Michigan has reportedly hired Wisconsin Badgers defensive line coach Greg Scruggs to replace Mike Elston as the defensive line coach.
Scruggs is a former Louisville football player (2008-2011) who spent five seasons in the NFL with the Seahawks, Bears, and Patriots after being selected in the 7th round of the 2012 draft. He then went on to be the Director of Player Development at Cincinnati in 2018-2019 and then coach their defensive line in 2020-2021. He got a job with the New York Jets as an assistant defensive line coach in 2022 and then returned to college football for 2023, working once again with head coach Luke Fickell, whom he had previously served at Cincinnati.
Scruggs is known as a very good recruiter; he landed two 4-star defensive linemen in the 2024 class, including Michigan target Ernest Willor, Jr. And when he was at Cincinnati, he landed former Michigan commit Mario Eugenio. I think his player development is still a question mark, as zero Badgers defensive linemen earned All-Big Ten honors in 2023. He has been a part of some solid defenses at both Cincinnati and Wisconsin, but it's not clear to me how much that has to do with his development of talent and how much has to do with other aspects of those programs.
Regardless, Michigan seems to have done a pretty good job with this hire. Scruggs's recruiting abilities might offset the expected recruiting shortcomings of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, and Scruggs has plenty on his resume - including two Super Bowl rings, one with the Seahawks and one with the Patriots - to command some respect when he walks into the room.
Coaching staff as of now:
- HC: Sherrone Moore
- OC/QB: Kirk Campbell
- RB: Mike Hart
- WR: Ronald Bellamy
- TE: Steve Casula
- OL: Grant Newsome
- DC: Wink Martindale
- DL: Greg Scruggs
- LB: Brian Jean-Mary (expected)
- DB: Stephen Adegoke (expected)
- STC: J.B. Brown
I like this staff from the perspective of balancing Sherrone with some veteran experience (Wink, Casula) and following the model Harbaugh established in 2021 -- young positional coaches who have the personalities needed to connect with players and on the road for recruiting.
ReplyDeleteThe key thing in my mind for the REAL young guys (Campbell, Newsome, Scruggs, Adegoke) is pairing them with veteran analysts. Poggi got a lot of attention but there's been legitimate NFL caliber coaches in analyst roles in recent years including guys like Rick Minter, Doug Mallory, Mike Mallory, and my guy Fred Jackson.
These guys are clearly coaches -- they just don't get called that to avoid running afoul of NCAA rules. They also can't be in kids living rooms on recruiting visit -- but they don't need to be. If our actual position coaches aren't doing the right things (fundamentals, technique, drills) they have a veteran voice in place to point them in the right direction.
Have you noticed there haven't been any notable issues with RBs picking up blitzes in the last few years (and no major QB injuries since 2017)? Fred Jackson returned to Ann Arbor in 2018. Just saying.
Anyway, we might not hear about it right away because the off field roles like GM and analyst don't get any headlines or articles like roster or coaching spots do, but my hope is that we hear about a veteran analyst who specializes in DL being added to the staff for spring.
What's Brady Hoke up to these days?
Love this hire, and it's not surprising that a young coach recently in the League can recruit. I'm not worried about player development, as the culture is in place to ensure a competitive environment against solid talent. I actually agree with Lank here: bulk up on the off field roles, pairing coaches with advisors, mentors, consiglieri, assistants ... whatever is legal to call them
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