Former Ole Miss co-defensive coordinator Chris Partridge has been officially re-hired by the first FBS program to give him a job, and that’s the Michigan Wolverines.
Partridge was the head coach at Paramus (NJ) Catholic for five years, a school that sent the likes of Jabrill Peppers, Rashan Gary, and Juwann Bushell-Beatty to Michigan. He was then hired in a recruiting role in 2015 before becoming an on-field coach from 2016-2019, working with the safeties, linebackers, and special teams. He was hired away by Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss to be the co-defensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021, but after being let go by the Rebels after the 2022 season, he was in search of a new job.
Partridge’s next role at Michigan is undetermined as of yet . . . or at least Michigan hasn’t released their plans for him. He was announced on Twitter as having joined Michigan’s staff, and while that could be at an analyst position, rumblings suggest that he will be replacing a current coach on the staff. Since he has only ever coached defense, most likely there will be movement on the defensive side of the ball.
Partridge’s most noteworthy asset is probably his recruiting prowess. While at Michigan, he was the primary recruiter for three 5-star players (Gary, Chris Hinton, and Aubrey Solomon) and seventeen 4-star guys (too many to list). Michigan’s recruiting efforts in New Jersey have tailed off some since he left, but I would imagine some of those connections will be renewed now that Partridge is back on the staff.
REASON FOR THE GRADE: Michigan needed to restock the tight end position in the class of 2023 after suffering heavy losses from the group following the 2022 season. Not only did Erick All (Iowa) and Louis Hansen (UConn) transfer, but second string tight end Luke Schoonmaker departed for the NFL, blocking tight end Joel Honigford ran out of eligibility, and a decent walk-on in Carter Selzer also graduated. All, Schoonmaker, and Honigford all played a ton. Tight end is a position where players typically need at least one season of strength and conditioning development before being relevant, so it’s important to keep a steady string of players coming.
Unfortunately, the Wolverines whiffed on most of their top targets, which is surprising considering how often tight ends are used in Michigan’s offense. Tonielli (4-star, #20 TE, #411 overall) was the tenth highest ranked guy at the position that Michigan offered, and Marshall would be the thirteenth highest ranked offeree if he were listed as a tight end (he’s an “athlete” according to the 247 Composite). Tonielli is really a big receiver being converted to tight end, and Marshall does not look like much of a difference maker when it comes to his athleticism.
Overall, Michigan supplemented its numbers decently at the position, but the talent level drops off. All and Schoonmaker are both NFL-caliber tight ends and Hansen was a well regarded 4-star recruit, though he hadn’t made an impact on the field during his first two seasons; Marshall is not on their level as an athlete, and Tonielli has good upside even if he doesn’t have the body and skills to play immediately. Michigan did take a strong swing at 5-star Nyckoles Harbor, but ultimately, NIL drove Harbor to South Carolina. Massachusetts product Andrew Rappleyea was committed to the Wolverines at one point, but he flipped to Penn State.
Mark Fletcher – Fort Lauderdale (FL) American Heritage: Miami
Justice Haynes – Buford (GA) Buford: Alabama
Sedrick Irvin, Jr. – Miami (FL) Columbus: Stanford
Kaleb Jackson – Baton Rouge (LA) Liberty: LSU
Christopher Johnson – Fort Lauderdale (FL) Dillard: Miami
Jaquez Keys – Ironton (OH) Ironton: Wake Forest
Jayden Limar – Lake Stevens (WA) Lake Stevens: Oregon
London Montgomery – Scranton (PA) Prep: Penn State
Samuel Singleton, Jr. – Orange Park (FL) Fleming Island: Florida State
Daylan Smothers – Charlotte (NC) West: Oklahoma
Dijon Stanley – Granada Hills (CA) Granada Hills: Utah
Darius Taylor – Walled Lake (MI) Western: Minnesota
Treyaun Webb – Jacksonville (FL) Trinity: Florida
Richard Young – Lehigh Acres (FL) Lehigh: Alabama
GRADE: B+
REASON FOR THE GRADE: Michigan needed at least one running back in the class of 2023 to bump up its scholarship backs from four to five. As we saw this past season, four scholarship running backs leaves Michigan precariously thin at the position. When Blake Corum hurt his knee and backup Donovan Edwards hurt his hand, Michigan was stuck with redshirt freshman Tavierre Dunlap, true freshman C.J. Stokes, position switchers, and walk-ons. That led to an array of plays in which more talented backs would have made Michigan’s season a little easier, such as walk-on Isaiah Gash’s dropped pass against Illinois and converted linebacker Kalel Mullings’s fumble against TCU. Michigan should have at least five scholarship backs on its roster at all times.
So Michigan needed at least one, and then a lot of people expected Blake Corum to leave for the NFL after a highly productive season, bumping up the need to two. Indeed, Michigan landed speedster Cole Cabana (4-star, #10 RB, #161 overall), who might be more of a scat back who can split out wide. And they also took a fairly early commitment from Benjamin Hall (3-star, #55 RB, #781 overall). Hall is the bigger question mark of the two, not only because of his lower ranking, but also because he didn’t start for most of his senior season. Hall is a bigger back (5’10”, 225 lbs.) and lacks great speed. One might expect to see him be a bruising downhill runner, but he bounces a lot of his runs outside and tries to reverse field, which he will not have the speed to do in college.
Michigan tried to get in late on in-state Minnesota commit Darius Taylor, but it was too late to get much movement there. So obviously the coaching staff wanted a third back – or perhaps to replace Hall in the class – but that didn’t happen. That not only solidifies my confidence that Michigan wanted at least two backs, but it makes me question how much confidence they have in the guys they brought in.
Right now the Wolverines are in a good position with Corum, Edwards, Dunlap, and Stokes all returning (for now), plus Cabana and Hall entering the program. Even if someone like Dunlap or Stokes transfers following the spring, Michigan would still have five scholarship guys on the roster.
Daniel Cruz – OG – North Richland Hills (TX) Richland: Cruz is a 6’3″, 295-pounder who has been offered by Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, and Texas A&M, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #18 interior offensive lineman, and #333 overall.
Xavier Filsaime – S – McKinney (TX) McKinney: Filsaime is a 6’1″, 180 lb. safety with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M, among others. He’s a legitimate speedster with a 10.52 time in the 100 meters.
The following depth chart has removed these listed players from the depth chart due to various reasons, even though some could return with a fifth year or COVID year exception:
QB Jack Tuttle (graduation)
RB Blake Corum (graduation)
WR A.J. Henning (graduation)
WR Cornelius Johnson (graduation)
WR Roman Wilson (graduation)
OL Karsen Barnhart (graduation)
OL LaDarius Henderson (graduation)
OL Myles Hinton (graduation)
OL Trente Jones (graduation)
OL Trevor Keegan (graduation)
OL Drake Nugent (graduation)
DT Cam Goode (graduation)
LB Michael Barrett (graduation)
LB Kalel Mullings (graduation)
LB Joey Velazquez (graduation)
CB Jalen Perry (graduation)
CB Mike Sainristil (graduation)
S Quinten Johnson (graduation)
It also assumes that every currently rostered player and every currently committed prospect will be here in 2024, which is obviously not true.
