This seems like old-ish news considering it happened a few days ago and Michigan has already found a replacement, but former star running back Mike Hart will not return as Michigan's running backs coach in 2024. He had been with the program since 2021. Michigan has since replaced him with Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford (more on that in another post).
Hart is Michigan's all-time leading rusher after playing for the Wolverines from 2004-2007. After a brief NFL career, he then went on to coach for Eastern Michigan, Syracuse, and Indiana before returning to Ann Arbor from 2021-2023. While at Michigan, he won three Big Ten championships and a national championship. He also seemed to have a very positive effect on Michigan's running backs, fostering the development of Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum, and Donovan Edwards, among others. Haskins (2021) and Corum (2022, 2023) each had 1,000-yard rushing seasons under his tutelage, and he nearly had a second 1,000-yard rusher in 2021 (Corum had 952 yards) and 2022 (Edwards had 991).
Hart had recently been on a "leave of absence" attending to a personal matter, but the writing seemed to be on the wall that he would not return to Michigan's staff under new head coach Sherrone Moore. It appears Hart has - or at least had - hopes of being Michigan's head coach someday, but he was passed up for offensive coordinator (by Moore), interim head coach in 2023 (Moore again), and eventually head coach (Moore once more). I'm not saying that had anything to do with Hart's departure, but from Hart's perspective, that probably caused some hurt feelings; and from Moore's perspective, he may feel some concern about whether Hart can buy into the new regime.
On a personal level, I have never been a huge fan of Hart. While yes, I do recognize him as a Michigan great - and he was a lot of fun to watch as a pinball running back - his personality rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't appreciate his "Little Brother" comments toward Michigan State near the end of his playing career. I didn't appreciate when he said Jim Harbaugh wasn't a Michigan Man back in the day when Harbaugh was challenging Michigan to raise its standards, even before Harbaugh was head coach. And I also participated in a coaching clinic where I was not impressed by Hart's attitude and participation.
Overall, I think Hart is a very good developer of talent. I think he understands ball security, pass protection, mental and physical toughness, reading defenses, etc. But my belief is - and this is, let's say, educated speculation - that Hart is not exactly the easiest guy to get along with behind closed doors. So when it comes to putting together a staff, I'm not too awfully surprised that Hart and the new coaching regime are going in separate directions.
Sucks because he's a MICHIGAN legend, but I'm with Roanman: getting a guy who has been around creative & productive ground attacks - and can recruit - may just be an upgrade ... or at least I hope so
ReplyDeleteI had no problem with the "Little Brother" thing, although it absolutely did fire up Sparty like nothing else, particularly Dantonio. That was a heat of the battle interview, if not immediately after the game, Sunday. In retrospect, dumb thing to say maybe, but ...
ReplyDeleteHart's Harbaugh comment I also thought to be understandable in light of the previous comments Harbaugh had made comparing Stanford and Michigan. I bristled at that one from Harbaugh myself. Lloyd wasn't thrilled with that one either if I'm not mistaken.
We've talked about EJ before who by report is a grinder and evidently views the world through a grinder's windshield. I think Holland is gonna wish he had this one back someday as well, but still ...
“Mike Hart was an elite developer of talent,” Holland said. “He was a tremendous player at Michigan. An all-time great at Michigan. But he was a poor recruiter. It’s okay to say that. It’s okay to seperate those things. He can be a great player. He can be a great coach. But he wasn’t a great recruiter. Yes, Hart did land Jordan Marshall, but that was his only Top 200 running back land in three full cycles at Michigan. He was pretty lazy in other areas like area recruiting and helping other position coaches.
Roanman
Well, I've had a back-and-forth on Twitter about those comments from E.J. Holland. Conveniently, he cut off his analysis at "top 200 running back" because Cole Cabana was #202. Otherwise, Hart landed 2 guys in three cycles if he uses the industry-standard 247, 250, or 300. He had to cut it off at 200 to make his argument look good, as if two spots in the recruiting rankings would make a difference.
