Secondary Coaching Candidates Part I: The A-List
The unluckiest sports program on Earth caught a doozy in the dinglies last week as co-DC/cornerbacks coach/crack recruiter Mo Linguist took the late-opening Buffalo head job. How bad the fallout will be depends on which replacement coach Michigan can get in this late hour. Here are the gentlemen Michigan could take a swing at. We'll tackle some of the big names first and if we're still shopping later this week I'll have a Part II with other candidates once we have a clearer idea of the market.
STEVE CLINKSCALE, KENTUCKY
CURRENT JOB: Kentucky defensive passing game coordinator/DBs coach.
SUMMARY: Age 43. Well-regarded Midwest DBs coach who’s responsible for all of the Kentucky recruiting incursions into Michigan and a chunk of the recruiting success the Wildcats and Cincy have had against MSU in recent years.
HISTORY: Defensive backs coach at Kentucky under Mark Stoops since 2016, set to pick up passing game coordinator duties this year. Was DBs coach for three years at Cincinnati under Tommy Tuberville, promoted to co-DC in 2015. Prior to that was cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator under Tim Beckman and Tim Banks at Toledo (2009-‘11) and Illinois (2012). Spent seven years (2001-‘07) after college as DBs coach of his alma mater, Ashland, in North-Central Ohio. Originally from Youngstown.
SIGNIFICANT STATS: Passing defense YPA (sack-adjusted) under Clink:
KENTUCKY:
2015 (prior): 6.30, #70 ovr, #12 SEC
2016: 6.72, #83 Ovr, #11 SEC
2017: 6.69, #87 Ovr, #12 SEC
2018: 5.21, #21 Ovr, #4 SEC
2019: 5.08, #10 Ovr, #3 SEC
2020: 6.43, #64 Ovr, #6 SEC
CINCINNATI:
2012 (prior): 5.81, #39 Ovr, #4 Big East
2013: 5.34, #14 Ovr, #2 American
2014: 6.25, #70 Ovr, #7 American
2015: 6.49, #80 Ovr, #5 American
PLAYERS : Safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. (2019, 6th round to Texans) was a JuCo who committed to Ohio State once upon a time. CB Kelvin Joseph (2021, 2nd round to Cowboys) was a sit-out transfer from LSU. CB Brandin Echols (2021 6th round to Jets) was another JuCo. Safety Mike Edwards (2019, 3rd round, Bucs), who was already starting when Clink arrived. Safety Mike Tyson (2017, 6th, Seahawks). Clink also recruited 2020 All-American James Wiggins to Cincy before he left.
CONNECTIONS: Knows Gattis well through Tim Banks, the former Penn State co-DC who’s now the DC at Tennessee, and has been another thorn in Michigan’s side in recruiting.
PROS: Has had three players drafted over the last three years, after UK hadn’t sent a defensive back to the NFL since 2012. Outstanding recruiter, has been a massive thorn in Michigan’s side in recruiting (e.g. 2020 Oak Park 5-star DT Justin Rogers) and even worse for Michigan State. Can match Linguist for connections in Tennessee, and gives the staff a presence in Ohio that they currently lack.
CONS: MSU might be able to flip back some of the 3-stars Clink has committed to UK.
WOULD HE KEEP WILL JOHNSON AND THE REST? Yes. He might also reopen things with TN LB Keaten Wade.
WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? That’s the big question. He turned down overtures from Michigan when Chris Partridge left but now that Michigan has a “co-DC” title, more money to offer, and an almost completely different defensive staff, maybe things will be different this time? Kentucky hasn’t had an issue giving their assistants raises to keep Michigan from poaching them.
[AFTER THE JUMP: More memories of recruitments lost]
ARCHIE COLLINS, PITT
CURRENT JOB: Pitt secondary coach
SUMMARY: 45, lifelong Spartan who played for Saban, steered kids to State as a PSL coach, has coached DBs under Dantonio assistants since 2013.
