Defensive Position Coach Candidates
With the Mattison and Washington departures, we now have vacancies at LB coach and DL coach. Who are the top candidates to replace them? Any "likely" candidates you expect JH to interview for the vacancies? What about pipe dreams that just might have a chance?
Would you prefer someone with more experience (maybe an NFL position coach) or an up-and-comer with a tireless work ethic who maybe is less well known?
Would you prefer candidates with a strong regional scouting impact (what region....And be realistic if you're gonna say FL, GA, TX, CA - how much does that apply when recruiting to MI?) or someone who is not known as a recruiter but is a great X's and O's coach?
I have no insider info and no clue who they will bring in, but want to have a thread looking forward at potential fits instead of backwards/negative. Personally, I would LOVE them to get Charles Woodson on staff regardless of the role, and groom him to become a DC in the future. No clue if he has any interest, but even without any coaching experience I think he could be an instant difference maker as a LB coach and elite recruiter. (yeah, I know, he was not a LB, but that's the spot that's open. Maybe Partridge goes back there and Woodson would take Safeties?)
January 8th, 2019 at 2:10 PM ^
He's too big of a deal. And I mean that in the most sincerest and complimentary of ways.
Its a humorous line, but sometimes it fits.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
Woodson said just last year when asked on twitter if he would join Jon Gruden's staff in Oakland if asked that he would give it some thought. It's a long shot, but he has a passion for this university so I don't think it has "zero chance".
January 8th, 2019 at 3:05 PM ^
At one point, possibly after the ND game, on Marcus Ray's twitter, he was asking Ray to break down the defensive film. That doesn't sound like a coach to me.
January 8th, 2019 at 5:03 PM ^
Hanging around on Marcus Ray's twitter is just an unseemly thing to do as a rule.
January 9th, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
You'd think that except a lot of what he said has come to fruition. He was 100% dead on about this defense.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:39 PM ^
Has Woodson ever said he would coach or has he even been a coach?
Names that come to mind for me would be Roy Manning and Jerry Montgomery, but I want the best qualified period.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:50 PM ^
Allen Trieu said he doesn't expect Roy Manning to be at Michigan. It was reported that the new Packers HC is retaining the defensive staff.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:26 PM ^
Montgomery not Manning.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:33 PM ^
Both. I should have been more clear.
Trieu said he wouldn't expect Manning to end up at Michigan. Also, new Packers HC is retaining the defensive staff which includes Montgomery.
It looks like Allen Trieu and Sam Webb have different sources. Sam is now saying Manning and Montgomery are some names in the mix. Allen Trieu is great at what he does, but in this case I would go with Sam who has more connections within the program.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:37 PM ^
More info keeps coming in. Manning might be headed to Oklahoma. He has ties to Grinch when he was at WSU.
January 8th, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
Didnt Harbaugh not retain Manning when he became HC? I dont see him coming back here under Harbaugh.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:56 PM ^
Woodson stated the one thing that would prevent him from coaching, college at least, is recruiting. He didn't clarify if he was referring to the actual work of it or alluding to the dirtiness of the recruiting game. My opinion it was the latter.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:39 PM ^
Matt House, Defensive Coordinator at Kentucky? Pay raise may get him?
January 8th, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
Even for a pay raise, why would he take a demotion to a position coach? Unless you're thinking Brown is gone and he'd be a DC replacement, House is totally unrealistic.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:40 PM ^
We lost two solid (though GMatt isn’t what he used to be) recruiters, so no NFL dudes who feel like recruiting is below them.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:33 PM ^
This is the best take on the (position) coaching search. Watch Alabama / Clemson - the play-calling was fine, but what jumped off the page was the insane athleticism of the players. You give Harbaugh, Dantonio, Day, hell even Brady Hoke, that level of talent, and they are going to win. Coaching is really important, but recruiting is critical. To me, I would hire the two best recruiters you can get your hands on, as long as they are good enough at their job.
January 8th, 2019 at 3:21 PM ^
Cannot agree more. Watching that game last night made me feel like all the B1G games I watched this season were HS games.
The speed at which both Alabama and Clemson played was absolutely absurd. I think the talent discrepancy across the sprectrum in college makes speed/athleticism much more of a factor than in the NFL. Certainly coaching is important as well, but having the talent Bama/Clemson has can help overcome a lot of obstacles at this level of the game.
