Michigan Football: Shaun Nua continues to impress D-line recruits

Shaun Nua was a bit of an unknown when Jim Harbaugh hired him as defensive line coach for Michigan football. But now, as a recruiter, he is making an impact.

With some assistant coaches, you never really know what you are getting until the guy is on your staff and that was probably the case with Michigan football coach Shaun Nua.

When head coach Jim Harbaugh hired Nua last spring, he had a solid resume, but little Power-5 experience. Most of his time was spent coaching at the Naval Academy, followed by one season at Arizona State.

For the guy that was replacing Greg Mattison, a long-time fixture in Ann Arbor and college football, the resume seemed a bit light. However, after seeing what Nua has been able to do both as a coach and recruiter, the hire was an obvious success.

Nua was instrumental in getting four-star defensive end Braiden McGregor to commit. McGregor is one of the top prospects in the state and one of the best defensive ends in the country and he’s a Wolverine in large part because of the relationship Nua was able to forge with him.

Now, Nua is working to do that with some other big-name recruits and this past weekend at the Michigan BBQ, it sounds like he made some progress.

One player that had good things to say about Nua was four-star defensive end from 2021 Aaron Armitage. The 6-foot-4 defensive end from Blairstown, New Jersey is ranked 142nd overall in his class and thanks to Nua, the Wolverines are a contender. Here’s what Armitage told the Michigan Insider ($):

"“He knows what he’s doing. We went over a couple drills with him and he’s knows what he’s doing. He’s a really good guy and I like him a lot. Yeah, I definitely liked working with him and wouldn’t mind playing for him. He’s a really great guy.”"

But Armitage wasn’t the only potential signee that said good things about Nua, as 2022 defensive lineman Alex VanSumeren also told the Michigan Insider ($) about the impression Nua made:

“It was great. He’s a great coach and he knows what he doing. We just click and makes things really good. I love Coach Nua’s coaching style. He’s always fired up and you just want to play for him. He’s the man!”

The Wolverines were also able to host elite defensive tackle Tywone Malone at the BBQ last weekend and while I haven’t seen any comments from him, he’s another guy that Nua will have the chance to recruit and for Michigan football, that’s a very positive thing.

It’s not clear if Nua will be able to develop players as well as Mattison has over the years, but as far as the recruiting goes, it’s no longer a concern.