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Thursday, January 13, 2022

Mike Elston, Wolverine

 

Mike Elston (image via Rivals)

Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston is reportedly accepting the same position at Michigan. Elston is a former Michigan outside linebacker who got his coaching start with the Wolverines as a graduate assistant for the Wolverines before moving on elsewhere.

Elston made 29 tackles and 4 pass breakups as an outside linebacker at Michigan from 1993-1996. He then became a video assistant and G.A. at Michigan, coached at Eastern Michigan for a couple years, and then latched on with Brian Kelly. Elston was with Kelly at Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame, at various times holding the title of linebacker coach, defensive line coach, associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator, and recruiting coordinator. He's had a wide array of positions and held some clout in a very good program, so that bodes well for his abilities.

At Notre Dame, Elston coached a variety of quality players, including Julian Okwara, Stephon Tuitt, Sheldon Day, Khalid Kareem, Daelin Hayes, Ade Ogundeji, Isaiah Foskey, Jerry Tillery, etc. While he's never had a guy as productive as Aidan Hutchinson, he has coached a couple Notre Dame players (Tuitt and Foskey) into getting 11 sacks.

Despite the success of Michigan's team - and Hutchinson and David Ojabo - in 2021, I think Elston is a significant step up from former defensive line coach Shaun Nua. That's not just sour grapes because of Nua's departure for USC; I was long critical of Nua's developmental abilities, and there has been talk that Ryan Osborn helped out a lot with the edge guys who really exploded in 2021.

Elston has also been a solid recruiter. He's ranked as the #36 recruiter in the country by 247 Sports for 2022, which is third on the Fighting Irish staff behind new head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. It also would place him third on Michigan's staff, behind safeties coach Ron Bellamy and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. I'm not huge into ranking coaches by the recruiting rankings of the players that they may or may not have been recruiting primarily or secondarily; I think that type of ranking is very convoluted and potentially very inaccurate. So I don't put a ton of stock in the ranking, and I put more faith in the fact that he was the recruiting coordinator for a team that recruits pretty well.

32 comments:

  1. Interesting. The resume is better than Nua, but I have to admit I like the youth movement Harbaugh began, and see players (and recruits) seem to rave about Osborne. Maybe next time

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    1. I'm going to touch on a potentially sensitive topic, but it's one that Seth at MGoBlog brought up, so I'll piggyback: does it matter that Elston is not a person of color? Seth was emphatic: having coaches who are of color matters to recruits. Elston's track record at Notre Dame would suggest the opposite.

      I am thinking, and hoping, that it does not matter; that the character of the man comes through regardless of skin color, and that recruits respond to the character and coaching talents.

      * * *
      Another thought: was Elston drawn to Michigan, or was he pushed out of Notre Dame?

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    2. I should add: Seth's comment was made in a different context, and *not* specifically to the hiring of Elston as DL coach.

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    3. Shaun Nua is 40. I think Mike Elston is 47. I don't think that's a huge difference. It's not like Michigan hired 70+ year old Greg Mattison or Larry Johnson. (I think those guys are good coaches, but they probably hung around until 70 because they're really good.)

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    4. @ Anonymous 11:35 a.m.

      I don't think it really matters that Elston is not a person of color. He has a very good track record, and the truth is that almost all of his standout defensive linemen have been black. In fact, I can't think of a white player that has been a true standout at Notre Dame in his time. So he must still connect with them pretty well.

      I think an all-white staff could be problematic. I don't think that's anywhere close to being an issue with Gattis, Hart, Moore, Bellamy, and Clinkscale. It's pretty much a 50/50 split.

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    5. One of the problems with MGOBlog is Seth's, and other's there, political activism. It's one of the reasons that place has a blatant streak of ugliness running through it. It isn't just about sports there, which is one of the reasons I think the letters "MGo" should be taken away from the blog. That blog is bad for the image of Michigan sports. It is not just about sports there.

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    6. I enjoy Seth's writing when it sticks to football. Otherwise, I agree that the political activism there, and the censorious attitude that prevails, is not appealing. The comment section there is about as juvenile as they come, save for a few reasonable commentators.

      Brian's writing, when he cranks it up to his "I want to show I'm smart and clever by being snarky" mode, I find irritating. At times it's nearly unreadable. And I find his views on politics to be fairly naive. But it's his blog, so he can say what he wants.

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    7. I've seen much more juvenile comments. I think if you go to The Wolverine's comment section, you'll find more immature - but perhaps less angry - comments.

      As for Brian, I enjoy his writing but he's way too pessimistic and emotional at times. I suppose that might be what makes him a good writer, but he's pretty cranky.

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    8. I'm just back from MGoBoard. Phew! The rudeness and anger is just needless and pointless. The moderators do nothing about it. There's one moderator who joins in with it. I go there less and less, probably will stop soon.

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    9. I am member of The Wolverine, and the commentors there are older and more mature. Mgoblog has only a few commentors like Bronx Blue and Stephen King worth reading. The rest IMO are extremely immature.

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    10. "The rest IMO are extremely immature."

      Especially that Magnus douche.

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    11. Magnus is the worst. Anyone who would have a Brandon Graham picture for his avatar is suspect. Brandon Graham? Pfft. A nobody. :-)

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    12. You know I did not mean you:)

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    13. Anonymous
      massblue always has valuable in formation there. Naked Bird is pretty good to look for too.

      But the ugliness over there takes all the fun out. There's even a moderator who jumps in some times with the ugliness. So it leaves me wondering what the people running that blog are really like, since they never step in to stop all the ugliness, like never.