Consider where OSU has been in regard to recruiting through the Meyer era and our record against them over that time, and I think it is a pretty clear picture.
We have talent, but not the depth of talent the elite teams have. That is the difference.
January 8th, 2019 at 3:36 PM ^
Watch Alabama / Clemson - the play-calling was fine, but what jumped off the page was the insane athleticism of the players.
We don't need recruiters, we need pharmacists.
January 8th, 2019 at 5:27 PM ^
Offensively Michigan has playmakers in dpj, black, Collins they just don’t get enough passes or let alone in a position to make a play, running back is what’s been poorly recruited imo, green, Smith, higdon, Evans, Isaac, all good players but not game changers, etienne for Clemson is a game changer with his speed,
harbaugh has talent and he’s under achieving
January 8th, 2019 at 6:15 PM ^
What good are recruiters if your coach doesn't use them?
See our WR corps who should easily be breaking 1000 yards receiving. Criminally underutilized under Harbaugh, so no I don't expect Harbaugh to win with athletes without a complete overhaul in offensive philosophy.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:41 PM ^
I vote Bill Davis for defensive line coach. He's available and can get him cheap.
For linebackers, Eli Manning. No one knows more about where line backers should be than Eli. He has thrown a lot of balls to line backers in his time. Would be a very solid hire.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:01 PM ^
Thank you for the laugh. First smile about michigan football in the last 2 days
January 8th, 2019 at 2:33 PM ^
Thanks for bringing a smile to this New York Football Giants fan's face.
January 8th, 2019 at 3:08 PM ^
Another Giants fan here... and that was really good. Sadly, true-- Eli has become intimately acquainted with far too many LBs recently.
January 8th, 2019 at 7:29 PM ^
Good one Blue!
January 8th, 2019 at 1:42 PM ^
I just did a little digging and found this guy as a possible DL coach.
https://niuhuskies.com/coaches.aspx?rc=906&path=football
NIU was top-3 in the nation in sacks, an had two D-lineman with 10+ sacks. He's young, is from Ohio, and has P5 experience.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
Jim?
January 8th, 2019 at 1:47 PM ^
Wouldn't mind this.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:05 PM ^
Interesting candidate. Thanks for doing the digging.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
May be a great coach. I honestly don't know. I'm having a harder time coming to terms with the fact that someone born in 1990 is old enough to coach college aged kids.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:23 PM ^
This is one hell of find. Well done
January 8th, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^
Rick D dat you?
January 8th, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^
This is actually turning into a good thread. Good find.
January 8th, 2019 at 5:01 PM ^
I would agree as NIU also had a top 11 rushing defense. The only other teams (non Clemson) in the top 11 of each are Marshall and Mississippi State. Maybe Brian Baker from MSU or JC Price or Cornell Brown from Marshall.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:42 PM ^
Your title sucks, and you should feel bad
January 8th, 2019 at 1:45 PM ^
That's just like, your opinion, man.
January 8th, 2019 at 2:07 PM ^
Your title is just okay, but the thread is a valuable one. Keep on keeping on, thanks.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:47 PM ^
Your title is great, and you should feel proud.
January 8th, 2019 at 3:04 PM ^
The formula you've recycled to generate your comment is cliche and you should feel bad.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
You may be on to something. We could hire Marcus Ray as our Safeties coach (because I am sure either one of Zordich or Partridge will also go to OSU), Charles Woodson do linebackers, LaMarr Woodley coach D-Line, and then after Don Brown goes to Temple we could hire Tyrone Wheatley to finally get the D-coordinator job he so covets. That would be awesome......?
Edit: Bad joke. Sorry guys.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
Stating the obvious, it's been the younger guys--Moore, Washington, Partridge, Jay--who have been really connecting with recruits. I would hope with that in mind that at least one of the two replacements is under 40.
