Michigan Football: Impact of the Coaching Carousel on Wolverines

As it does every year, the coaching carousel seems to spin faster and faster. While no coaches have been poached from the Michigan Football staff (yet), the moves made by Power-Five programs around the country over the past 72 hours will impact Michigan Football.

Let’s begin with a catalog of who has gone where, and where they came from.

First, it was Louisiana’s Billy Napier taking the job at Florida, replacing Dan Mullen.

Then, a very short time later, Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley took the Southern California job in a move that sent shockwaves through the college football landscape.

Finally, LSU reportedly replaced Ed Orgeron with longtime Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on Monday night.

It has been a wild 72 hours since the Wolverines took down the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon.

So, how can all of these head coaching changes, all in conferences not named the Big Ten, affect Michigan football?

Well, it really comes down to recruiting, the currency of college football.

Let’s dig into what each of these moves means for Michigan’s 2022 recruiting class.

Florida hires Billy Napier

This one doesn’t impact Michigan as much as the other two, but Ann Arbor could feel a reverberation or two coming from Gainesville.

With Napier’s Louisiana ties, and the potential for many of current Florida commits to bolt as the University is moving in a new direction, Napier might look to the Bayou to fill some of those spots.

Michigan has put an added emphasis on recruiting Louisiana this cycle, a philosophy that has been spearheaded by safeties coach Ron Bellamy.

Starting with Amorion Walker, a three-star wide receiver from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, currently a Notre Dame commit but heavily rumored to be a flip candidate to the Maize and Blue, Walker could be someone Napier looks to as an underrated prospect with high upside.

Walker has the ability to play both sides of the ball, and at 6-foot-4 he is a favorable matchup as both a receiver and defensive back.

With Notre Dame’s situation influx too, a lot of schools will come calling for his services, Florida should be no different.

Another Louisiana prospect who has ties to the Wolverines is Austin Ausberry, a defensive back from Baton Rouge who holds 100% of the crystal ball projections to LSU right now, but the addition of Brian Kelly could change that.

Ausberry is a four-star according to 247Sports and visited the Wolverines earlier this year for the Washington game after earning an offer in late July.

While he has yet to make an official visit to the Wolverines and looks to be headed for the SEC, Ausberry enjoyed his time in Ann Arbor and has said that distance would not impact his decision.

It also might be worth keeping an eye on Michigan football commits Damani Dent and Micah Pollard.

Both seem solid to the Wolverines, but a late push with a pitch to stay home and be a centerpiece in what is likely to be a weak class for the Gators could make the Michigan staff sweat these two out a little more than expected.