This is a whopper of a post. I tried to keep track of a lot of former Michigan coaches and players who are in the coaching ranks. It's impossible to keep up with all of them, and surely there are a ton who are coaching high school football or maybe at the Division II or Division III level.
FORMER COACHES
John Baxter (Special Teams Coordinator, Fresno State): Baxter has been the special teams coach at Fresno since 2022.
Adam Braithwaite (Assistant Safeties Coach, Cincinnati): Braithwaite spent 2024 as Samford's defensive coordinator and was hired as an assistant safeties coach this off-season by the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Don Brown (Head Coach, UMass): Brown was fired after ten games with a 2-8 record this year and went 6-28 during his second stint there. He previously went 43-29 at UMass back when it was an FCS program.
Hit the jump for more.
Anthony Campanile (Linebackers Coach/Defensive Run Game Coordinator): Campanile spent 2024 with the Packers coaching linebackers and coordinating the run defense.
Steve Clinkscale (Defensive Backs Coach, Los Angeles Chargers): Clinkscale spent 2024 as the defensive backs coach for the Chargers.
Tony Dews (Running Backs Coach, New York Jets): Dews spent 2024 coaching Breece Hall and Braelon Allen for the Jets. With the team searching for a new head coach, his job may be changing for 2025.
Ross Douglas (Pass Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach, Syracuse): Douglas was in his first season coaching the receivers at Syracuse under new head coach Fran Brown and helped former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord lead the country with 367.6 yards passing per game.
Tim Drevno (Quality Control Coach, Ohio State): Drevno is a quality control guy for Ohio State.
D.J. Durkin (Defensive Coordinator, Auburn): Durkin spent 2024 in his first year as Auburn's defensive coordinator, and the team finished #27 in scoring defense.
Mike Elston (Defensive Line Coach, Los Angeles Chargers): The Chargers accounted for 46 sacks this past season, which was #6 in the league.
Jedd Fisch (Head Coach, Washington): The Huskies went 6-7 in Fisch's first year in Seattle, finishing off with a 35-34 loss to Louisville in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
Darrell Funk (Offensive Line Coach, Colorado Mesa University): Funk, who had previously worked at BYU, spent 2024 as Colorado Mesa's offensive line coach.
Josh Gattis (Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach, Maryland): Gattis spent the past two seasons at Maryland but was fired after the season and has not landed anywhere new, as far as I know.
Tony Gibson (Defensive Coordinator, North Carolina State Head Coach, Marshall): Gibson was hired as the new head coach at Marshall after being defensive coordinator at N.C. State for the past five seasons.
Jonathan Goodwin (Assistant Quarterbacks Coach, Los Angeles Chargers): Goodwin helped as an assistant coach for QBs coach Shane Day with star quarterback Justin Herbert.
JaRaymond Hall (Asst. OL Coach, Wayne State): Hall is the assistant offensive line coach and director of player personnel for Wayne State under head coach Tyrone Wheatley, who recruited Hall to Michigan in 2017.
Jay Harbaugh (Special Teams Coordinator, Seattle Seahawks): Harbaugh was the special teams guy for the Seahawks in 2024.
Jim Harbaugh (Head Coach, Los Angeles Chargers): The Chargers went 11-6 in Jim Harbaugh's first season and made the playoffs as a wild card team, but they lost to the Houston Texans in the first round of the playoffs by a score of 32-12.
George Helow (Defensive Assistant, Colorado): Helow was an assistant defensive coach working with the linebackers for Colorado this past season.
Jay Hopson (Cornerbacks Coach, South Alabama): Hopson spent the past two seasons at South Alabama's cornerbacks coach but stepped down earlier this month.
Kevin Koger (Tight Ends Coach, Atlanta Falcons): Koger is the tight ends coach for the Falcons, where his top charge, Kyle Pitts, caught 47 passes for 602 yards and 4 touchdowns this past season.
Jordan Kovacs (Safeties Coach, Cincinnati Bengals): Kovacs, who had previously been the assistant linebackers coach for the Bengals for two seasons, was promoted to safeties coach in 2024.
