Michigan Football: Wild week of coaching hires ends with announcement
It was a wild week when it comes to Michigan football and the hiring of its final coaching assistants. Finally, the Wolverines announced the staff Saturday.
For the second time this week, there was a surprise when it came to the hiring/departure of a Michigan football assistant.
The surprise earlier this week was when Anthony Campanile, a guy that Michigan football expected back on the staff, departed for Miami and the NFL. That was an unexpected move.
Yet, it was answered quickly with the hiring of Bob Shoop. That was widely reported and confirmed by an official announcement Saturday by the school via Wolverines Wire.
The Wolverines hired Shoop after he was the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State and could be to be a real asset. He had some high-ranking defenses with the Bulldogs. He was also a former secondary coach under Don Brown at UMass.
Michigan Wolverines Football
But in addition to Shoop, Michigan football also announced the addition of a new linebackers coach, Brian Jean-Mary, who was the defensive coordinator at South Florida and also a former linebackers coach at Texas under Charlie Strong.
Shoop was expected but Jean-Mary was a bit of a surprise. For one, he wasn’t really one anyone’s radar, while at the same time, many expected the Wolverines to hire Tenarius “Tank” Wright, assistant strength and conditioning coach with a football background.
He updated his Twitter account to say football coach and many assumed that meant he was replacing Campanile, along with some insider reports. But, the release from Michigan made it clear that Jean-Mary will be the new linebackers coach, which is a huge get, considering he was once ranked seventh in the 247 recruiting rankings at Texas.
Folks wanted a home-run recruiting hire and it seems like Jean-Mary could be that guy. He also has experience with different schemes and bringing in two, new defensive minds can’t be a bad thing.
Here’s what Harbaugh had to say about the hires from the release:
"“I am excited about the addition of Brian and Bob to our defensive coaching staff. Brian and Bob are well-respected, experienced coaches who represent great fits for the University of Michigan. Both coaches have experience coordinating some of the best defenses in the country, and their development of all-conference and future NFL players throughout their careers will benefit our program and student-athletes. Michigan Football looks forward to having Brian, Bob and their families join the University family.”"
Wright was doing some recruiting for Michigan football but maybe it was just on an interim basis. Or it’s possible he is being added to the staff is another way or as some type of analyst. The other announcement is that Jay Harbaugh will take over as special teams coach from Chris Partridge.