Tag: Fred Jackson

Poll results: Which coach(es) should be retained beyond 2014?

Roy Manning (image via Maizeandbluenews.com)

Leading up to last week’s game against Ohio State, I asked a question about which coach(es) should be retained after the season. Voters were allowed to pick multiple answers. Here are the results:

Roy Manning (cornerbacks): 51%

Greg Mattison (defensive coordinator/linebackers): 49%

Doug Nussmeier (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks): 18%

Mark Smith (defensive line): 18%

Fred Jackson (running backs): 7%

Dan Ferrigno (tight ends): 5%

Curt Mallory (safeties): 4%

Jeff Hecklinski (wide receivers/recruiting coordinator): 3%

Darrell Funk (offensive line): 2%

Brady Hoke (head coach): 0% (1 vote)

No coaches should be retained: 18%

Hoke has been canned, and defensive coordinator Greg Mattison reportedly cleared out his desk upon learning the news. So the 49% of people who wanted him back will be disappointed, and the one lonely soul who wanted Hoke to return is drinking a beer by himself. The other staff members could possibly be interviewed and retained, but it’s unusual to keep on more than one or two guys from a previous regime.

Ex-Wolverine Updates: Rodriguez’s Staff

Former safeties coach Adam Braithwaite arguably had the most success of any former Rodriguez staffer in 2011, as his Christopher Newport team almost finished in the top third of D-III defenses and the team went 8-3. (image via Daily Press)

Former head coach Rich Rodriguez spent the 2011 season as an NCAA football analyst for CBS Sports.

Former offensive coordinator Calvin Magee spent the 2011 season as the offensive coordinator at Pitt.  The Panthers finished the regular season #68 in rushing offense (151 yards per game), #75 in passing offense (211 yards per game), #83 in total offense (362 yards per game), and #69 in scoring offense (25.75 points per game).  They also allowed more sacks than any other team with 4.75 per game.  Magee has been hired to re-join Rodriguez at Arizona and coordinate the offense.

Former defensive coordinator Scott Shafer (’08) has spent the last few seasons at Syracuse.  In 2011 the Orangemen finished #32 in rushing defense, #98 in passing defense, #64 in total defense, and #74 in scoring defense.

Former defensive coordinator Greg Robinson (’09-’10) spent the 2011 season away from football.

Former quarterbacks coach Rod Smith (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season as the quarterbacks coach at Indiana.  The Hoosiers went 1-11 with a victory over South Carolina State.  True freshman Tre Roberson finished the season  at 81-for-142 passing for 937 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions.  He also ran the ball 109 times for 426 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns.  Sophomore Edward Wright-Backer finished the year at 91-for-153 passing for 1,029 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.  He ran the ball 46 times for 68 yards and 0 touchdowns.  Overall, the Hoosiers had the #80 passing offense, the #85 total offense, and the #101 scoring offense (21.4 points per game).

Running backs coach Fred Jackson (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season at Michigan, turning Fitzgerald Toussaint into an awesome running back.

Former wide receivers coach Tony Dews (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season as the tight ends coach at Pitt.  Starter Hubie Graham finished the year with 27 catches for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Dews has been hired to re-join Rodriguez at Arizona as the wide receivers coach.

Former offensive line coach Greg Frey (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season as the offensive line coach at Indiana.  The Hoosiers finished #58 in rushing (161 yards per game) and #95 in sacks allowed (2.58 per game).

Former defensive line coach Bruce Tall (’08-’10) was hired as the defensive coordinator at Charlotte, a fledgling football program that won’t begin playing until 2013.

Former linebackers coach Jay Hopson (’08-’09) spent 2010 and the first part of 2011 at Memphis.  However, he resigned at Memphis after the first two games of the season, when he gave up 59 and 47 points to Mississippi State and Arkansas State, respectively.  His current job situation is unknown.

Former secondary coach Tony Gibson (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season as the secondary coach at Pitt.  The Panthers finished #71 in the country in pass defense (233 yards per game) and his defensive backs made just 4 total interceptions.  Gibson has been hired to re-join Rodriguez at Arizona as the Wildcats’ secondary coach.

Former safeties coach Adam Braithwaite (’10) spent the 2011 season as the defensive coordinator at Christopher Newport, a Division III program.  CNU finished #85 in rushing defense, #94 in pass defense, #83 in total defense, and #116 in scoring defense while going 8-3 on the year.  There are 238 teams in Division III.

Mailbag: Regional connections in scouting

Being fairly new to paying attention to recruiting, what can you tell me about the correlation between football rich recruiting areas and the connections of Michigan assistant coaches and scouts? It seems obvious someone on the staff knows Florida.

Bobo from Punxsutawney, PA

Coaches are assigned specific recruiting areas, especially talent-rich states. For example, Tony Gibson is a born-and-bred West Virginian, which is in close proximity to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Therefore, Gibson’s recruiting base centers in those three states. It’s important for coaches to make personal connections with high school coaches, staff, and kids, so typically a coach will maintain the same recruiting area from year to year, even when they change jobs, if possible. If a Big Ten coach who recruits Illinois gets hired in the SEC, his most fruitful recruiting ground could very well be Illinois. But there’s no need to heavily recruit the state of Utah, for example, so a coach who’s assigned to California would likely handle any stray talents who find themselves lost in the middle of the Beehive State.

If you visit Mgoblue.com’s coaches page, you can find biographical information for each coach. Michigan’s ace Florida recruiter, quarterbacks coach Rod Smith, is from West Virginia, but he spent six years coaching at South Florida. The go-to guy for Texas and Louisiana recruits, running backs coach Fred Jackson, was born in Baton Rouge, LA, and attended Jackson State. Bruce Tall is a native Ohioan. The coaches are from various places and have coached at myriad institutions, but it’s a pretty good assumption that they tend to recruit near their hometowns or where they’ve spent considerable time. For example, it’s a little bit odd that Greg Frey recruits Illinois, since he’s from Florida, played at Florida State, and coached at places like South Florida and West Virginia; he must have drawn the short end of the stick, and it may not be a coincidence that no Illinois players have committed to Michigan since Frey’s arrival.

Below is my best effort – okay, maybe not my best effort, but I don’t get paid for this – to define assigned geographic recruiting areas. (The state of Michigan is recruited by almost all the coaches.)

Bruce Tall
Tony Dews
Tony Gibson
Greg Frey
Fred Jackson
Rod Smith

The map is a very general outline of the coaches’ recruiting areas and should not be taken as gospel. For example, several coaches recruit in Florida and, as mentioned above, Tony Gibson recruits some in Ohio. It would be impossible to create a map that specifically defines each coach’s recruiting area, in part because sometimes personalities or positions are matched with recruits. For example, Florida juggernaut Rod Smith was the main recruiter for quarterback Tate Forcier, who hails from Whale’s Vagina, California.