Joe Bolden, Defensive Coordinator (Southern Mississippi): Bolden finished his first season at Southern Miss as the special teams coordinator and then was promoted to defensive coordinator in December.
Adam Braithwaite, Safeties Coach (Cincinnati): Braithwaite finished his first season as the safeties coach for the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Anthony Campanile, Defensive Coordinator (Jacksonville Jaguars): Campanile is in his first season as an NFL defensive coordinator. The Jaguars are 13-4 and in the playoffs, and they finished the regular season #11 in yards allowed per game (303.6).
Redshirt junior Connor Jones is entering the transfer portal for his final year of eligibility.
Jones played in twelve games throughout his career, including a redshirt in 2022 when he played in just two games. Most of his appearances came on special teams. Listed at 6’6″ and 320 lbs. this season, he played in seven games on specials in 2025.
Here’s what I had to say about Jones when he committed in December 2020 (LINK):
I see a lineman who is somewhat lumbering. He has heavy feet and his base gets too narrow. His turnover is not ideal in the run game. There’s a saying that “pass pro isn’t passive,” and that’s something that comes to mind when watching Jones’s highlights. He’s too passive in his sets and does not punch well or, in general, show as much aggression as I would like. He talks about being a finisher, but I don’t see that on film.
Overall, Jones has good size, but I don’t see him being able to do much more than wall off a side and make someone run around him. His lack of athleticism makes him unlikely to be able to reach a C-gap player without help or do a whole lot to be able to climb to the second level. I think his upside is that of a Juwann Bushell-Beatty, someone who could potentially become a late-career starter but without much of an NFL future.
I gave him a TTB Rating of 65, and he was a 247 Composite 3-star, the #90 offensive tackle, and #1012 overall.
Jones is a veteran lineman who might have been nice to have on the roster as a depth piece next year, but he had been passed by many of the younger players.
Michigan has relieved special teams coordinator J.B. Brown of his duties now that the season is complete.
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I do not make a habit of calling for the jobs of Michigan coaches, but I mentioned this one halfway through the season.
Punter Tommy Doman went from averaging 44.3 yards/punt in 2023 (under Jay Harbaugh) to 42.6 in 2024 under Brown, and then Doman – who had a vise grip on Michigan’s punting job – immediately ditched his home state program to head for Florida, where he averaged 44 yards/punt this year.
Michigan was #125 in kickoff return average (15.2 yards/return) in 2025.
Michigan was #126 in punt return average (3.8 yards/return) in 2025.
Placekicker Dominic Zvada was an All-American in 2024 and should have won the Groza Award after the team ranked #2 in field goal percentage, and by 2025 he constituted the #108 field goal percentage (68.2%).
Gone were the days when Michigan was scheming up kickoff return touchdowns by Giles Jackson and A.J. Henning and Jehu Chesson. Gone were the days when Michigan ran a fake punt from Michael Barrett to Dax Hill or blocked one or two punts per year.
For the past two seasons, the only excitement came from Zvada making almost all his field goals in 2024 . . . and then being jaw-droppingly inconsistent in 2025.
I have no idea who will replace Brown, but Michigan quite literally can’t really do much worse with whomever they hire to coach special teams for 2026.
I haven’t done one of these posts in a few weeks, so I may include some notable performances from week 7 and 8.
FORMER PLAYERS
Raheem Anderson, C (Western Michigan): Anderson is a backup lineman for Western Michigan.
Andrel Anthony, WR (Duke): Anthony had 2 catches for 16 yards in a loss to Georgia Tech last week. This past weekend was a bye for the Blue Devils.
Jeremiah Beasley, LB (Missouri): Beasley has not recorded any stats in the past two weeks, including a 17-10 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Kechaun Bennett, DE (UCLA): Bennett has 4 tackles and 1 tackle for loss over the past two games against Maryland (a 20-17 win) and Indiana (a 56-3 loss).
Tristan Bounds, OT (Arizona): Bounds is a backup offensive tackle for Arizona.