HISTORY: Cass Tech who played for Saban in the mid-nineties, then reappeared at Cass Tech a few years later, coaching defensive backs under Thomas Wilcher from 2003-’04. That led to a DC position with Mackenzie High until that closed in 2008 and Collins took over at Detroit Southeastern and recruited a powerhouse that won back to back PSL championships in 2008 and 2009. Michigan fans remember a lot of those Detroit Southeastern kids and Archie’s tactics for steering them away from Michigan, most notably WR Fred Smith and OSU DT Johnathan Hankins. Collins was also Will Gholston’s legal guardian. Dantonio finally plucked Collins as a grad assistant in 2010, where he worked with the “No Fly Zone” through 2012 before landing the defensive backs position at Central Michigan under fellow Spartan Dan Enos. In 2017 Collins was named defensive passing game coordinator, then he followed Pat Narduzzi to Pitt in 2018 and has been there ever since.
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
PITT:
2017 (prior): 7.02, #102 Ovr, #13 ACC
2018: 6.11, #56 Ovr, #7 ACC
2019: 4.79, #3 Ovr, #2 ACC
2020: 5.71, #23 Ovr, #1 ACC
CENTRAL MICHIGAN:
2012 (prior): 6.85, #82 Ovr, #7 MAC
2013: 6.59, #85 Ovr, #8 MAC
2014: 6.54, #86 Ovr, #6 MAC
2015: 6.05, #57 Ovr, #7 MAC
2016: 6.38, #68 Ovr, #6 MAC
2017: 5.09, #10 Ovr, #1 MAC
PLAYERS: Had Will Gholston, Fred Smith, Charles Burrell, Ed Davis, and Johnathan Hankins at Southeastern. Developed CB Dane Jackson (7th round, Bills) and safety Damar Hamlin (6th round, Bills) into pros at Pitt, and had three guys (Kavon Frazier, Xavier Crawford, and 2nd rounder Sean Murphy-Bunting) drafted out of CMU, the first Chippewa defensive backs to be drafted since 1985.
CONNECTIONS: Sherrone Moore overlapped with him at CMU. Coached under Thomas Wilcher, the Michigan RB whose late fumble in the 1986 Game nearly cost Harbaugh his guarantee, at Cass Tech.
PROS: Excellent Detroit-area recruiter, intimate knowledge of how Dantonio teaches and runs his Quarters system that was the bane of running QB-based offenses for a decade. Turn a long-time enemy into a friend.
CONS: Offenses adapted to Quarters and there were deep issues with the Dantonio era at Michigan State that wouldn’t fly here. Non-zero chance he pulls a Dan Enos and takes the job only to leave within days wearing a Muck Fichigan shirt.
WOULD HE KEEP WILL JOHNSON AND THE REST? Most likely. Archie is still respected around Detroit as much as he wasn’t on our message boards.
WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? Probably not. Like Luke Fickell, the hate probably runs way too deep for this to ever make sense.
CORY ROBINSON, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
via his Twitter
CURRENT JOB: Secondary assistant for New Orleans Saints since 2020.
SUMMARY: Age 34-35. Recent Maryland/Rutgers/Temple/Toledo CB coach with deep ties to DC-area recruiting.
HISTORY: Robinson made the jump the NFL in 2020 after a year each at St. Frances High, Maryland, Toledo, Temple, Rutgers, and Maryland again. A cornerback for Central Connecticut State from 2005-‘08, Robinson returned to his hometown of Baltimore after college to create a football/mentorship nonprofit while coaching at Calvert Ball High, whence he sent a quarterback to Boise State. Biff Poggi plucked him to be the defensive coordinator for St. Frances, and then Maryland hired Robinson to be their director of recruiting in 2015. Matt Campbell and his DC Jon Heacock, then at Toledo, poached Robinson for their cornerbacks coach in 2016, but that too only lasted a year, as Robinson joined Matt Rhule/Phil Snow as cornerbacks coach at Temple. From there Chris Ash hired Robinson at Rutgers, and Mike Locksley brought Robinson back to College Park in 2019 as defensive passing game coordinator and CBs coach under Jon Hoke.