Mo Linguist (Co-Defensive Coordinator, Alabama): Linguist spent 2024 in his first year at Alabama, co-coordinating the defense and coaching cornerbacks.
Scot Loeffler (Head Coach, BGSU): Loeffler went 7-6 this season, but finished on a two-game losing streak, including a 38-31 loss to Arkansas State in the 68 Ventures Bowl.
Mike Macdonald (Head Coach, Seattle Seahawks): The Seahawks went 10-7 in Macdonald's first year as the Seahawks head coach after coming over from the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator job.
Curt Mallory (Head Coach, Indiana State): Mallory and the Sycamores finished the season on a three-game losing streak for a 4-8 overall record on the year.
Ben McDaniels (Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach, Houston Texans): McDaniels has spent the past four seasons coaching for the Texans, where he is mentoring star Texans wide receiver and Michigan alum Nico Collins.
Jerry Montgomery (Defensive Line Coach, New England Patriots): Montgomery was the defensive line coach for the Patriots in 2024, but with new head coach Mike Vrabel recently being hired, there may be a change coming.
Roy Manning (Assistant EDGEs Coach, San Diego State): After being out of football last year, Manning has been hired as the assistant coach for EDGEs at SDSU.
Jim McElwain (Head Coach, Central Michigan): Central Michigan went 4-8 this past season and McElwain announced his retirement. Publicly, he has denied knowledge of having Michigan analyst Connor Stalions on the sideline during the 2023 season opener against Michigan State, but the NCAA's investigation seems to have put a rush on his departure.
Jesse Minter (Defensive Coordinator, Los Angeles Chargers): The Chargers allowed the fewest points in the NFL this past season, giving up just 301. The #2 team was the Philadelphia Eagles at 303 points.
Rick Minter (Senior Defensive Analyst, Los Angeles Chargers): Minter, who stepped in as linebackers coach late in the 2023 season at Michigan, followed his son Jesse to the Chargers and served as a senior defensive analyst.
Desmond Morgan (Defensive Assistant Safeties Coach, Memphis): Morgan was a defensive assistant at Memphis this past season and has since been named safeties coach.
Shaun Nua (Defensive Line Coach, USC): Nua has been coaching the defensive line for the Trojans since 2022.
Doug Nussmeier (Quarterbacks Coach, Philadelphia Eagles): Nussmeier is in his first season as the QB coach for the Eagles.
Chris Partridge (Outside Linebackers Coach, Seattle Seahawks): Partridge spent 2024 as the outside linebackers coach for the Seahawks after being let go by Michigan during 2023.
Biff Poggi (Head Coach, Charlotte): Poggi was fired after going 3-7 to start the season. He has reportedly been discussing a return to Michigan in some capacity, likely as an off-the-field contributor.
Denard Robinson (Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Coach, Lead Prep Academy): Robinson has been hired as the new assistant head coach/running backs coach/director of player development at LEAD Prep Academy, a JUCO program through Washtenaw Community College. He served as running backs coach this past season but has since added some responsibilities.
Rich Rodriguez (Head Coach, Jacksonville State West Virginia): Rodriguez went 9-5 this past season at Jacksonville State, winning their conference in just their second season of FBS. They finished the year with a 30-27 loss to Ohio in the StaffDNA Cure Bowl. He has since been re-hired as head coach at West Virginia, where he went 60-26 as head coach from 2001-2007 before being hired at Michigan.
Dylan Roney (Defensive Assistant, Los Angeles Chargers): Roney was a defensive assistant for the #1 scoring defense in the NFL.
Roy Roundtree (Wide Receivers Coach, Miami-OH Temple): Roundtree was in his first season at Miami-OH as the wide receivers coach and was then hired for the same role at Temple for 2025.
