Michigan Football: Could Cato June be a candidate for LB coach?
Just days before Michigan football was set to take the field for spring practices, linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary is leaving the coaching staff for a job at Tennessee.
It’s a bit a of surprise, especially since it’s coming just a few days before spring ball but this move shouldn’t come as a shock.
When new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald took the job, Jean-Mary essentially had to interview for his own job and that was after Michigan football went after an assistant from Florida to coach linebackers for U-M.
Interviewing for your own job is never fun and shortly after that, Jean-Mary talked with Urban Meyer about a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars, so this might be better for all sides.
The big question for Jim Harbaugh, Macdonald and Michigan is, who replaces Jean-Mary?
While we likely won’t have a legit list of candidates for a few days, depending on how quickly Harbaugh wants to act, one name that makes some sense is Cato June.
June is a former Michigan football player that was drafted by the Colts. He played linebacker in the NFL for seven seasons and played 89 total games before getting into coaching, where he has worked his way up from high school to the ranks of college at the UMass.
Not only did June have a stellar playing career for the Wolverines from 1999-02, but his NFL experience would also fit well with the new staff and he’s played both linebacker and safety in his career.
The Wolverines just hired another former player with NFL experience, Ron Bellamy, straight from the high school ranks where he was a head coach and June was a high school head coach before too.
He then went to Howard, where he coached running backs, safeties, outside linebackers and was the recruiting coordinator before going to UMass in 2020 to coach defensive ends.
Obviously, losing Jean-Mary will hurt. He was an experienced college coach with defensive coordinator on his resume. He also was a talented recruiter in Florida and Texas.
But June could be a potential fit. I have no idea if there’s any connection or interest from the current staff, but he has the NFL credentials and isn’t a stranger to recruiting.
He would also have ties in the DMV area which has been a focus for the Wolverines in recruiting and will likely continue to be.
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Certainly, there will be other candidates and Michigan doesn’t need to rush but June is one guy that would be a solid choice.