The Changes are Coming to the Michigan Football Coaching Staff

I watched the Citrus Bowl yesterday, obviously, and it turned out how I expected. Michigan put up a fight, they even had a lead early into the fourth quarter, but then the ugliness reared its head and they got their butts kicked. It was a fitting end to a pretty mediocre year playing a bunch of young kids.

On Monday I wrote about my cautious optimism pertaining to the Kyle Whittingham hire, and his interview during the third quarter only had me more on board. And now today he is hiring his staff and picking the guys he wants to work with. This staff is going to look very different next season, and I think that is the way it should be so we can all cleanse ourselves from the prior staff and all that came with it. Look, I'm as stoked as anyone that Jim Harbaugh brought a national title back to Michigan and made this football team relevant again, but the stink after he left for the NFL was too much and this football program needed an overhaul. To this point it has been reported that Whittingham has hired a new offensive coordinator, new QB coach, new receivers coach and new tight ends coach. It has also been reported that Tony Alford is staying on as the running backs coach, much to my delight. This means Ron Bellamy is out as receivers coach. That also means that there will most likely be some transfers, but hopefully the new guy can convince some to stay. Bellamy was an excellent recruiter, but maybe not the best coach. He could get some big names in, but they never fully developed. I'm curious to see what Andrew Marsh does, he has all the talent in the world, but other than him, maybe a new wideout coach was needed. There hasn't been any news on Grant Newsome yet, who I feel like is coming into his own as a coach. He could also recruit, but he was getting better at coaching as well. If they keep him, great. If not, he will catch on somewhere very soon and be very successful.  Other than Newsome and Bellamy, I won't miss too many of the coaches walking out the door. In my mind, as far as offensive coaches went, Alford was the one they needed to keep from this current staff and it looks like they have. That is a good thing.

I think the defensive staff is going to look different too. Wink Martindale is most likely out since Michigan has reportedly hired BYU's defensive coordinator to the same role at Michigan. This was a needed move. I like Martindale but he was never a long term solution. He has always had his eyes on the pros. BYU's d coordinator has a solid reputation and he and Whittingham have a solid relationship. I am curious to see if they keep Steve Casula and/or Lamar Morgan. Those guys have done a solid job in two short years and Morgan is an elite recruiter. I know that Zeke Berry had a rough day yesterday, but he is good. Jyaire Hill is very good, Shamari Earls is young and full of potential, Brandyn Hillman is a heavy hitter and they have some up and coming defensive backs that Morgan recruited and is currently coaching. And regardless of how much pressure they do or don't get, the defensive line is solid and can stop the run. Steve Casula has done a fine job coaching them and he is also a solid recruiter. I don't think Whittingham will retain Brian Jean Mary, and while he will be a little missed by me, it shouldn't be too much of a burden to let him go. I don't know what the new defensive coordinator is looking for for his new staff, but if I was told I could only keep one coach on that side of the ball I think I'd go with Morgan. Casula would be a bummer to see go, but Morgan is younger and has more potential in my opinion as a future defensive coordinator and even a head coach.

I expected there to be a ton of changes after the game yesterday and that is exactly what is happening. It may be jarring to see all the former coaches looking for new jobs, but this was always going to be the case the moment they hired Kyle Whittingham. And I trust Whittingham knows what he is doing. He has a ton of experience coaching the college game and he knows how to evaluate upcoming talent in the coaching ranks.

I'm excited/interested to see how this staff fully comes together and how they do in their first season. But, I'm also glad that they're getting rid of all the nonsense that they inherited and I'm ready for this new era of Michigan football. Always and forever, Go Blue. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Kyle Whittingham is Who Michigan Football Needs

Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a nice holiday and have a happy new year. I had a nice relaxing week off, but I'm back and I have some stuff I want to talk about this week. There was a bunch of stuff I read or heard about last week that I feel I need to tell you all my opinions on. And it wouldn't be me if I didn't start the week talking about Michigan football hiring Kyle Whittingham as their 22nd head coach.

This is a big deal. A few weeks back I wrote about the whole Sherrone Moore fallout and what I wanted Michigan football to do moving forward. I was, and still kind of am, all about starting over. This football program needs a reset. Even the guys involved with the team have said as much. I saw Biff Poggi's press conference early in the week and he pretty much said that they need a full reset verbatim. And he has been with the program since Jim Harbaugh was hired.