DeleteAnd he's giving credit to Tony Alford for landing 9 in 9 years at OSU, even though Jaelen Gill never played a down of running back at OSU and was a receiver his whole career. Gill played six seasons of college football and didn't have a single carry until his sixth year in 2023, and that was at Fresno State.
So we're giving credit to Alford for Gill, who wasn't a running back at all, but we're not giving credit to Hart because Cabana was two spots away? It's just silly.
I can understand the Little Brother comment coming from a 22-year-old kid in the thick of it. It's not the worst comment ever, but it did come back to haunt Michigan for a long time. Dantonio's response was even worse when he insulted Hart's height. And by the way, I didn't like it when Hart said it; that's not revisionist history. It made me cringe at the time, and it still makes me cringe. Just play the game and let the scoreboard talk for you.
But the comments about Harbaugh were dumb. Hart was older then. To say Harbaugh "isn't a Michigan Man" because he was questioning Michigan's academic standards was goofy. Credit to Harbaugh for overcoming that nonsense and being able to develop a working relationship, but I'm not sure I could have let bygones be bygones. I mean, it's one thing to forgive someone mentally...but it's another thing to put them in a prime position to undermine you if they get a chance. I'm not sure I could have trusted Hart after that.
I have no problem with most of these exchanges. Harbaugh called out academic integrity -- he didn't have to go at his alma mater but he did and he was right. Hart defended it. I'm good with both of those guys.
DeleteHart talked trash about MSU and it was funny. It was totally unnecessary but also harmless. I'm sure Lloyd had something to say after that LOL.
The guy that is off here is Dantonio. You're engaged in a trash-talking session with a kid 20 years younger than you. You're the damn head coach! Act like it. Ryan Day talking crap with Lou Holtz levels of class.
Stop it Thunder, Gil was a RB at Fresno!
DeleteSay what you will about Urban, I'm likely to agree with you, but that guy's teams could run the football.
ReplyDeleteRoanman
Always! It's wild that Day just totally let that element drop from his offense but I guess he was high on his own supply.
DeleteNow Day's busy trying to fix his oversight. Chip Kelly has a track record and resume to do it -- but not on Urban Meyer's level. Theres some Rich Rod potential here where he might be past his expiration date as an Xs and Os asset.
Day wants guys who can sit in the pocket and deliver passes with accuracy. Meyer didn't care about his producing NFL passers - he wanted college QBs who could find open guys and be able and willing to run for a first down. He wanted his QB to be tough and RB to be fast.
Alex Orji/Don Edwards is a Meyer QB/RB duo and Day wouldn't be caught dead with Orji as his QB. Orji would be be playing LB or RB for Day.
Even without Harbaugh/Meyer on the marquee, this rivalry just keeps getting spicier and I love it.
"I think he understands ball security, pass protection, mental and physical toughness, reading defenses, etc."
ReplyDeleteNailed it! This is exactly the stuff that Fred Jackson emphasized through his long tenure at Michigan, including coaching Hart. Running is running and RBs are going to do a lot of that in HS but they aren't necessarily dealing with NFL-sized athletes trying to rip the ball out of their hands or blow them up on a blitz like they are in college.
I think Hart did an OK job as RB coach but guys like Corum, Haskins, and Charbonnet were guys he inherited when stepping into the job. Don? Sherrone and Jaybaugh were his primary recruiters. We'll see if Cabana, Hall, Marshall, Kaapana are players, but CJ Stokes was JAG. When your job is heavily based on your recruiting prowess, that's not much IMO. Hart supposedly helped with some other guys (like Grant) but compared to Fred Jackson (who was a recruiting powerhouse back in the 90s and 00s) there's not a lot of there there.
Wishing Hart the best but it seems like it's time to move on for everyone's best interest. I don't know what personnel stuff he's going through but it sounds like a legitimate issue the way that people around the program are reacting to it. I would hate to see him at OSU but that seems like a BS rumor.
