Michigan has relieved special teams coordinator J.B. Brown of his duties now that the season is complete.
If you're a regular reader, you know that I do not make a habit of calling for the jobs of Michigan coaches, but I mentioned this one halfway through the season.
Punter Tommy Doman went from averaging 44.3 yards/punt in 2023 (under Jay Harbaugh) to 42.6 in 2024 under Brown, and then Doman - who had a vise grip on Michigan's punting job - immediately ditched his home state program to head for Florida, where he averaged 44 yards/punt this year.
Michigan was #125 in kickoff return average (15.2 yards/return) in 2025.
Michigan was #126 in punt return average (3.8 yards/return) in 2025.
Placekicker Dominic Zvada was an All-American in 2024 and should have won the Groza Award after the team ranked #2 in field goal percentage, and by 2025 he constituted the #108 field goal percentage (68.2%).
Gone were the days when Michigan was scheming up kickoff return touchdowns by Giles Jackson and A.J. Henning and Jehu Chesson. Gone were the days when Michigan ran a fake punt from Michael Barrett to Dax Hill or blocked one or two punts per year.
For the past two seasons, the only excitement came from Zvada making almost all his field goals in 2024 . . . and then being jaw-droppingly inconsistent in 2025.
I have no idea who will replace Brown, but Michigan quite literally can't really do much worse with whomever they hire to coach special teams for 2026.
Schematics aside, he should be gone for keeping Semaj at Punt Return, and for the loose carriage of the ball by him (and Marsh). That's just fundamentals
ReplyDeletePotential concern: Bellamy, Esposito & Morgan are great recruiters. All coach positions that either didn't produce or got cooked by even mediocre competition
Do we lose anyone else? Wink maybe?
I mean, I think odds are that there are some other changes. With 10+ position coaches, I think losing just one would be a surprise. I wouldn't be surprised if Wink Martindale doesn't come back.
DeletePUT A WR/RB IN AT RETURNER AGAIN
ReplyDeleteI'm tired of the walk-on receivers being in the mix like Caden Kolesar, Jake Thaw, and Joe Taylor. This is Michigan fergodsakes. A school that had Desmond Howard and Jabrill Peppers and Charles Woodson. You don't have to put a senior Blake Corum back there, but yeesh, at least play a scholarship player with some juice.
DeleteAccording to MGoBlue, the current coaching roster is:
ReplyDeleteSherrone Moore - Head Coach
Chip Lindsey - Offensive Coordinator
Wink Martindale - Defensive Coordinator
Tony Alford - Running Backs
Ron Bellamy - Wide Receivers
Steve Casula - Tight Ends
Lou Esposito - Defensive Line
Brian Jean-Mary - Linebackers
LeMar Morgan - Defensive Backs
Grant Newsome - Offensive Line
[J.B. Brown] - Special Teams (vacated)
Question 1 -- if memory serves, there's a limit to how many official "coaches" one can have. I've seen various ways to swizzle the allocation of duties to slots. Do you think Michigan's allocation is optimal, or would you do it differently?
Question 2 -- there's a slew of "assistant" coaches, and I think that's a gray area where there's no limit. I don't know the rules regarding these guys. I know Juan Castillo came in to assist Newsome at OL. Related to Question 1 -- where would you augment your official coaches with assistants/analysts to better the mix?