JonnyHintz

January 20th, 2024 at 9:46 AM ^

He wasn’t retained by Fickell when most of the DCs were already hired last year, leading to him taking on that analyst role this season. And he’s currently being brought up in NFL DC conversations, so he’s clearly on the radar for some top jobs. 
 

The flip side is Clink wasn’t interviewed or offered for any DC jobs this year, but we’re supposed to just hand him the keys to the defense without considering outside options and just be okay with that? 
 

Jim Leonhard is 41 years old and has 6 years of experience as a DC. Finishing top 10 in total defense in 5 of those seasons, and top 10 in scoring defense in 4 of them.
 

Nobody is claiming he is “can’t miss.” But it is a significantly smaller risk to hire a guy who has proven he can call a top tier defense for multiple seasons than hand it to a first time DC that wasn’t even a candidate for other DC jobs. Clink may get it and he may do fine. But don’t sit here and pretend like Clink is a can’t miss DC either. Some just prefer a veteran DC to go with a rookie head coach and potentially a rookie OC

Joined: 01/11/2015

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rice4114

January 20th, 2024 at 2:26 AM ^

You didnt answer his question but Ill answer yours. I think we want whatever % of what this has been over the last few years that we can get. Keep Moore, Hart, Clink, Jaybaugh and Elston and plug in two new studs and lets go. Clink has had 3 full seasons seeing this system. Not many get 3 years to see something like this and learn it, and when they do Harbaugh hires them as his DC.

Just keep this train rolling. Ill take Harbaugh lite over a game of Russian roulette where 2 of the bullets could be anything like Rich Rod or Hoke. 

Im not 100% about anything but I want the soul of what we have left intact as much as humanly possible. Give me this player development (Minter and Harbaugh have been big parts for sure but the others have been huge in it as well). It might fail but give me the bulk of the makeover crew that made 2020 turn into 2021 all day every day.

Late is the hour for which to find leadership. I dont want to send Moore and 40% of the roster to the portal.

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JonnyHintz

January 19th, 2024 at 10:32 PM ^

Well if Harbaugh leaves and takes Minter with him, we will have at least 3 coaching openings. OC/OL, LB (Partridge being fired), and DC. So we’re going to be making some external hires. There’s just a preference by some that one of those external hires be to get an experienced coordinator or two to help our first time head coach get acclimated instead of having multiple coaches learning on the job. 
 

A first time head coach with a first time defensive playcaller and (potentially) a first time offensive play caller is a pretty significant risk. 

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Ernis

January 20th, 2024 at 10:25 AM ^

You hit the nail on the head with the last word: risk.

No matter how good, dudes taking on new, major responsibilities for the first time are gonna miss things. Having two of the top three coaching positions being new to the role compounds the risk of something major falling through the cracks, resulting in severe disadvantage. You want to set people up for success. If harbs stays and minter goes, bring up Clink, that’s great. If harbs and minter go, putting Moore and Clink both at the top exposes both of them to greater risk of failure. 

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JonnyHintz

January 20th, 2024 at 10:50 AM ^

Yeah, just looking it at the perspective of having a first time head coach it is incredibly beneficial to have a staff experienced in their roles. Moore has coached the team on game day, but that is only a very small portion of being the head coach. Moore will be learning on the job, it’s probably best if he isn’t also worried about his coordinators learning on the job as well. Doesn’t mean it won’t work out, but it is an added risk going with inexperienced coordinators alongside an inexperienced coach.

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RobM_24

January 19th, 2024 at 8:32 PM ^

The part about Webb saying Harbaugh will want Minter to go with him ... that was the main takeaway for me. I've always been under the impression that Webb doesn't say things like that unless he's got some type of information. Not a shocker by any means, but Harbaugh could've tried to go back to Fangio or something. 

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Michigan4Life

January 20th, 2024 at 10:18 AM ^

Most likely destination for Minter

1. Harbaugh at Michigan or NFL

2. MacDonald in the NFL if Mac gets a HC job

3. Ravens to replace MacDonald

4. Michigan with Sherrone Moore

I'm already expecting Minter to be gone no matter what unless Harbaugh comes back. I could be wrong about Minter staying if Harbaugh is staying. I know that Ravens defensive scheme is going to be a hot scheme for the NFL to combat against Shanahan/McVay offense. 

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The Oracle 2

January 19th, 2024 at 8:08 PM ^

1. If Harbaugh goes to the NFL, Minter goes with him;

2. If Macdonald gets a HC job and Harbaugh doesn’t, Minter goes to the Ravens;

3. If neither 1 or 2 happens, Minter goes to another NFL team;

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