January 8th, 2019 at 4:21 PM ^
Jay is doing work..I hope he is a guy that is an ":Up and Comer" and the nation starts noticing...but I think Jay is bleeding deep blue vs SOME others we know
January 8th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
I get the desire, but All World guys like Woodson and Brady are not going to become college position coaches and take on the countless hours it involves.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:45 PM ^
Probably Devin Bush Sr. (In house promotion), hoping for Bill Sheridan
January 8th, 2019 at 1:47 PM ^
I'm not sure our preferences have any relevance, but the likely candidates to replace Washington seem like Bush or someone else that worked under Brown (assuming he's staying) like BC LB coach Sherridan who also has some UM ties. For Mattison replacements that have been said are Duke co-defensive coordinator, Ben Albert, who also used to coach with Brown as his d-line coach at BC. The main question for these guys to me is their recruiting prowess. I'd rather poach someone out of Texas, Florida, Georgia, or California with recruiting ties down there, but maybe Albert has built some in the NC, which is a pretty good state for talent as well, although a difficult draw from Clemson.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:54 PM ^
Yeah our preferences don't matter, but it drives a decent discussion about the types of things JH has to consider in a candidate and makes us hear other somewhat informed takes.
Does anyone else have serious concerns about hiring a bunch of old BC position coaches that have not made a name for themselves elsewhere? I'm assuming Brown stays (or at least does not go to Temple) based on the comments he made about "you always listen to the offers" because he didn't sound remotely interested in that job. That said, this is UM, can we not attract some top names instead of guys with "ties" from middling program in an area not known as a talent hotbed?
January 8th, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
Does anyone else have serious concerns about hiring a bunch of old BC position coaches that have not made a name for themselves elsewhere?...can we not attract some top names instead of guys with "ties" from middling program in an area not known as a talent hotbed?
I think there are plenty of guys that if given the opportunity at a P5 blue blood can be very successful that have yet to get that opportunity. Ryan Day is one who was at BC & Temple. Al Washington was another that came out of that BC coaching tree. For better or worse, the DB coaching tree is based out of the Northeast.
The problem is that young up and coming position coaches at other blue blood programs are looking to upgrade to a coordinator position, not a lateral move to another position coaching position at a different blue blood school. Why would for example a d-line coach or LB coach at Clemson, Bama, UGA, etc. come take the same job at UM? You'd have to go below that level such as an analyst or GA, or non-P5 position coach. After that you're looking for guys that either were a part of another HC's staff that got fired, picking off an NFL guy you have ties with, or looking for an older guy that wants to rejoin JH and/or has UM ties.
January 8th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
Good points, although Day was an OC at Temple and BC and got his "break" when he jumped to the NFL as a QB coach for Chip Kelly, who was his head coach when he played at New Hampshire .... Because of his success in that role he was being considered for NFL OC jobs when he took the OSU OC job.
Are you saying you'd prefer to poach a successful small school position coach or DC (and hope a raise and move to a major program entices them) over holding out hope we can find someone with blue blood or NFL experience and "ties" to the program or coaches? Leap of faith vs. cronyism....
January 8th, 2019 at 3:17 PM ^
Are you saying you'd prefer to poach a successful small school position coach or DC (and hope a raise and move to a major program entices them) over holding out hope we can find someone with blue blood or NFL experience and "ties" to the program or coaches?
That's a good question and I'm not sure I have a preference. I have seen examples of a number of success stories at OSU with non-P5 coaches. Tressel is another good example. Vrabel didn't have any coaching experience prior to joining OSU and now he's an NFL HC. I've also seen what I consider highly successful HC's from other schools come to UM and fail to be as successful as many expected (Rich Rod & JH). Someone at OSU is using some metric to evaluate these guys that works for them and is less successful for us at UM. I wish I knew what that was, but I can't say I do.
I get the feeling the whole "Michigan Man" thing and the idea that we can to stay in the Bo coaching tree has limited to us some degree. I think UM needs to deviate from that and get someone that can develop a new identity for UM in order to get to the next level.
January 8th, 2019 at 4:26 PM ^
Not necessarily a leap of faith if they're guys Don Brown has a good relationship with and believes in. In both the NFL AND college ball hiring tends to be so incestuous; there are a lot of good guys out there just waiting for their chance. I agree that a coach with ties to some deep player pipeline--who can convince players to come to Michigan--is undoubtedly golden, but how many of them are there?
In fact, to take this thinking one step further: both Brown and Harbs have to have seen the writing on the wall after this season, and understand they need to continue to evolve. I'd rather let them have the coaches they're comfortable with and get on with it than take on a bunch of uncomfortable new relationships/jam a bunch of square pegs into round holes to please the jackals. If this thing just isn't gonna work then I think we know pretty soon.