Exit: Mike Elston
According to reports, Michigan DL coach Mike Elston is headed to the L.A. Chargers to join Jim Harbaugh's staff:
Michigan DL coach Mike Elston is expected to take the same job with the #Chargers, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 6, 2024
Elston, who previously coached at Notre Dame from 2010-2021, played an integral role in the Wolverines’ success the last two seasons. Now he follows Jim Harbaugh to L.A. pic.twitter.com/MQaUcoFS86
A player at Michigan from 1993-96, Elston had a long coaching career before joining the Wolverines in 2022. He coached most famously at Notre Dame, where he spent 2010-2021, first on special teams duties before moving to the defensive line. His work with ND drew wide acclaim and it was perceived as a major win when Harbaugh added Elston to the staff before the '22 season, after DL coach Shaun Nua joined Lincoln Riley's new USC staff. Over the past two seasons, Elston has helped coach and develop one of the most dominant defensive lines in Michigan history, one that ran roughshod over the Washington offensive line in the National Championship Game.
The past week or two was a seeming battle between Michigan and the LA Chargers for Elston's services, but just like Ben Herbert, Harbaugh won out. Elston's vacancy means that's another coach that Sherrone Moore will have to hire, as the staff looks more and more like a nearly brand new one, rather than continuity from the previous regime. Moreover, Moore will have to work quickly to ensure that Michigan's defensive line is not raided by other schools in the portal, now that Elston has moved on.
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February 6th, 2024 at 5:44 PM ^
Obligatory Fire Warde.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:25 PM ^
Obligatory upvote!
February 6th, 2024 at 7:07 PM ^
Jim,
Thank you for all the hard work you put into this program we all love - meticulously and painstakingly building it back up... and even through the hardship of the covid year. Finally getting it back to the level it should be - winning conference and national championships - is truly a great contribution to the program's legacy.
Thank you for also weakening the program our your way out so much for your own designated successor such that he will need to *also* endure the hardships and toils of rebuilding the program from (what may very well be) another low period.
Enjoy that new work commute!
February 6th, 2024 at 7:31 PM ^
*Thank you for *also* recruiting such good people to come here because if you hadn't we wouldn't have anything to be upset about when you and they left.
February 6th, 2024 at 8:50 PM ^
It's his perogative to build the best staff he can, I don't blame him. Michigan should be able to counteroffer and retain coaches. Something stinks when they can't even retain Ben Herbert from bolting to a position that doesn't even exist. And I doubt the problem is all these guys secretly hated Sherrone all along.
Fire warde into the sun.
February 7th, 2024 at 12:24 AM ^
It's not a Sherrone problem. It's a "We were at Michigan because of Jim" problem. Hard to retain guys whose main reason for being at a place was their friendship with Harbaugh.
February 6th, 2024 at 10:34 PM ^
Worth it.
February 7th, 2024 at 12:22 AM ^
All this has proven is that the coaches were here because of Harbaugh, not Michigan.
February 7th, 2024 at 3:40 AM ^
Clearly, they were here because of Harbaugh and rightfully so, he is a great leader, and we were fortunate to have him.
To quote Sherrone Moore's first public words as the UM coach, "I want to thank Coach Harbaugh for the faith that he has displayed in me over the past six years and for supporting my growth as a football coach during that time."
Hopefully, he has left a lasting legacy that Sherrone and the remaining staff can now replicate.
February 7th, 2024 at 5:21 PM ^
Coaches go places because it’s good for themselves. If it happens to also benefit an institution they care about, terrific. Otherwise, it’s all self interest.
February 7th, 2024 at 1:30 AM ^
Not Jim's fault. All Warde's fault for not understanding that coaches likewise MUST ascend with additional responsibilities and job titles to cash in post-championship when an underling already took the head job. If a coach doesn't likewise get a promotion of some kind he loses out on a golden ticket and people ask why he was the one who didn't get a promotion and why would they offer him down the road.
This is all Warde's fault for not supporting Moore and developing a contingency plan and assessing probable coaching transfers before we even got to this point. The situation was far worse at Washington after the title game - but they had a competent AD with a strategy and their Athletic Department has worked it and they are not stressed over there now. Only M is - because Warde didn't do shit except hire Moore and say his job is done.
