:25 AM ^
I hate that we will soon get an answer to, "Who in the world would allow their kid to play for DJ Durkin in 2020?"
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:35 AM ^
The bag covers up for a lot, including "that coach might literally kill you."
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^
"Does this bag come with life insurance?" - parent of soon-to-be Ole Miss fb recruit with furrowed brow.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
So I guess Brown is staying?
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
This was never actually in question. I hope people realize that.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
Does this mean more under the radar recruits from Massachusetts?
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
And here I thought we only hired him to get Rashan Gary's commitment.... I guess the guy can really coach too.
Best of luck Coach Partridge.
I can imagine him circling back to Michigan down the road, when the time is right.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
A tangential tought: would I want my kid to play for Lane Kiffin* and DJ Durkin? No, no I would not.
*I met a guy who played for Fulmer, Dooley, and Kiffin at Tennessee. Kiffin sounded bad.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
Chris Partridge is replaceable. Bush Sr. would be a great hire.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:30 AM ^
I'm glad to hear DJ Durkin found another job, but I don't understand what Partridge's role could possibly be at Ole Miss with him on staff. Surely, they aren't going to name Partridge DC when there is a much more talented defensive coach already on staff. Any other position would be a lateral move at best.
This feels similar to Mattison's departure. I wonder if there was friction between Partridge and Harbaugh that hadn't previously been reported.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
Yeah if partridge is willing to be Co-DC then why the fuck didn’t we just promote him with a raise?
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:01 PM ^
Different dynamic. Would Partridge as Co-DC under Brown get to actually call plays or even get credit as an architect of the defense if he did?
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:28 PM ^
I mean we hired Gattis who did just that at Bama.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
You're glad that a guy who allowed a kid to die is going to have another opportunity to inflict his brand of "coaching" on more 18-22 year olds?
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:55 AM ^
Yeah idk what parent will be okay with letting their kid get coached by him lol.
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:36 PM ^
The same parents that would let their kids be coached by Lane Kiffen.
January 2nd, 2020 at 3:06 PM ^
Durkin could kill kids in Maryland. The heat and humidity of Ole Miss should be child's play for him. I anticipate big, big recruiting classes to make up for the, umm, attrition. That's why they needed Partridge so bad.
s/ for those who can't tell.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
He was unfairly maligned by a journalist desperate for clicks. Durkin wasn't even present at the practice where the kid died, and the kid only ran ten sprints before collapsing (something any D1 athlete should be able to manage fairly easily). Trying to attribute this freak accident to Durkin is disingenuous at best.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:06 PM ^
The issue wasn't the freak accident it was the response. Any competent strength staff should be able to identify signs of heat stroke. That one didn't.
Durkin put those people in charge and is ultimately responsible for the program. The players didn't want to play for him and many were going to sit out if he returned.
Making Durkin a victim is a galaxy brain take.
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