Michigan Football: Wolverines adding former player to key off-field role
If you thought that Michigan football was done with staff moves this offseason, think again, as Jim Harbaugh has added a former player for an important role off the field.
That newest member of the staff is Courtney Morgan, who according to Football Scoop, is leaving the Fresno State program to become the Wolverines director of player personnel.
That’s the job that Morgan held with Fresno State. He’s also worked at San Jose State and UCLA in similar roles. Now, he will get to do the same, just with Michigan football.
Morgan was an offensive lineman for Michigan football back in the early 2000s. He’s a California native and that’s why his move to the west coast made sense.
He was part of UCLA’s player development operation and then was at San Jose State for less than a year, according to Football Scoop, before he went to Fresno State to be in charge of their personnel.
Having a director of player personnel is something that’s becoming normal across college football and adding another body in the recruiting operation is a good move by Harbaugh.
Morgan has already proven to be very good at it, so it will be exciting to see what he can bring to Michigan football.
He played a role in San Jose State having its highest-rated recruiting class ever and according to this article from Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider ($), he has a keen eye for talent too.
Another hire with recruiting in mind
Every Michigan football fan knows the Wolverines need to do a better job on the recruiting trail if they are going to be able to compete with the elite programs.
That’s why you saw a lot of the hires made by Harbaugh in the offseason, done with recruiting in mind, such as bringing on Maurice Linguist as co-defensive coordinator or hiring Ron Bellamy, in part because of what he can do for in-state recruiting. The same goes for Mike Hart.
Ed Warinner was never a great recruiter. Neither was Mike Zordich. Both of those guys are now out, replaced by younger guys who are better on the trail.
Coaching and development matters, but recruiting elite talent matters more. That’s why I really like this move for Michigan.
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It should help the Wolverines expand on their connections in California, but more than that, it will put U-M on more level footing from a staff perspective with elite recruiting operations.