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    14. " "The rest IMO are extremely immature."

      Especially that Magnus douche."


      The thing I don't get it the downvotes you get over there.


      There's so much downvoting that it is a turn off to go there. I can see why Space Coyote stays away. Apparently he pointed out something wrong with what Brian or Seth or someone posted, and he was right. But right or wrong doesn't matter there. It gets ugly anyway. So he just stays away now. I think his stuff was way over the heads of 95% of everyone over there, including those that run the blog.

      If you post something about cars, or music, or alcohol there's never a down vote to be seen.

      MGoBlog, overall, is bad for the image of Michigan sports. Like I said before, the letters "MGo" should be taken away from them.

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    15. @ Anonymous 10:19 a.m.

      I was just kidding. I knew (or at least assumed) you weren't bashing me, or then it would be pretty odd for you to be commenting on my site.

      Delete
    16. @ joseph dreamed dreams 8:44 p.m.

      I agree the site is/was better with Space Coyote involved. The thing is that I enjoy the snark, and I enjoy the football content. The problem I have is when people talk factually about things they don't understand. There are a number of posters over there who know football pretty well, and I think it's actually improved over the years. They've probably been educated by what they have seen/read on MGoBlog and other sites. When I first started visiting that site in 2006 or 2007 (somewhere around there), it was hard to find anyone who knew anything.

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    17. The only moderator I recall who went after posters was Ace. Brian rarely comments. Seth disagrees for the most part respectfully. My problem with Seth is that his politics seep into alot of his writing. I also think Mgblog is really Seth's site more than Brian's. I always had a suspicion that Brian keeps a low profile when it comes to politics because he disagrees with Seth and Ace but doesn't feel it worth agruing with them.

      Delete
    18. Brian talks about local politics fairly regularly. There are even full posts about it.

      https://mgoblog.com/content/ann-arbor-local-politics-council-races-feel-hits

      These guys all live in Ann Arbor so that probably tells you all you need to know with some degree of certainty about their politics.

      To some extent he has checked out of the blog and sports fandom in general. Unrealistic expectations took their toll and he has no stomach for losing. (lack of OSU UFRs and unwillingness to discuss football leading into 2021). While it may seem like he has a dream job to many, I think we would all struggle in some form to have our hobby became our full time job with deadlines, demands, and stresses.

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    19. Brian does discuss local politics often as you point out but have never heard him opine on national topics.

      Delete
    20. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2022 at 7:11 AM

      Rob F is out of line quite often. He makes personal attacks on commenters. And he gets heavy handed with politics.

      Delete
  2. Does Elston's hire mean JH is staying? It is surprising that a coach wants to make a parallel move from ND to UM if the head coaching job at UM is not yet certain. I love the hire though. Elston sends players to the NFL and he recruits well at ND which has similar academic hurdle as Michigan.

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    1. I think it's safe to assume the university is caving - or at least compromise - on NIL and maybe even undergrad transfers

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    2. Yes. Harbaugh is staying.

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    3. I definitely take it as a sign that Harbaugh is staying, although I suppose anything could happen.

      It's not necessarily a parallel move. There's a chance that Mike Macdonald could leave in the next year or so, and Elston could potentially step in to become the defensive coordinator, or at least co-coordinator.

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    4. Same. And that's what we want/need out of Harbaugh, to stay ahead on staffing. A reset worked in 2021, but is not something we want to rely on. There should be a succession plan on both sides of the ball, and I think we can see potential promotions at both coordinator spots

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    5. I don't think Mike Macdonald is leaving. He was the behind Shaun Nua being out. He wanted a change. I don't think things are being built in the way he wants them only for him to leave.

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    6. Is that treu? I have not read that anywhere

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  3. Nua did pretty well but I'm inclined to agree that Elston looks like an upgrade. The resume is stronger and he has an edge in recruiting. This is a good add especially considering the program connections. He's also still relatively young (though older than all the other assistants by a few years).

    If the measuring stick is OSU though, we're still playing from behind since Mattison defected (UM to OSU) and arguably earlier when Johnson defected (PSU to OSU).

    Recruiting is a key factor on DL and I do think the race question raised above is relevant. Elston's track record seems solid there though.

    Elston has a big job ahead of him to replace 3 of our 4 primary DL. It's good to have a proven guy in the group and with his familiarity with the program he should fit in well.

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  4. I hope Mike Macdonald knew what he was doing in picking this guy. You are saying he's a significant step up. I hope both you and Macdonald are right. Interior D Line was clearly the biggest problem on the team this. It got flattened at times by Georgia. There has to be dramatic change in the interior D Line. Michigan could go 12-0 next season if there is.

    I don't know where this leaves Ryan Osborn. It was said before he came here that he had a significant role in what Montez Sweat became. I can believe it when I look at what Hutchinson and Ojabo became this year. So now I ask, where does this leave Ryan Osborn?

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    1. I hope Osborn stays at Michigan in an off-the-field role, at least technically. I don't know what will happen, though. I sense a little bit of immaturity in him, and perhaps Harbaugh just isn't ready for that to be on his full-time staff. In general, Harbaugh seems to hire serious, professional guys. Some of Osborn's behavior on the sideline, on Twitter, etc. isn't great (IMO), and that might just be a turn-off for Harbaugh.

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    2. I hope they keep him too. In whatever role. Maybe there'll come a way to get him on the coaching staff as "assistant" to Elston, and learn as a person under him, for a few years.

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