Tag: Greg Frey

Ex-Wolverine Coach Updates: Post-season 2022

During the season, I like to keep readers updated on what’s happening with former commits, players, and head coaches. But there’s not enough time – and it’s frankly not interesting enough – to keep up with all the former assistant coaches who are assistants elsewhere. So in the off-season, I like to do a little catching up on where former coaches are now. I am also including in this rundown a look at where some former Michigan players are now coaching, mostly in the college and professional ranks.

FORMER COACHES

Joe Bolden (Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Assistant, Tulsa): Bolden spent one year as OLB coach and special teams coordinator for the Nevada Wolfpack and is now in a similar role at Tulsa, though he’s only listed as a “defensive assistant” and special teams coordinator.

Don Brown (Head Coach, UMass): Brown went 1-11 in the first season of his second stint as the head coach at UMass.

Anthony Campanile (Linebackers Coach, Miami Dolphins): Campanile is heading into his fourth year as the Dolphins’ linebackers coach.

Ross Douglas (Assistant Wide Receivers Coach, New England Patriots): Douglas is going into his second year as an assistant wide receivers coach for the Patriots.

Hit the jump for more updates.

2021 Ex-Wolverine Updates: Coaches Post-Season Edition

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With all the news surrounding coaching movement in the off-season, there’s a lot to cover. First of all, though, I want to mention that former defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, who worked under Rich Rodriguez in 2009-2010, passed away from Alzheimer’s complications at the age of 70.

FORMER COACHES

Don Brown (Head Coach, UMass): UMass hired Brown to be its new head coach. This is actually his second stint as the head coach of the Minutemen; he was there from 2004-2008 and went 43-19, the best five-year record in school history. But that was when the program was in FCS (DI-AA), so this is a level up in competition.

Erik Campbell (Wide Receivers, Bowling Green State): Campbell finished up his third season as BGSU’s wide receivers coach.

Tony Dews (Running Backs, Tennessee Titans): Dews had been the running backs coach for the Titans since 2018.

Hit the jump for more.

Ex-Wolverine Updates: Coaches, Summer 2019

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I do Ex-Wolverine Updates throughout the season, but I generally don’t include former coaches. In this case I have listed every Michigan coach over the past twenty years that is still in the game (for example, I think Steve Szabo, Stan Parrish, Bobby Morrison, Greg Robinson, etc. are retired permanently). There’s no way to keep track of every former Michigan player toiling away as a high school assistant coach or D-III strength and conditioning guy, but if you have any additions to the list, please let me know. I’m sure I’ve missed a few guys who are coaching or graduate assistant-ing.

For more Ex-Wolverine news, check out these posts on transfers (LINK) and former commits (LINK).

Greg Frey, Ex-Wolverine

Greg Frey

Offensive tackles/tight ends coach Greg Frey is off to Florida State to be Willie Taggart’s offensive line coach. This isn’t a surprise at all, nor is it a disappointment. When Frey was hired at Michigan, many – including me – assumed Michigan would be changing its style to a more zone-oriented scheme. It was also thought that Michigan might go more up-tempo, since Frey has spent much of his career with Rich Rodriguez (at WVU and Michigan) and Kevin Wilson (at Indiana). Additionally, Frey has done a great job of coaching up offensive linemen in the past, including tall, lanky tight end/tackle types.

The zone stuff didn’t work, the up-tempo thing never materialized, and Michigan doesn’t have any tall, lanky tackles on the roster. Oddly, it’s slightly reminiscent of Rich Rodriguez hiring a 4-3 proponent in defensive coordinator Scott Shafer when the rest of the staff was geared toward a 3-3.

It sounds like Tim Drevno will also not return, so Michigan could be looking at an entirely new coaching crew on the offensive line.

Frey is from Clearwater, and he played at Florida State and was a national champion there in the early 1990s, so it’s understandable why he would want to return to his old stomping grounds. He also coached at South Florida before he moved on to WVU.

Greg Frey, Wolverine . . . again

Greg Frey (image via Twitter)

Indiana co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Greg Frey is now Michigan run game coordinator/offensive tackles/tight ends coach Greg Frey. As has been rumored for several days, the former Michigan coach (2008-2010) is returning to Ann Arbor.

Frey is from Clearwater, FL and went on to play college football at Florida State under Bobby Bowden from 1992-1996. He then coached at South Florida, where Kenyatta Jones was the first offensive lineman drafted from the school. He coached at West Virginia with Rich Rodriguez before being brought to Michigan. Since his last stint in Ann Arbor, he was co-OC/OL coach at Indiana, where he developed offensive guard Dan Feeney into an All-American and helped Jason Spriggs become a 2nd round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2016.

Let me repeat: He developed a 2nd round pick and an All-American. At Indiana. And those are two separate people, not just one.

Additionally, he helped to develop David Molk into a Rimington Award winner (though technically that came one year after Frey left), and he helped to recruit and develop Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield. The 2008 season was rather forgettable, but Michigan improved significantly in 2009 and 2010 with little in the way of experienced talent. (Lewan and Schofield redshirted as freshmen in 2009.) With a good deal less talent, Michigan had some decent offensive lines in those days that helped Denard Robinson run for oodles of yards and allowed him time to complete almost 63% of his passes.

With the arrival of Frey, Tim Drevno has responsibilities for the centers and guards. Jim Harbaugh used this setup previously at Stanford when he had a C/OG coach and an OT/TE coach. Frey has limited experience coaching tight ends, but they do often work in concert with the tackles on combo blocks, and some of the pass sets are similar. This also potentially creates a line of succession if Drevno leaves for a head coaching or coordinator job after next season.

On top of the day-to-day work with the team, Frey has been a solid recruiter and has ties to the state of Florida. I think this is a positive move for the program overall, and the mediocre offensive line has been holding Michigan back for the past couple seasons. Getting another set of eyes on the offensive line and maybe some more one-on-one tutelage or different ideas on how to run the ball might get the Wolverines going in a more positive direction.

As a result of hiring Frey, Jay Harbaugh will now move over to coach the running backs after Tyrone Wheatley left for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Harbaugh has little to no experience with running backs, but the same could be said for his previous role with the tight ends. In his two years at Michigan, the units that he’s been responsible for have produced a Mackey Award winner (Jake Butt) and a bunch of blocked kicks. While it’s not a sure thing that he continues to have success with the running backs, there’s no evidence that he will be holding the team back with the way he coaches the running backs.