Michigan Football: Conflicting reports about hiring of Florida assistant

There were reports that Michigan football had hired Florida assistant Christian Robinson but now there is another report that says he’s staying with the Gators. 

Jim Harbaugh is still working on finalizing his coaching staff with Michigan football and it looks like he might have more work to do than we thought.

That’s because after a report that Harbaugh had hired linebackers coach Christian Robinson from Florida, there is a conflicting report from Rivals that Robinson is staying with the Gators.

This comes from Corey Bender of Gators Territory who reported that Robinson is telling recruits that he’s staying with the Gators and not taking the job with Michigan football.

Football Scoop first reported the news and it was seemingly confirmed by Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider ($) but it’s possible something changed since then or maybe the Gators made a strong effort to keep him.

What does it mean if Robinson stays with Florida?

At this point, it’s hard to know which report is true and we will surely be getting more information soon. If Robinson doesn’t take the job, it seems like that will make room for Brian Jean-Mary to stay on staff coaching linebackers.

However, Robinson has a relationship with Mike Macdonald, who is expected to be named defensive coordinator and also has a strong reputation as a recruiter and technician.

Those are the kinds of coaches the Wolverines need on staff because the defense just wasn’t fundamentally sound last season.

While it’s frustrating with all the back and forth about assistant coaches, we should get some clarity soon now that the Baltimore Ravens have been eliminated from the playoffs.

Macdonald is the Ravens linebackers coach right now and basically, the Wolverines were waiting for the season to come to an end for him to take over. Now, he can sign his deal, finalize the staff and get to work recruiting, especially on the transfer portal.

The Ravens loss could also mean the addition of Jesse Minter, who is coaching in the secondary for the Ravens. He could be the new cornerbacks coach.

It sounds like Shaun Nua will be returning and he’s a guy that’s been recruiting and active throughout his time with Harbaugh’s contract up in the air.

So if Macdonald coached linebackers along with Jean-Mary, then assuming you have Nua (D-line) and Minter (cornerbacks) that would leave the safeties job open.

But a lot of this depends on Robinson, so it will be interesting to see what happens there, but very soon, we should get an announcement on Macdonald and that should get the ball rolling.