Ok job? We have ran over OSU for 3 straight years. We have leaned heavily on our run game to close games out. I remember the early Harbaugh loses where UM could not get a first down at the end to close out games, specifically MSU (snap game) and Iowa on the road.
DeleteMike Hart got here and inherited the best RB room in the country. Evans went to the NFL and Charbonnet transferred because he knew he wasn't going to be able to get playing time behind Corum and Haskins.
DeleteYou can credit Hart if you want but I don't see him as more than 5% factor. Sherrone Moore built a moore award winning OL, the RB room was loaded, and Edwards (5 star talent, local kid, recruited by others) was on his way. So was JJ McCarthy. All of those are bigger factors than Hart, IMO.
I'm not so sure that Hart inherited the best RB room in the country. Georgia had Zamir White (4th round pick), James Cook (2nd), Kenny McIntosh (7th), Kendall Milton, and Daijun Edwards. The latter two just finished their careers and were good enough to be invited to the Combine. I'd say that's roughly on par with Haskins (4th), Charbonnet, Evans (6th), and Edwards/Corum, one of whom may be a 2nd round pick like Cook.
DeleteFair point Thunder. We'll see what they do in the NFL.
DeleteI'll amend to say "maybe the best RB room"
Be it 9 to 3 or 8 to 4, depending on your criteria, Alford has dominated Hart recruiting running backs, if what we're talking about is stars and rankings and such. If the conversation comes around to finished products, it gets much closer as Haskins and Corum very much outperformed OSU's running back room to my way of thinking. Everybody here knows that I think Hall has a real shot at special. I also like Cabana a lot more than some other people have. Breakaway speed is something that I have seen from behind, I appreciate it ... deeply. Be it about evaluation, or coaching it's hard not to like what Mike Hart got done during his tenure here, at Indiana too.
ReplyDeleteThe part of Holland comment that I found to be damning was the part about not helping out much in his territory and not being helpful at recruiting positions other than running back. I am never gonna come up with their names, but I am pretty certain that Alford brought in, or at minimum was helpful in bringing in at least two defensive tackles who have or are playing on Sunday. I wouldn't mind some stud kids from "The Muck" around here again, no matter what position they play. I truly loved every single one of the last batch.
Roanman
We have had the best rushing attack for three years running.
DeletePerformance beats potential every time, that is why we keep score, and my scorecard has it Hart 3, OSU guy zero.
I think from Moore's perspective it is tough to have a guy on your staff that thinks he deserves your job. Would have been an uneasy relationship.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure Alford will be an upgrade over Hart. How much his recruiting success is due to Ohio’s recruiting machine? Can he reel in the same 5 star RB recruits at Michigan? I doubt it. At a place like Michigan, I would prefer development over recruitment.
ReplyDelete1- I LOVED the little brother comment, but a little background:
ReplyDeleteThe comment had its roots to MSU's RB saying something along the lines that UM thinks MSU is their little brother and don't respect them. Hart just played off that.
2- Dantonio made the opening remark after Lloyd Carr and his band of bozo's lost to ap state at home, "Let us take a moment of silence" without provocation.
3- Harbaugh needed his clocked cleaned with his UM academic comments after taking the HC at Stanford. Whining he could not major in history and what not because of football demands. What a bitch.
I probably dislike Mark Dantonio more than any other coach. I have very little respect for him as a human being. So I don't have any qualms with anything bad that heads his way.
DeleteI'm going to disagree again with the Harbaugh thing. It was a fair comment from Jim. It wasn't Hart's place to say something like that. And even though I'm not a huge Hart fan, I would also dislike it if some other young pup insulted Hart's "Michigan Man" status if Hart comes along at some point and says something that challenges Michigan to hold itself to a higher standard.
These guys are great football players who put themselves through difficult mental, physical, and emotional trials to represent U of M. They're Michigan Men through and through.