February 7th, 2024 at 8:05 AM ^
I keep seeing "contingency plan" or "continuity plan". Is this from Balas and On3?
Specifically, how did Warde not support Moore?
February 7th, 2024 at 10:38 AM ^
Jesse James Harbaugh and the Great Michigan Football Train Robbery!
" I love Michigan so much I want to take it all with me"
February 6th, 2024 at 5:44 PM ^
I don’t know if blame is worthwhile, and if so, not sure who that should be assigned to. It is what it is. I’ve obviously been in the “don’t panic” camp.
Am I worried about the defense being raided? Yes I am.
February 6th, 2024 at 5:55 PM ^
You can blame Michigan’s inept athletic department.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:22 PM ^
I blame Harbaugh. Is he entitled to have the staff that he wants at his new job? Yes. I still blame him.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:51 PM ^
Ditto. This is borderline sadistic of him, savaging the staff.
February 6th, 2024 at 9:04 PM ^
He's doing his job. What's sadistic about that?
February 7th, 2024 at 9:23 AM ^
It's his right to assemble the best staff he can for his new employer. But you have to admit this puts his alma mater in a difficult position this late in the cycle when they're trying to hire replacements and recruit.
It almost feels like this could be a big FU to Warde.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:01 PM ^
I disagree. I think Harbaugh recognizes valuable coaches and understands their market value. I believe if Michigan had matched the NFL offer he would have backed off
February 6th, 2024 at 7:04 PM ^
You have no idea if that’s why he left. Plus the NFL is where people want to coach, not college. Harbaugh is doing his best to tarnish that national championship trophy that’s for sure. For a guy that really promoted Moore, he’s doing everything he can to fuck him over.
February 6th, 2024 at 8:32 PM ^
That’s the part people seem to be ignoring. These coaches don’t want to spend their entire careers on the recruiting trail dealing with 17 year old kids and their families. The NFL is more prestigious and requires half the work. Given the choice, 99% of coaches would jump at an NFL offer.
I disagree with the last half. Harbaugh isn’t trying to tarnish anything or screw anyone over. It’s his job to put the Chargers in the best position to succeed. Minter is his DC and clearly some familiarity with the system and working together is desirable there.
February 6th, 2024 at 11:00 PM ^
No one has any idea what Harbaugh’s motives are, and that’s not the point. The point is he is screwing us over. He campaigned hard for Moore to take the job with no HC experience and then has hired away most of his support staff. Minter and Jay, sure that was a forgone conclusion. Again, he has the right to hire whomever he wants. That doesn’t mean he isn’t screwing is over. Also, don’t put a guys with no experience and someone without his own staff in power. We would’ve been better off hiring a new outside coach with his people.
February 7th, 2024 at 7:30 AM ^
That's a pretty pathetic way of looking at things. Someone else being good at their job is never screwing you over.
February 7th, 2024 at 12:33 PM ^
Thank you. Elston can coach full-time now. No more having to run a recruiting department, no more flying all over, no more trying to convince kids and their families to come to Michigan, no more trying to convince kids and their families to STAY at Michigan... AND coach on top of it.
Elston and all the previous staff have now coached a team that won a college national championship. Just like Harbaugh, they're moving on, taking a job with less work, but probably for more money. The only down side with the new gig is that NFL coaching regimes get a much shorter leash than at colleges, so there's more pressure to produce right away.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:31 PM ^
Harbaugh took a high profile, highly compensated, competitive job. He owes his employer his best efforts. While I’m sure he loves M, his first priority is the Chargers.
Bummer, yes. Traitor, no.
Elston probably gets a hefty raise and a much more reasonable work load. I’m waiting for a sweetheart deal, too, but not holding my breath.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:54 PM ^
Harbaugh is doing what all coaches try to do when they take a new job - fill his staff with people he trusts and can work with. Judging from our performance the last three years, that staff had a special chemistry and I understand why he wants to keep that going at his next job.
My criticism is with the Michigan braintrust, which still seems to operate under the assumption that anyone working here is privileged to do so and would be crazy to think of leaving. They took Harbaugh for granted and seem to be doing the same with his assistants. It's incumbent on us to give them a reason to stay.
