Michigan Football: 3 reasons to love hire of Steve Clinkscale

Michigan football was dealt a rough hand with the loss of Maurice Linguist to Buffalo, but Jim Harbaugh made a great hire in Steve Clinkscale, and here’s why you should love it.

Now that the dust has settled and Michigan football has officially hired Steve Clinkscale, it’s time to really look at the impact he’s going to have on the program.

It’s a huge addition for the Wolverines though, especially under the circumstances. No one expected the Buffalo job to come open as it did, at least when Linguist was hired, so his departure could hardly be anticipated.

But Jim Harbaugh took it in stride. He acted quickly and legitimately landed the No. 1 target for that coaching position. There were some other quality candidates, yet no one checked all the boxes the way Clinkscale does, and here are three reasons why it will be a home run for U-M.

Getting back into Ohio

When Don Brown was let go, I was pounding the table for a defensive hire with ties to the state of Ohio. It didn’t happen the first time around, but in the end, the Wolverines got an Ohio guy in Clink, who is from Youngstown.

For Michigan football, that could be huge going forward as the Wolverines try to re-establish themselves in the state. Clink will certainly help with that and even at Kentucky, he’s done a heck of a job recruiting the midwest.

He’s certainly been a thorn in the side of Michigan and Michigan State. Clink was huge in Kentucky getting Justin Rogers a couple of years ago and just landed a commitment from 2022 Belleville linebacker Jeremiah Caldwell, who was just offered by the Wolverines.

Fans have been clamoring for Michigan to do a better job of in-state recruiting and the addition of Clink is only going to improve that.

Immediate help for the 2022 class

Not only is Clink going to help Michigan football solidify its recruiting long-term in Michigan and Ohio, but he’s also going to still have a presence in the south.

Clink has made inroads in the state of Tennessee, where Michigan has also been making a strong push recently. It was led in part by Linguist, who landed Kody Jones in the state and was looking to grab another in three-star cornerback Myles Pollard.

While Michigan was certainly in the mix for Pollard, along with Oklahoma and Kentucky (thanks to Clink), his addition to the staff is only going to help in that recruitment and could even put U-M over the top.

Pollard tagged Clink in a tweet about his official visit to Michigan and the guys over the Michigan Insider, in their recent podcast, broke down what it means for Pollard and others.

The move was also endorsed by five-star cornerback commitment, Will Johnson who is the cornerstone of Michigan’s 2022 class. Johnson and his family have close ties to Clink, plus Clink is from the same hometown as Domani Jackson’s dad, so it’s possible he could help there too.

A bunch of other recruits such as in-state targets Deone Walker and Jaden Mangham also had really good things to say about it. Raheem Anderson, an in-state signee from Detroit Cass Tech in the class of 2021, called the move a “game changer.”

Clink could give Michigan a chance at a couple of flips in Kentucky’s current class, with Caldwell probably being the best target. However, his biggest impact will be finishing the work Linguist started of recruiting an elite DB class in 2022.

Keeping Johnson in the fold was the first step in the process, now let’s see if Clink can land Pollard and some other top targets at the position to close things out.

Coaching/development

Clink is an exceptional recruiter and that’s going to be one of his strengths, but he’s also a really good coach on the field.

Not only was Clink part of a Kentucky staff that was building a solid program, but with him as defensive passing-game coordinator, the Wildcats have finished in the top four in the SEC in pass defense four years in a row.

Kentucky also had four defensive backs drafted from 2019-2021 including Kelvin Joseph, who was selected in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft.

That shows Clink can develop talent. He also knows X’s and O’s. He was a defensive coordinator at Cincinatti and will add someone to the staff who has called a defense during a game.

Before his hire, no one on staff had done that before. Mike Macdonald, the new DC, was linebackers coach previously in Baltimore. So that experience will come in handy and there’s no doubt, Clink should help upgrade the pass defense, which was awful last season.

He’s also going to shore up some weaknesses on the recruiting trail and at the end of the day, Michigan football won’t miss a beat going from Linguist to Clink.