Nick Sheridan (Offensive Coordinator, Alabama): Sheridan spent 2024 as the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide after Ben Grubbs left for the Seahawks (and was subsequently fired by Mike Macdonald after the season). Alabama finished the year ranked #22 in scoring offense but they ended the year on a down note, losing to Michigan by a score of 19-13 in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Brian Smith (Defensive Coordinator, Rice Temple): Smith, who was Michigan's defensive backs coach in 2016-2017, spent the past seven years as Rice's defensive coordinator. Rice finished #35 in total defense this past season and #70 in scoring defense, but he parlayed that job into the defensive coordinator gig at Temple this off-season.
Rod Smith (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, Jacksonville State Marshall): Smith served as interim head coach for Jacksonville State after Rich Rodriguez left for WVU prior to the bowl game. Interestingly, he did not follow Rodriguez back to WVU - even though the two had been connected at the hip for a couple decades - and instead will working for new Marshall head coach Tony Gibson, himself a former Michigan assistant.
Connor Stalions (Offensive Coordinator, Belleville High School): Stalions was last seen calling plays for Belleville during their playoff run, working with incoming freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood.
Adam Stenavich (Offensive Coordinator, Green Bay Packers): Stenavich has been the offensive coordinator for the Packers since 2022. Running back Josh Jacobs ran for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns, and quarterback Jordan Love threw for 3,389 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions during an injury-affected season.
Bruce Tall (Linebackers Coach, Emory and Henry): Tall coached the linebackers in 2024 for Emory and Henry.
Ed Warinner (Offensive Line Coach, Florida Atlantic): Warinner was the offensive line coach at FAU for the past four seasons but was fired after the 2024 season.
Al Washington (Defensive Line Coach, Notre Dame): Washington coaches the defensive line at Notre Dame and will be coaching in the national championship game on Monday night.
Tyrone Wheatley (Head Coach, Wayne State): Wheatley finished the year on a two-game win streak with a 30-14 win over Northern Michigan and went 2-9 overall.
A few former coaches who appear not to be currently coaching anywhere, at least temporarily:
- Kirk Campbell
- Greg Frey
- Mike Hart
- Jeff Hecklinski
- Brady Hoke (retired)
- Greg Jackson
- Greg Mattison (retired)
- Matt Weiss
- Mike Zordich
I'm somewhat surprised that Rodriguez is back at WVU. I spend summers in West Virginia, and in talking to the people around where I live there, they retained an active dislike of him, mostly due to the way he left WVU, but also for other reasons. But he found some support to bring him back, which was probably a wishful desire to return to those heady days of 2001-2007. He won't take them back to that kind of team.
ReplyDeleteJay Harbaugh and special teams guy at the Seahawks ... what's the report card say for his stint there so far? Was the Seahawks' special teams play pretty good?
Any idea what the market is for coaches like Kirk Campbell or Josh Gattis as you go lower into DII or DIII? Are they eager to hire such guys -- less money, of course -- because of the higher-tier experience? Or is there little appetite for someone who flames out at the higher level?
I don't really blame WVU and Rodriguez for giving it a go. He went elsewhere and did pretty well (except at Michigan), and WVU has been struggling for a long time. You might as well see if you can rekindle what was. What do you have to lose? He's probably not going to burn the program to the ground - he's a good enough coach and has enough connections to where it's still going to stay afloat. And if he can get them to being a 10-win team or so, then it was a good move.
DeleteSeattle's special teams appear to have mostly been solid, but they struggled in limiting opponent kickoff returns.
There's always room for guys like Campbell and Gattis at the lower levels. It just depends on if those guys want to work in football like that. I don't see someone like Gattis working at a D-III school.
Gattis should probably just go be a WR coach somewhere like Texas and learn some more, or maybe try to be a coordinator at someplace like FAU or Tulsa or North Texas.
Too badly burned bridges, but I'd take Gattis as a WR coach & recruiter if Bellamy doesn't last
ReplyDeleteVery informative post. It's hard to track all the ex-coaches. Thanks
ReplyDeleteAnother one of note, since his name has popped up as a potential Wink replacement is Doug Mallory, who went from an analyst at Michigan during 21-23 to the DB coach for the Ravens this season.