February 6th, 2024 at 10:40 PM ^
Remember when Urban Meyer took the entire OSU staff to Jacksonville?
Oh wait, he didn't.
February 7th, 2024 at 2:05 AM ^
Remember when Urban was super successful in Jacksonville?
Oh wait, he failed miserably (and hilariously).
Maybe Jim doesn’t wanna be like Urban. And that’s a good thing.
February 7th, 2024 at 11:56 AM ^
Same same. It sucks. And definitely changes how I feel about Jim Harbaugh. He has endless connections in the football universe, he did not have to clean out all of our best coaches. I think it's some seriously disloyal bullshit.
I hate how it makes me feel about him.
February 7th, 2024 at 2:38 PM ^
Couldn't agree more.
He did the same thing with the 49ers when he left ... He took everyone he could to Michigan with him. It didn't work out because the NFL is the NCAA and vice versa. The fact Harbaugh didn't remember that, and is literally destroying Michigan in the process is absolutely gross.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:17 PM ^
Why? I am pretty sure that these coaches dreamed about coaching in the NFL. Just like players, they want to go to the big league. NFL offers more money and a better lifestyle. Do you really think coaches get up each morning, looking forward to traveling around the country begging 18-year-olds to sign with them? It sucks.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:02 PM ^
It should be assigned to Warde Manuel for sitting around with his finger up his butt and not providing Moore with the money he needs to succeed. When Harbaugh left, Warde needed to provide the money to not have the coaching staff raided. That has not happened. I don’t blame Harbaugh for wanting his guys but we have enough money to have convinced them to stay and Warde decided it wasn’t worth his time or the money
February 6th, 2024 at 9:51 PM ^
How much money did Moore need and how much did Warde offer?
February 6th, 2024 at 7:28 PM ^
I don’t know who to blame either, or whether blame is in order. What would be nice to know, however, is what kind of transition planning was possible and what kind of transition planning was done.
Everyone who is leaving was under contract, at least, until very recently. And it was at least theoretically possible for some sort of collective and collaborative transition planning between Moore and the coaching staff and/or between the athletic department and members of the staff.
Obviously, some of that planning should’ve been initiated well before Moore was named head coach - so the responsibility to attempt to do whatever was possible falls mostly on the athletic department.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:29 PM ^
Here is why coaches are leaving
Jeff Hafley explains why NFL coordinator is a better job than Boston College head coach. https://t.co/YWn99KsTsb
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 7, 2024
February 6th, 2024 at 8:08 PM ^
Ill list all S&C and line coaches leaving bluebloods for the same positions in the NFL.
Herbert and Elston.
With 130 FBS schools I am sure I am missing several.
February 6th, 2024 at 8:42 PM ^
This article is spot on. The NFL lifestyle is vastly different especially today.
This is frustrating for fans but these coaches have choices to make.
They like Harbaugh and have spent hours grinding for the same goals.
You can’t fault these guys for wanting to make a move and you can’t fault Harbaugh for hiring coaches he knows and trusts.
February 7th, 2024 at 3:46 AM ^
And also no longer having to worry about the NCAA checking to see if you picked up the tip for a recruit's lunch.
February 7th, 2024 at 7:56 AM ^
This article is great and also why it makes me nervous promoting great coordinators (even at college level) to be HC - the position is so odd right now at the college level. Totally different & feels like random luck if they'll succeed. At least we have the bonus of Coach Moore being a good dude too
February 7th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^
Sam Webb had some interesting comments this morning—he strongly hinted that Elston's apparent departure (and a possible Clinkscale departure) aren't necessarily about money or a desire to get to the NFL. Rather, it could mainly be an issue of promotion, or lack thereof, and that the situation is not solely that Harbaugh is trying to grab him—Elston may also be searching for another place to coach, and the Chargers are an obvious landing spot.
It's not a secret that Elston has wanted to be a DC, and the main reason he left ND was because he was passed over twice for that position. With the departure of Minter, it's entirely reasonable that Elston would feel he deserves a chance to ascend to that position. Instead, Moore has apparently indicated in a very public way that he doesn't believe Elston is the man for the DC job, since his search has been focused entirely on candidates outside the program.
