Jeff Hafley may be a risk worth taking for Michigan Football
By Kyler Kregel
How Hafley would fit
Most importantly comes the question of how well Hafley would fit at Michigan. Most indications tend to suggest Hafley actually checks a lot of the boxes the Wolverines would be looking for. He has Big Ten experience at their archrival and knows the ins and outs of that program and its head coach quite well. He has experience coaching at an academically-challenging institution, an underrated quality given the stricter academic restrictions at Michigan preventing them from using tools like the Transfer Portal as effectively as others. And of course, Hafley is a smart, innovative coach who has really shown a lot of promise.
Another benefit is that Hafley and some of his assistants could fit well with Michigan’s current assistants. Josh Gattis could most certainly remain on as offensive coordinator, as Hafley does not currently have an offensive coordinator to bring with him after Cignetti Jr. left for Pittsburgh. With Mike Macdonald’s departure opening up a spot at defensive coordinator, Lukabu would fit in quite well to that open position.
And should Jim Harbaugh take any additional assistants with him to Minnesota, Hafley has plenty of ties at both the college and professional level to draw from to find competent replacements.
The drawbacks are clear though, which is that Hafley may not have the strongest on-field resume at this point with the 12-11 record. However, what has been clear is that Hafley has been setting a very strong foundation for the Golden Eagles, both in terms of finding and developing a star quarterback, improving the recruiting results for the program, and hiring a desirable coaching staff.
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Should Michigan choose to hire Hafley, it would almost surely be an extension of the belief that he is a rising star in the coaching industry, a tag that multiple people, including Ryan Day, have expressed. While he may not have the many years of head coaching experience that Matt Campbell or Bill O’Brien or Matt Rhule would bring, Hafley has a lot of potential and could be a very underrated fit for the Wolverines as they search for a new head football coach.