22Jan 2020
Jim Harbaugh’s Coaching Hires
Jim Harbaugh was hired at Michigan prior to the 2015 season. Here’s a look at how his coaching staff has filled out and progressed over the years.
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Jim Harbaugh was hired at Michigan prior to the 2015 season. Here’s a look at how his coaching staff has filled out and progressed over the years.
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Baltimore (MD) St. Frances offensive lineman Micah Mazzccua committed to Baylor and their new coach, Dave Aranda. According to a source, Baylor is not Michigan.
Mazzccua committed to Michigan in February 2019 (LINK) and I gave him a TTB Rating of 69. However, there were questions about whether he would ultimately end up in Michigan’s class. He tweeted after the early National Signing Day that he would be signing on February 5 . . . but he didn’t necessarily say that signature would be for Michigan.
Mazzccua played with running back Blake Corum and linebackers Osman Savage and Nikhai Hill-Green at St. Frances, all of whom signed with Michigan in December. He also joined Corum at the Under Armour All-American Game, but as I somewhat expected, Mazzccua did not start and looked just okay when he did play.
I expected Mazzccua to end up at guard at the next level, and I think the other linemen in Michigan’s 2020 class have more upside. The Wolverines are still pursuing the limited options still available to sign in February, and they are also looking at grad transfer options on the offensive line (LINK).
This departure from the 2020 recruiting class has been expected for a while. I have not included him in the 2020 Scholarship Count for several weeks (LINK), so this doesn’t change the outlook much; Michigan is currently sitting at 85 scholarship guys.
Mazzccua is the fifth player to rescind his commitment to Michigan in some way, shape, or form, joining RB Tim Baldwin (Indiana), WR Kalil Branham (Kentucky), QB J.D. Johnson (retired), and DT Denver Warren (undecided).
If you’re a Michigan/MGoBlog fan, you might have found yourself witnessing quite a dust-up on Twitter between Brian Cook, Ace Anbender, Ant Wright, and others. I’m going to say a few things about it, because this is the internet and it was built to express people’s opinions about anything and everything, right?
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In news that contradicts what many thought, Michigan is hiring Brian Jean-Mary to replace Anthony Campanile as linebackers coach (not MGoBlog guess Tank Wright, which I used to write my post yesterday).
Jean-Mary is a Florida native from Apopka (hello, Jeremy Gallon!) who played at Appalachian State. He has spent much of his career working with noted defensive guru Charlie Strong at Louisville, Texas, and South Florida. He was assistant head coach at Louisville, recruiting coordinator at Texas, and defensive coordinator at South Florida, so this is a guy with significant leadership experience.
He is also known as a solid recruiter. At Texas he recruited blue-chip prospects like 5-star player Malik Jefferson and top-100 prospects like Erick Fowler and Anthony Wheeler.
A lot of people were concerned about whether Michigan would find an ace recruiter to replace New Jersey native Chris Partridge. Michigan will have a tougher time having its pick of the litter from the states of Florida and Texas like it did in New Jersey, but there’s also more talent in Florida and Texas. It will be interesting to see how much Michigan’s recruiting strategy changes with Jean-Mary pulling some strings and using his connections.
NOTE: This series sort of tailed off when I got into the teens of the 2020 recruiting cycle, because not many of those kids are relevant to Michigan’s recruiting. But with the 2021 cycle in full swing, I’ll start at the top of the in-state rankings.
Name: Damon Payne
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 297 lbs.
High school: Belleville (MI) Belleville
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: 2021
Offers: Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, USC, Vanderbilt
Commitment: Undecided
Notes: 247 Composite 4-star, #5 DT, #31 overall, #1 in-state as of 1/18/20…Claims 5.47 forty…4.59 shuttle…28.9″ vertical
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