Michigan Football: Could Steve Clinkscale actually be an upgrade?
Michigan football has hired Steve Clinkscale from Kentucky to take over for Maurice Linguist and here’s why it could actually be an upgrade.
On Friday, Michigan football lost assistant coach Maurice Linguist to Buffalo, and now, just a few days later, Jim Harbaugh has hired his replacement.
While there have been rumblings about the Wolverines hiring Steve Clinkscale of Kentucky for days, it’s now official according to Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider.
The move is an important one for the Wolverines, who were taking some hits on the recruiting trail following the departure of Linguist, even though he left for a head coaching job and not any sort of stability concerns.
It still added to that narrative. The departure of Linguist also seemed to put in jeopardy the commitment of five-star cornerback Will Johnson. Yet, Johnson and his father are close to Clink and this move should keep Johnson in the fold.
Given the circumstances, #Michigan couldn't have done any better in this situation making a quick/great hire in Steve Clinksdale.
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) May 11, 2021
And you thought in-state recruiting was strong with the recent additions with @MHart2032 and @19Bellamy, this makes it 10x even stronger...
Linguist may have the reputation as an ace recruiter, but Clink is a solid recruiter too. He helped Kentucky land Justin Rogers, the top player out of the state of Michigan a couple of years ago, and as an Ohio native, he has strong ties in Michigan and Ohio, the two most important states recruiting-wise for the Wolverines, at least historically.
Could Clink be an upgrade?
You can make a case that Clink will be a better long-term fit for Michigan football than Linguist. He’s taking on the role of passing-game coordinator on defense, which is the same job he had at Kentucky.
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Under his direction, the Wildcats have finished in the top four in the SEC in pass defense in each of the past four seasons. He’s also had a bunch of guys from the secondary go to the NFL.
Other candidates such as Chris Hawkins gained some traction but Clink was always the No. 1 target. And with his on-field coaching abilities, as well as his ability to recruit, it’s a great hire.
It could also pay dividends right away on the recruiting trail according to Webb:
"“In the current cycle, he was the first coach to offer top Michigan cornerback target Myles Pollard, had a commitment from recent Michigan offer recipient Jeremiah Caldwell, and was the lead recruiter for Georgia commit Marquis Groves-Killebrew who is slated to visit Michigan next month.”"
Michigan fans were losing it a few days ago, but give credit to Harbaugh here. He had a sudden opening, in May, and managed to hire someone who might be better in the long run.