Jim Harbaugh had his ups and downs, but he did bring a national title back to Ann Arbor and I will be forever grateful. The four seasons after the COVID shortened 2020 season were an absolute joy to watch and made me as happy as I have been since becoming a fan over 40 years ago. But you could see the issues piling up and it was starting to look worse and worse everyday. Then the Sherrone Moore stuff came to light and it was as bad as it could get. I hope Moore is getting the help he desperately needs, but it was clear that he was not suited for the job. It was far too much for him and it all came crumbling down faster than any of us expected.

When Moore was let go, I was concerned and confused. The timing was bad. The situation was messed up beyond belief. The whole story has become a soap opera that seems to get juicier with each new story that comes out. Like I said before, Michigan needed a massive shift in focus and to bring in a coach that could facilitate such a move. I wanted Kalen DeBoer, but Alabama won their playoff game and that stopped any momentum that Michigan may have had in hiring him. I quickly moved on to Kenny Dillingham. After DeBoer was off the table I figured they should go with a young coach who has an offensive background. It seems they kicked the tires on Dillingham, but never offered and Arizona State gave him an extension, taking him off the board. At this point, even though I wanted a change, I thought they were going to give the job to Biff Poggi, and I talked myself into that hire. I thought he could keep the roster mostly intact, the players seemed to like him, he was the first person who said the program needed a massive overhaul and I like him. But he does not have the best rep as a head coach. I understand that Charlotte is a much different level of college football than Michigan, but those Charlotte teams that Poggi was the head coach for were very bad. They did not put a good product on the field. But I thought maybe he could just be the CEO of the Michigan football program, and hire the proper people to run the team for him. It seemed to be trending towards Poggi, but something must have happened during one of his many interviews that turned the people hiring off. I don't know what he said or did, but he was suddenly not even mentioned as an option. This was when I kind of panicked. At this point I thought they were going to hire Eli Drinkwitz. No disrespect to Drinkwitz, but he would have been an awful option. I then read that Jedd Fisch was considered a "gettable" option, and while he has an offensive background, he didn't feel like a much better option than Drinkwitz, and he is from the Harbaugh coaching tree.

Then Kyle Whittingham's name started to pop up more and more. I have always respected Whittingham. His teams at Utah were pretty much always competitive. He seemed to run a clean program. He seems to only really care about college football. He has always had good defenses, and in the 2020's, the Utah offense has been explosive from time to time. He seems quiet and calm and confident. I remember when Harbaugh was in his first year at Michigan they opened the season at Utah, and the Utes beat them in a close, hard fought battle. I was frustrated, as I always am when Michigan doesn't win a game, but I came away impressed by how Utah equaled Michigan's toughness. They didn't play scared, and that was impressive to see. And he has quietly won a ton of games, had Utah in playoff conversations, went undefeated in 2008 and won, I believe, the Rose Bowl that year. He made Utah a perennial top 25 team and a thorn in every opponent's side. I have also heard people say that Utah was the Pac 12 and Big 12's Michigan equivalent. So, as his name came up more and more, he did tell Utah that he was stepping away to pursue other options, so I started to get on board. He felt like a guy who could come in and change the culture in a short time and get this team back to what made it awesome. He likes to run the ball and play defense, which is great, but he has also shown that he can adapt to playing modern offense in current college football. He has hired younger coordinators who understand that you have to adjust and adapt to stay relevant in modern college football. He has shown a willingness to let his coaches coach and to not be a dictator of his program. At his introductory press conference he said and did all the right things, but it never felt phony or forced. He reminded me of a guy who has been coaching college football for 30 plus years and understands what it takes to win, which is exactly who Kyle Whittingham is. I have also read a bunch of people who have coached or are currently coaching college football, and they all have nothing but glowing compliments for Kyle Whittingham. It seems like he is liked by almost everyone in the college football world. And after that press conference, I'm all in.

Maybe it is just because of all the craziness currently with Michigan football, or me looking at this hire with rose colored glasses, but I'm moving ahead with cautious optimism. Whittingham seems like the right guy to turn this team around. I feel like he can retain some important pieces. I do expect some guys to hit the portal, but if he can keep the right guys, he should do fine in year one. I am on board and happy about this hire. Now I'm ready to see who he hires for his staff, if he keeps anyone and how they come out in the Citrus Bowl on Wednesday. I'm ready for the Kyle Whittingham era at Michigan, and I am happy that this wild coaching search seems to have turned out okay for Michigan. Always and forever, Go Blue. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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