The same applies to Clinkscale, who for the last two seasons has been co-defensive coordinator. It would be more than a bit naive to think that Clink wouldn't regard it as a slap in the face to not be considered for the full DC position, considering his role on one of the best Michigan defenses in the past half century.
So for reasons that are probably never going to be made public, Moore has decided that two of his primary defensive assistants are not good enough to promote. The result is that this greatly increases the risk that both will leave, having understandably concluded that they don't have the confidence of the head coach. Professionals who feel that their capabilities have been judged wanting by their boss are frequently unpersuaded by offers of more money to stay.
One fact that's become pretty obvious over the past few seasons is that very few players or coaches have true allegiance to an institution or a football program—they have allegiances to coaches and assistants they work with every day. If those coaches and assistants leave, then many of the people left behind are going to start considering alternative spots for themselves.
Herbert is gone. Minter is gone. Now Elston is gone, and who knows about Clinkscale. Those are four key coaches for players like Graham, Grant, Johnson, and all the rest of the DL and DBs. Webb has been talking since the NC game about how intensely other programs are trying to lure key players away from Michigan, and that was occurring before Herbert and Elston left. Thinking that Michigan players are automatically immune to that kind of enticement after their coaches have left is wishful thinking. Moore is taking a pretty big gamble here.
What makes Moore's strategy risky is that he's apparently putting all his eggs into getting well-regarded NFL coaches to leave all that behind to join a school they have no connection to, at a time when the college game is in great turmoil. If he whiffs in his attempt to get them to Michigan, and he loses Elston, Clinkscale, and key players in the bargain, then he's made the challenge in his first season even more daunting than it was already.
Moore may think that the national championship glow will insulate him from criticism when he loses his first game, but he's fooling himself if he does. Given the holes to fill on offense and a brutal schedule, going undefeated again was unlikely even if Minter and Herbert stayed here, and if key players follow departing coaches out the door, multiple losses become a bigger possibility. If, God forbid, that happens, that national championship glow will start melting away like a patch of snow on a warm February day.
February 7th, 2024 at 1:43 PM ^
This is believable and it is a potential downside of promoting internally. After a national championship, a lot of guys will naturally feel like they're in line for a promotion, but there are only so many opportunities - and those who miss out can feel slighted.
There can also just be a different dynamic to having a newer, younger boss. Elston is 49 and Clinkscale 46, while Moore is 37. Working as a position coach for the 60-year-old Harbaugh may be one thing; holding the same role for a head coach that is a decade younger than you may prompt you to wonder about your career trajectory.
February 6th, 2024 at 5:47 PM ^
Does anyone want to work for Warde Manuel?
Seriously, at this point he’s as bad as Dave Brandon in my book, if not worse. Brandon at least had the guts to stand up to the NCAA on Stretchgate. Think Warde would have done that?
February 6th, 2024 at 6:36 PM ^
This is the point that every Brandon-basher glosses over. The guy ended up being a turd, but the powers that be here, and the MGoCommenters, absolutely loved it when he gave the "pimp hand" to the NCAA on like day one. We'd probably still be on self-imposed probation if Manuel were the AD then.
February 6th, 2024 at 5:52 PM ^
So, which coaches do we have as left over? Can we at least keep Hart and Clink?
Also, why wasn't Elston elevated to DC? Instead of flirting with whoever is viable in the NFL...
February 6th, 2024 at 6:24 PM ^
moving to a player/coach model. with commensurate salary. we're really gonna clean up in the portal once this is announced. have faith!
February 6th, 2024 at 6:46 PM ^
I thought we wanted folks with experience in with the ravens defense. Why would Elston get DC over clink?
February 6th, 2024 at 6:59 PM ^
Because there is a good chance we won't get an experienced Raven model DC. If we could have kept Elston it would probably be helpful in keeping the DL studs for another year.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:07 PM ^
People were hoping that giving the HC gig to Moore was going to provide continuity. All it’s really done is cause a slow burn for this program. Had we hired someone else, we’d probably have a more intact staff than we do right now.
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