Well, we've got a coaching vacancy. Due to Matt Weiss getting axed due to Computer Crimes, Michigan has an assistant opening. We spent a bunch of time talking about it on WTKA this morning, and we mainly discussed two scenarios:

• Promoting Kirk Campbell to QB coach, which is probably JJ McCarthy's preferred outcome.
• Moving Jay Harbaugh to QB coach, hiring someone else, and having Harbaugh re-assert himself as a QB whisperer.

Possibly relevant to this: Chris Partridge got cut loose by Ole Miss and is now looking for a job. He was a co-DC at Ole Miss and may have gotten out over his skis a little bit in that job. Ole Miss's D was just 50th in SP+ this year. With Jesse Minter around, he won't have a DC title if he does return to Michigan. If he's fine with that, though, he was an ace recruiter and an ace recruiter would help out considerably after a down class.

Also he might be an in with Davison Igbinosun, who was a freshman All-American CB for Ole Miss with 10 starts to his name. He hit the portal more or less as the same time as Partridge got axed, so you have to think that grabbing Partridge would bring him along. A 6'2" CB ranked #162 in the composite last year with a year of starting under his belt would be an excellent pickup. That's not a reason to hire a coach by itself, but since Partridge has a lot of experience with Michigan already and had a successful first stint… it might be a reason to make a somewhat awkward position coaching switch if the elder Harbaugh can backfill at QB coach.

[After THE JUMP: sign and fire]

Another bizarre move from the athletic department. Fired volleyball coach Mark Rosen got a five-year extension just over two months before he gets fired, as Connor Earegood reports in the Daily:

A Freedom of Information Act request submitted by The Michigan Daily revealed a five-year, $1,093,000 total salary contract that Rosen signed in October 2022. Even though Rosen’s first contract year under the deal began Sept. 1, 2022, the deal wasn’t signed by both University of Michigan President Santa Ono and Manuel until October. The contract ensured Rosen’s employment through Aug. 31, 2027. …

So far, no reason for that firing is publicly available. In the same FOIA request, the University’s FOIA office told The Daily that no termination letter for Rosen exists.

Offering a letter of termination is standard practice for terminating an employee with cause — especially a coach of 24 years at one of the biggest athletic programs in the NCAA. Manuel’s original statement also fails to give a specific reason for Rosen’s firing.

Clearly that was not a performance-related firing, so the lack of a termination letter looks like an attempt to sweep something under the rug. I doubt anything will come of this since volleyball is not exactly high on anyone's radar, but man the athletic department is just awash in decisions that don't look real well thought-out.

JOEL KLATT IS NOT AMUSED NCAA. A man has thoughts:

@joelklatt has some BIG opinions on the infractions against Michigan ⬇️

(Via @JoelKlattShow)

pic.twitter.com/Bc5Rjf5Wkg

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 23, 2023

Looking good. Vague confirmation that Michigan has an awful lot coming back next year:

Still trying to piece together who's returning for sure (it gets harder every year), but SP+ top 30 teams looking particularly good in the returning production department thus far:

Michigan
Florida State
Washington
Tulane
Utah
USC

(Yes, incoming transfers count.)

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) January 26, 2023

OSU and PSU, FWIW, are middle of the pack.

More draft items. Mike Morris doesn't make The Athletic's top 100, which is weird. Mazi Smith is 57 and DJ Turner 85, though Nick Baumgardner is higher than that on Turner:

Another cornerback who feels a bit low here is Michigan’s DJ Turner (No. 85). He has a shot at the second round.

I am also in strenuous agreement with Baumgardner about Devon Witherspoon being too low:

On the other side of things, the board is probably still too low on the corners, specifically Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez and Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon. Gonzalez was No. 40 on our initial consensus board in November, and he’ll likely be higher than No. 17 after he runs this spring. In terms of pure movement skills in coverage, Gonzalez is CB1 in this class. There are questions with his game, however, as is the case with every corner on this list.

Gonzalez falling to 17 isn’t impossible, given the usual variance of team-by-team preference here. Witherspoon at 36, though? That feels very unlikely. If you ask an analyst who their top cornerback is right now, you’ll get a range of names that includes Gonzalez, Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr., Georgia’s Kelee Ringo and South Carolina’s Cam Smith. But they’ll also mention Witherspoon, who is a first-round talent.

Witherspoon is one of those players who college folks are all hype about. The NFL isn't exactly turning up their nose at him but if he falls out of the first round I will cock an eyebrow.

People experiencing Frenchness. This will not go over well down in Columbus:

We recommend avoiding general and often dehumanizing “the” labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the college-educated. Instead, use wording such as people with mental illnesses. And use these descriptions only when clearly relevant.

— APStylebook (@APStylebook) January 26, 2023

"The university enduring the experience of being Ohio State" has a certain ring to it. Also I believe APStylebook has civil disobedience going on. Give a copywriter an obviously inane guideline, get a canny counter-example lodged within.

The speed: still not in space. JJ McCarthy finished the season with the second-fewest screens (at least as defined by percentage of attempts behind the LOS) in the nation, pipped only by Wake Forest's Sam Hartman. Amusingly, Northwestern managed to place QBs on both the "most" and "fewest" lists: Ryan Hilinski never threw screens and Brendan Sullivan had almost half of his attempts at or behind the LOS.

Etc.: Bomani Jones explains crypto. Orji on RGIII's TD call. Hockey, softball, basketball, and baseball can have a real live third assistant now. Love to play Minnesota and get guys injured and have all the majors called on Michigan. Love it. Stu Douglass discusses Jett Howard's draft prospects. Marc-Gregor, a man experiencing Frenchness, spotted in the wild.