Tag: coaching changes

George Helow, Ex-Wolverine

As has been rumored for a couple weeks, Michigan linebackers coach George Helow has departed from the program. He will be replaced by Chris Partridge (LINK), the former co-defensive coordinator at Ole Miss.

Helow was hired prior to the 2021 season from Maryland. He was expected to coach safeties, but Ronald Bellamy (2021) and then Jay Harbaugh (2022) took the safety coaching position, while Helow coached the linebackers. The linebackers seemed to perform fairly well in 2021, when Josh Ross took a step forward from his terrible 2020 season, but injuries and inexperience led to just a mediocre year in 2022.

While Helow is a decent recruiter, Partridge is an excellent one. And Partridge also developed a reputation as a solid coach when he was in Ann Arbor working under defensive coordinator Don Brown. So this is an upgrade for Michigan.

As for where Helow might be headed next, he was a friend of former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who is now with the Baltimore Ravens. He has also spent time at Colorado State, Georgia, Florida State, and Alabama in the past, so with such a good resume, I’m guessing he will land on his feet somewhere.

Chris Partridge, Wolverine (again)

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.

Kirk Campbell, Wolverine

In the wake of quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss getting fired from Michigan for something having to do with computers, Michigan hired Kirk Campbell to be the quarterbacks coach. Campbell spent the 2022 season as an offensive analyst for the Wolverines.

Here’s a brief timeline of Campbell’s career:

2009-2010: WR/TE graduate assistant at West Virginia Wesleyan
2011: WR/TE coach at Tiffin
2012-2016: OC at Alderson-Broaddus
2017-2019: Offensive analyst at Penn State
2020-2021: OC/QB coach at Old Dominion
2022: Offensive analyst at Michigan

One of my former players played offense for Campbell in college and had great things to say about him, even going on to become a high school and college coach himself. (Not that Campbell was the sole reason for that, but at least he didn’t make this kid hate football.)

Overall, it’s tough to glean much from Campbell’s coaching career, considering he’s been an analyst and coaching at smaller schools. It says something that he was reportedly the #1 choice for starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy. It also helps that he has spent seven seasons as a play caller. Even though he likely won’t be calling plays on Saturdays in the Big House, he’s at least qualified to be coaching the quarterback position itself if he can understand how to install and implement an entire offense.

Quarterback coaches under Jim Harbaugh have included Jedd Fisch in 2015-2016 (now head coach at Arizona), Pep Hamilton in 2017-2018 (now offensive coordinator for Houston Texans), Ben McDaniels (now passing game coordinator for Houston Texans), and Weiss. There are mixed reviews for some of those guys, but considering everyone but Weiss has moved up in the world, it’s probably safe to say that Jim Harbaugh can be trusted to find talented quarterback coaches.

2022 Michigan Football Staff

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I lose track of what off-the-field staff members are where, when they’re hired, when they leave, etc. There’s so much movement that it can be hard to keep tabs on them all. So I decided to put them all in one post and update it whenever necessary.

ON FIELD FOOTBALL STAFF
Head coach: Jim Harbaugh*
Offensive coordinator/QB coach: Matt Weiss
Offensive coordinator/OL coach: Sherrone Moore
TE coach: Grant Newsome*#
RB coach: Mike Hart*
WR coach: Ron Bellamy*
Defensive coordinator: Jesse Minter#
Co-defensive coordinator/CB coach: Steve Clinkscale
DL coach: Mike Elston*#
LB coach: George Helow
S coach: Jay Harbaugh

OFF FIELD FOOTBALL STAFF
Associate head coach: Biff Poggi
Graduate assistant (QBs): Mimi Bolden-Morris#
Graduate assistant (LBs): LaTroy Lewis#
Graduate assistant (OLBs): Dylan Roney
Offensive analyst: Kirk Campbell
Offensive analyst: Jack Clark
Offensive analyst: Bret Ingalls#
Offensive analyst: Fred Jackson
Offensive analyst: John Morookian#
Defensive analyst: Garrett Cox
Defensive analyst: Doug Mallory*
Defensive analyst: Rick Minter#
Defensive analyst: Joe Staab
Special teams analyst: Bradford Banta
Special teams analyst: J.B. Brown

STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING STAFF
Director of Strength and Conditioning: Ben Herbert
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach: Sean Lockwood
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach: Ben Rabe
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach: Kiero Small
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach: Justin Tress

RECRUITING STAFF
Director of Player Personnel: Tom Gamble#
Assistant Director of Player Personnel: Denard Robinson*#
Director of Recruiting Operations: Albert Karschnia#
Director of On Campus Recruiting and Operations: Christina DeRuyter
Assistant Recruiting and Operations Director: Paige Shiver
Assistant Recruiting Coordinator: Jonathan Herd-Bond#
Director of Player Development: Chris Bryant*

*Former Michigan football player
#Hired following 2021 football season

Grant Newsome, Wolverine (again)

Former Michigan offensive tackle Grant Newsome has been named the new tight ends coach for the Wolverines, replacing Jay Harbaugh, who has moved to the defensive side of the ball.

I think this is my first time creating a second post for a guy whose recruitment I also covered. Newsome was an outstanding offensive tackle prospect in the 2015 class (here’s his commitment post). He played in five games as a freshman and then started the first five games at left tackle in 2016 before a brutal knee injury against Wisconsin ended his career. He attempted a comeback, but by 2018 he had retired from football and became a student assistant, working with the tight ends in 2018-2019. He then moved over to help Sherrone Moore with the offensive line in 2020-2021.

This is an internal hire that should pay off with a pretty seamless transition on the field. Newsome has worked with the tight ends and offensive line, and both of the former tight ends coaches – Moore and Jay Harbaugh – are still on the staff. So all that knowledge and experience is still contained within the team. Newsome is also widely well liked and should be a plus recruiter; he’s young, intelligent, affable, and loyal to the program.

I won’t make a separate post for the finalized staff, so here’s how it shakes out for 2022 unless other things change:

• HC: Jim Harbaugh
• Co-OC/QB: Matt Weiss
• RB: Mike Hart
• WR: Ron Bellamy
• TE: Grant Newsome
• Co-OC/OL: Sherrone Moore
• DC: Jesse Minter
• DL: Mike Elston
• LB: George Helow
• Co-DC/CB: Steve Clinkscale
• S: Jay Harbaugh