Robinson has made gravy out of some situations that looked ugly going in, but never stuck around long enough that you could really credit him for it. Maryland’s 2019 recruiting class rebuilt the secondary, but they had recent Bama assistant Mike Locksley, Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, and Elijah Brooks on that staff as well.
SIGNIFICANT STATS: Hard to pluck because he never stayed more than a season. New Orleans jumped to #2 in the NFL in Total DVOA, and #3 Pass DVOA in the NFL to Football Outsiders, up from #8 and #10 last year. Maryland was awful in 2019 but #5 in the country last year when guys Robinson recruited were no longer freshmen or injured. I liked the Rutgers secondary under Chris Ash too—that defense was #37 in YPA between seasons of #86 and #108. On the other hand, Robinson’s lone year at Temple was #34 in passing YPA sandwiched between seasons at #8 and #5 in the country, and Toledo in 2016 dropped to #62 between years of #48.
PROS: Seems like a good recruiter, especially in the Baltimore-DC nexus. One year of NFL experience went much better than Linguist’s. Has been around some excellent pattern-matching staffs. Toledo, Temple, and three years in the Big Ten East mean he’s familiar with Michigan’s recruiting footprint. Interacts with coach twitter.
CONS: Most successful coaching stops were under DCs and/or defensive-minded head coaches, so it’s hard to credit Robinson for any of them. Moves about as often as Linguist, so would be a flight risk.
WOULD HE KEEP WILL JOHNSON AND THE REST? Probably. Robinson would be the most “We got the guy most like Mo Linguist” hire.
WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? Unlikely. Linguist was cut loose after a coaching change, while Robinson has an NFL job. That said, the Saints are due to for a rebuild with Brees’s retirement, and their cornerback situation could be really bad—Marshon Lattimore will be an expensive free agent and their other starter is Stanford rookie Paulson Adebo, who opted out last year. Not that the Michigan situation is much better.
CHRIS HAWKINS, ARIZONA STATE
via his Twitter
CURRENT JOB: Defensive backs coach, ASU
SUMMARY: Age 26, part of Herm Edwards’s surprising success, was a USC safety/grad assistant before that. Son of Armond Hawkins, one of the directors of Ground Zero (Domani Jackson, Xavier Worthy, Ceyair Wright, Darion Green-Warren, Giles Jackson, etc.).
HISTORY: Top-50 player out of Rancho Cucamonga, USC safety in 2014-’17, spent a year in commercial real estate, then became a grad assistant for two years before Herm Edwards grabbed him. Named to 247’s 30 under 30 list. Been out-recruiting Michigan for defensive backs. At ASU. Brother Armond Jr. is director of high school relations at USC.
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
ARIZONA STATE
2018 (prior): 6.52, #77 Ovr, #9 Pac 12
2019: 6.76, #79 Ovr, #6 Pac 12
2020: 5.75, #26 Ovr, #2 Pac 12
MICHIGAN CONNECTION: Via Sam($), Edwards is a Courtney Morgan friend from the 7v7 circuit.
PROS: Will Johnson the assistant: Excellent recruiter who just happens to be the son of one of the guys who run Southern California’s biggest 7-on-7 team. Has some track record in turning around the ASU secondary in a short (two-year project) time.
CONS: Turnaround needed a lot of transfers, a market Michigan has limited access to because of asinine* admissions rules. Would be an extremely young outlier on an already extremely young staff. Hasn’t coached in the Big Ten.
WOULD HE KEEP WILL JOHNSON AND THE REST? Unknown. Good chance since like Johnson, Hawkins grew up in 7v7 world. Might get Michigan back in with Domani Jackson and former target Larry Turner-Gooden.
WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? Unknown. Michigan probably can’t offer him a co-coordinator position, so would he take a lateral move to coach in the Big Ten? How much loyalty does he have for Herm Edwards for giving him a shot at 24?
* [“Asinine” doesn’t mean “like ass” by the way, it means to do something with the affect of a six-year-old going “Nah na na boo boo.”]
Who is the NEXT Chris Hawkins? Let's go find him!
