Ex-Wolverine Updates: Coaches, Summer 2019

Tag: John Baxter

22Jul 2019
Blog, homepage 7 comments

Ex-Wolverine Updates: Coaches, Summer 2019

Brady Hoke (image via College Football Talk)

If you want to help out TTB, please use the Amazon links here to do your shopping (LINK):

I do Ex-Wolverine Updates throughout the season, but I generally don’t include former coaches. In this case I have listed every Michigan coach over the past twenty years that is still in the game (for example, I think Steve Szabo, Stan Parrish, Bobby Morrison, Greg Robinson, etc. are retired permanently). There’s no way to keep track of every former Michigan player toiling away as a high school assistant coach or D-III strength and conditioning guy, but if you have any additions to the list, please let me know. I’m sure I’ve missed a few guys who are coaching or graduate assistant-ing.

For more Ex-Wolverine news, check out these posts on transfers (LINK) and former commits (LINK).

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7Jan 2016
Blog, homepage 6 comments

John Baxter, Ex-Wolverine

John Baxter

Michigan special teams coordinator John Baxter is no longer coaching at Michigan. He has been re-hired at USC, which is where he was before spending one year in Ann Arbor. Michigan took a step forward on special teams this year, doing an excellent job on kickoff returns (#3 in the country with 28.4 yards/return), pinning opponents deep on punts, and covering kickoffs, not to mention thwarting a couple attempted fakes by Florida in the Citrus Bowl. Michigan also forged a pretty decent kicker out of Kenny Allen (80% on field goals, 100% on extra points), who spent the previous three seasons concentrating on punting. There were a few hiccups along the way, though, including the dropped punt snap that lost the Michigan State game, a punt return touchdown allowed against Indiana, and a long return allowed against Rutgers. Michigan was better on special teams, but not great.

It’s unclear how Baxter’s position will be filled. Michigan recruiting coordinator Chris Partridge was on staff temporarily for the Citrus Bowl after defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin left Michigan for the Maryland head coaching job. Durkin tried to take Partridge to Maryland, but he stayed at Michigan after being promised an “increased role.” This may be that increased role. Prior to coaching Jabrill Peppers, Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Rashan Gary, and others at Paramus (NJ) Catholic, Partridge was a position coach and assistant special teams coach at both Lafayette and The Citadel, so he does have some experience with coaching specials. If Partridge were to take on a coaching role, there have been rumors that Devin Bush, Sr. – the father of Michigan early enrollee Devin Bush, Jr. – will leave his head coaching job at Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan to take on a recruiting coordinator role for the Wolverines.

Baxter’s recruiting area was the West Coast. This change should not affect the Wolverines greatly in that area, since Jim Harbaugh, Tim Drevno, Jay Harbaugh, and Greg Jackson have all spent time living and coaching on the Left Coast. Baxter was also in charge of implementing a respected academic program to help athletes stay on track while playing sports, a program he puts in place wherever he goes.

8Jan 2015
Uncategorized 6 comments

John Baxter, Wolverine

John Baxter’s punt block drill

Former USC special teams coach John Baxter will be coaching the special teams at Michigan. Baxter was out of coaching this past season, but he had been at USC under Lane Kiffin and was Pat Hill’s special teams guy at Fresno State from 1987-2009.

Baxter went to high school in Chicago and then went to college in Iowa (at Loras and then Iowa State), so he grew up in the midwest. He started off coaching at Loras in 1981, and he has bounced around since then, like most coaches do. His stops include Iowa State, Arizona, Maryland, Tulane, USC, and Fresno State. At one point or another, he has coached every position except quarterbacks and offensive line. But where he has really made a name for himself is on special teams.

Some of his accomplishments as a special teams coach:

  • Top 15 in blocking kicks since at least 2008
  • Nelson Agholor averaged 19.0 yards/punt return with 2 touchdowns in 2013
  • Marqise Lee was Second Team All-Pac 12 and averaged 28.5 yards/kickoff return with 1 touchdown in 2012
  • Named Special Teams Coordinator of the Year by Football Scoop in 2011
  • Robert Woods was First Team All-Pac 10 with 25.6 yards/return and 1 touchdown in 2010
  • Fresno State scored 3 punt return touchdowns by 3 different players in 2008
  • A.J. Jefferson led the nation with 35.3 yards/return and 2 touchdowns in 2007 at Fresno State
  • Clifton Smith set Fresno State’s school record with 5 career punt return touchdowns in 2005
  • Bernard Berrian returned 3 punts for touchdowns and averaged 11.2 yards/return in his career at Fresno State
Baxter spent from 1994-2009 coaching tight ends or wide receivers in addition to his special teams duties, and he was the associate head coach at USC. At 51 years old, he’s been around the block and obviously has some respect in coaching circles. He landed an interview to be Colorado State’s head coach after Jim McElwain lit out for Florida (Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo got the CSU job instead).

Michigan averaged 6.3 yards per punt return last season, and that includes Ben Gedeon’s 32-yard return of a blocked punt for a touchdown; on actual return attempts, the number was more like 4.3 yards/return. The last time a Michigan punt returner scored a touchdown was Martavious Odoms against Purdue in 2008, Rich Rodriguez’s first year. Kickoff returns have been largely unproductive, too, with Michigan failing to score a touchdown since Darryl Stonum in 2009. Since Stonum’s return in 2009, Baxter’s kickoff return unit scored three times, and he didn’t even coach in 2014.

The other day I spent a fair amount of time perusing defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin’s special teams history (LINK), so he and Baxter should make a good combination. One guy who should be happy about this hire is senior Dennis Norfleet, the incumbent punt/kick returner who has yet to score a touchdown of any kind in his college career. Michigan also really struggled to get the right personnel on the field last season, allowing a Utah punt return for a touchdown with only ten men on the field. A dedicated special teams coordinator might rid the Wolverines of most of those issues.