Michigan Football: 3 Things that must happen if Jim Harbaugh isn’t fired

If Jim is back, Don Brown has to go

Being overly loyal to Don Brown is something that ended up hurting Harbaugh and Michigan football because there is no way he should still be the defensive coordinator.

Going back to 2018, if Brown couldn’t figure out a way to slow down Ohio State with Rashan Gary, Chase Winovich, Devin Bush Jr., David Long, Lavert Hill, Khaleke Hudson Josh Uche and all that NFL talent, it’s probably not going to happen.

In 2016 and 2017, when he had his most success, he had tons of NFL talent too, with some of the guys mentioned above plus others like Jabrill Peppers, Taco Charlton, Maurice Hurst, Chris Wormley, Jourdan Lewis, the names really go on and on.

But after the Hoke guys mostly cycled through at defensive line, the defense struggled and Brown has never had much success with the guys he brought. Look at even Daxton Hill, a five-star recruit Brown landed who has made little impact in these past two years.

Losing Greg Mattison also really hurt and it’s clear that Shaun Nua just hasn’t been an adequate replacement. He hasn’t done a great job recruiting and then if you look at the development of Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith, two high-ranking defensive tackle recruits, you really have to question it.

The problem runs deeper than Brown and at this point, the Wolverines will probably end up just cleaning house at this point, so a new defensive coordinator can bring in his guys.

Obviously, Warde probably isn’t going to mandate that Jim hire a completely new staff, but changes have to be made and it starts with the defense.

If Wisconsin can build a solid defense, one that can compete against elite opponents, even if it doesn’t always shut them down, Michigan football can too. It’s time to stop accepting failure.