Parameters seem pretty straighforward: young, high level former player involved in the 7v7 circuit in a highly productive area of the country.
As a previous post noted, a warm body that fogs a mirror on the practice field would be an upgrade from the prior two hires. When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.
Mike Zordich is a very good coach and it sort of sucks they can't bring him back because while he's not a crack recruiter (though apparently he's got some good relationships with top corners in this year's crop), he's been one of the better on-field coaches UM's had.
I was looking at the full 30 under 30 list and was super happy to see this:
Grant Newsome, Michigan, Graduate Assistant (23): A leg injury ended Newsome’s Michigan career prematurely, but the former four-star recruit has still managed to make a considerable impact in Ann Arbor. Newsome spent the last few seasons as a student assistant for the Wolverines, and he earned a promotion to GA this offseason. During his spare time as a student, he interned with U.S. representative Debbie Dingell. Bright, prepared and detailed, those around the Michigan program have raved about Newsome: “He’s got it. … There is something I think is really unique and special.”
Good shit, Grant! Keep it up.
Thanks for that update. It's great to hear that Grant is doing so well. Sounds like an amazing young man, not only for how bright his future looks, but also for all the adversity he's been able to overcome.
I'm wondering what's taking so long for the "Exit: Kody Jones" post....
not hoping for it, but just par for the course it seems. Maybe we're more concerned with hanging on to Johnson.
I don't think it's a given that we lose Kody Jones at all. Linguist opened the door, but now his family has met Michigan's staff and other recruits' parents, and he trains with Jeremy LeSeuer.
So is Zordich a Part 2 or Part 3 candidate?
Corey Robinson
On the bright side he is maybe the one guy Matt Campbell can keep on staff and have recruiting continuity going into next season.
Never heard of Archie Collins before, but, like Luke Fickell, I respect that he hates Michigan and wouldn't come here. I get that coaches move around, and that it is part of the job, but if you don't hold a grudge and have some hate in your heart for other teams, you don't really get football.
One of the (many) things I don't understand about recruiting is how guys like Linguist and Robinson can be successful recruiters when they move around every year or two. If I'm HS kid, I'd look at their history and say "that all sounds great coach, but you won't be here by the time I get to college." Even if the player wouldn't think that, other teams' coaches must be telling him that.
You mean the same players who transfer for playing time and leave for the NFL as soon as they're on the draft board?
For better and worse, Michigan's program is up front about what we all want out of this. No bullshit: we want NFL-caliber players, you want to get to the NFL, let's help each other. I do sometimes envy a program like Dantonio's MSU, or Bo's Michigan, that goes hard the opposite direction: "We need guys committed to this program, who aren't here for themselves, so you always know the guy next to you is all in for you not his career."
When that works you get higher continuity and a better overall team. The fact is that doesn't work anymore because the sport itself is too professionalized. Just to get to the level where you're a good Big Ten player today takes a professional-grade commitment to the craft, and once you're there it's unlikely you're going to throw away the endgame for a better middle.
I think the ideal is something like Clemson's program that's 25% uber 5-stars at the positions where talent wins out, and the rest are a mix of high-floor program guys who will stick around 5 years, and long-term development guys who are taken care of financially so they don't bolt while they wait out the painful process of becoming great. Though these days because only a few teams have access to the playoffs all of the uber 5-stars are going to congregate at those schools, and they just have to become pro factories, so even Clemson is more like Bama or Ohio State than what Dabo built it to be. I still think the model works. You just need a hook that differentiates your school and keeps the guys who aren't insta-pros locked in for the duration. For Clemson it was religion, for Michigan it can be education.
and long-term development guys who are taken care of financially so they don't bolt while they wait out the painful process of becoming great.
It sounds like you are suggesting Clemson is paying their players to stick around (and UM is not) and that's why our retention sucks and Clemson's doesn't. Am I reading that right? If so, how do you know that Clemson is doing that and/or we are not? And, will NIL change that?
So, it's Clinkscale or bust? Is that the only candidate that we feel like would be at least as good as Mo and everyone else is a set back?
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