3 reasons Tony Alford is a home run hire for Michigan football

Michigan football stole Ohio State's running backs coach, Tony Alford, and here's why he's the perfect hire for the Wolverines to replace Mike Hart.

Sep 16, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day and running backs coach / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

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A bonus on the recruiting trail

Ohio State fans will say that Ryan Day was disappointed with Alford on the recruiting trail, although he landed a lot more five-star, top-100 talents than Mike Hart ever did. Part of that is coaching for Ohio State, but he's also landed players at 11 different positions from 11 states. The man will be a recruiting asset and he'll help fill the void left by Steve Clinkscale.

Clink was an exceptional recruiter. He also had strong ties to the state of Ohio. Michigan football lost that and Alford can fill that void. That can be part of his area and as Michigan football fans know, it's an important recruiting footprint for the Wolverines.

However, three running backs ranked in the top 200 overall (in 2025 and 2026) have said positive things about Alford and how Michigan football is on their radar now. It's been one day and I have a feeling that Alford is going to land some highly-ranked players in the coming recruiting cycles.

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