Michigan Football: More strong options for defensive coordinator
Here are two other options to consider for Michigan football at defensive coordinator in Charlie Strong and Jim Leavitt.
One positive thing about Michigan football needing a new defensive coordinator is that there are no shortage of quality candidates right now.
Whether it’s up-and-coming guys looking for their first shot at running their own defense or former head coaches looking for another shot at building their resume, Jim Harbaugh has some really good options as long as he agrees to an extension relatively soon.
No top-flight defensive coordinator is going to come to coach at Michigan until Harbaugh’s deal is done, even though the pay will be good.
At any rate, when the news of Don Brown’s dismissal came out earlier this week, I came up with a list of four candidates for defensive coordinator.
But thinking about it, two other names probably should have made the list and one is Charlie Strong, who Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider ($) reported a couple of days ago is viable candidate for the job.
It still seems very early in the process but Strong makes a lot of sense and even though I wasn’t all that high on him previously, there are certainly some reasons in favor of hiring him.
He’s run defenses at big-time programs and he has been known as a good recruiter throughout his career. Things didn’t work out at Texas and South Florida but even at USF, he had two winning seasons in three years.
This past season, he worked as analyst under Nick Saban and hopefully, he picked up a few things there too. Another positive for him is his relationship with Brian Jean-Mary.
Jean-Mary coached under Strong at Louisville, Texas and South Florida. He coached linebackers for him and then went with Strong to be the defensive coordinator at USF.
Jean-Mary could kind of be the holdover between the current staff and the new one on defense and maybe he could even be co-DC. Who knows but that previous working relationship would seem to be a plus and Jean-Mary has already proven to be a solid recruiter at U-M.
And regardless of the connection with Jean-Mary, Strong would be a top candidate and even if he wants to get back into a head-coaching job, he would need to turn Michigan’s defense around first and he might just be the guy to do it.
Jim Leavitt
Leavitt is a name that I’ll admit I didn’t think of right away, but he makes a ton of sense as a candidate. Harbaugh hired Leavitt while he was with the 49ers after he was fired from South Florida.
The past instance at USF didn’t stop him from being hired as Colorado defensive coordinator and then later at Florida Atlantic where he currently works.
Leavitt is a tough guy sort of like Don Brown and he’s been coaching for a long time, both in college and at the NFL level.
He would do a solid job and at this point in his career, he would probably be content being the head coach of a defense for the foreseeable future, especially at a place like Michigan with Harbaugh.
Next. Xmas wish list for Michigan football. dark
He has lots of ties to Florida in terms of recruiting and the more I think about it, the more I hope he is considered if some of the big names such as Derek Mason and Will Muschamp decide to take jobs in the SEC.