Tag: Jay Harbaugh

Jesse Minter, Wolverine

Michigan has a new defensive coordinator in the form of Jesse Minter. Minter comes to the Wolverines after spending one year at Vanderbilt as the Commodores’ defensive coordinator.

Minter is the son of former Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter, and he played wide receiver at Mount Saint Joseph in Ohio. He then spent time at Notre Dame and Cincinnati as a low-tier assistant before becoming a linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator at Indiana State (coincidentally, where several former Wolverines now coach, including head man Curt Mallory). Minter then moved on to become Georgia State’s defensive coordinator in 2013 and was a Broyles Award nominee as one of the top assistants in the country.

Minter was hired in 2017 to be an assistant for the Baltimore Ravens, coaching defensive backs through 2020. After just one season as the primary defensive backs coach in 2020, he was hired away by Vandy to be their defensive coordinator.

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Michigan 59, Maryland 18

That was quietly ugly for Maryland. With my high school season having ended last week, I made the trip to Maryland because I had never been there for a game. Watching the game in person, Michigan was certainly in control for the whole game but in the first half, it seemed like the Terrapins were holding their own. Michigan should have been able to run all over them, but they couldn’t. Michigan should have been able to beat up and bruise Taulia Tagovailoa, but they couldn’t. It was a comfortable 24-3 lead at halftime, but it never seemed like Michigan was beating the pants off them. And then . . . well . . . the third quarter happened, when Michigan exploded for 28 points. Even though Maryland scored 15 in that stanza, the rout was on. I looked up at the scoreboard and thought, “Is Michigan about to score 60 on a Big Ten opponent not named Rutgers?” In truth, no, they weren’t. But they got as close as possible.

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Anatomy of a Running Back Substitution, Part 3

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For previous posts in this series, click here (part 1) or here (part 2).

Having addressed the similarities between Tyrone Wheatley and Jay Harbaugh on distributing carries and then the reasons for rotating running backs, here’s the final piece on how a coaching staff might handle the weekly rotation.

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Anatomy of a Running Back Substitution, Part 1

I’ve seen a lot of criticism over the years – but especially in 2020 – about Michigan’s running back rotation. There has been a lot of blame put on running backs coach Jay Harbaugh for using too many backs, not giving Hassan Haskins enough carries, not giving Zach Charbonnet enough carries, not giving Blake Corum enough carries, not giving Chris Evans enough carries, etc.

First, a brief history of the running back rotation under Jim Harbaugh for the top four running backs:

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Addressing Michigan’s Coaching Situation

Following a 2-4 season and five straight losses to Ohio State – plus an embarrassing loss to Michigan State in 2020 – questions about Jim Harbaugh’s status as head coach have been non-stop. I have a hard time calling for coaches’ jobs, because as a (lower level) coach myself, I know some of the struggles with coaching.

Of course, college coaches have a different situation than high school coaches, because they have more power and more control over which coaches and players enter their program. But there are similarities in that your team’s success is subject to injuries, off-the-field behavior of young people, administrative limits, etc.

So here I would like to address which coaches I would prioritize bringing back, from highest priority to lowest:

Sherrone Moore (Tight Ends): Moore is Michigan’s top recruiter, especially in-state. According to 247 Sports, he’s the #6 recruiter in the country and #2 in the Big Ten (behind Ohio State’s Brian Hartline). I have not been extremely impressed with the performance of Michigan’s tight ends over the past couple seasons, but I think that’s more of an issue with the structure of the offense than the individual players. Regardless, tight end is a position where you can hide a mediocre X’s and O’s/technique coach if the guy coaching them can recruit his butt off. And Moore can. He’s listed as the primary recruiter for QB J.J. McCarthy, OT Giovanni El-Hadi, C Raheem Anderson II, TE Louis Hansen, LB Tyler McLaurin, and WR Andrel Anthony, and he’s the secondary recruiter for RB Donovan Edwards.

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