Hello: Anthony Campanile, Defensive Assistant
Michigan's filled one of their two defensive position coach openings with a gentleman who had risen to the "co-DC" spot at Boston College:
Multiple sources have confirmed for The Michigan Insider that Jim Harbaugh has followed up his splash hire of former Alabama co-defensive coordinator Josh Gattis by filling one of his two defensive vacancies with former Boston College co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Anthony Campanile. The Fair Lawn (N.J.) native spent the last three seasons helping the Eagles field one of the nation’s top performing secondaries. He interviewed with the Wolverines Tuesday, and now will bring his expertise to Ann Arbor.
At Michigan Campanile could wind up coaching safeties OR outside linebackers and vipers.
Like Gattis, Campanile is young (36, Gattis is 34) and a former D-I player. Campanile was a Rutgers LB/S in the early aughts; since he was a coordinator at Don Bosco for a few years before moving up to Rutgers as a position coach. He coached DBs at BC the last three years, getting the co-DC title last year. BC was 27th, 10th, and 42th in passing S&P+ the last three years, and his recent track record is pretty good:
Noted for both his coaching ability and his prowess on the recruiting trail, Campanile has nurtured several pros in recent years. Los Angeles Rams safety John Johnson was selected in the third round of the 2017 draft after starting all 13 games at free safety for the Eagles. The following year Campanile's cornerback tandem of Isaac Yiadom (third round to the Denver Broncos) and Kamrin Moore (6th round to the New York Giants) made their way to the NFL. That run will continue this month when three more of his protégés are expected to be selected. Junior corner Hamp Cheevers declared early and joins senior safeties Will Harris and Lukas Denis as projected picks.
The guys coming out this year have spent much or all of their careers under Campanile—and since the guys before him were Don Brown recruits that seems like a fine fit. Last year 24/7 named him the DB coach of the year, FWIW.
[After THE JUMP: another battle in the WAR ON RUTGERS]
Campanile's name sounded familiar and I figured out why: his brother is also a coach. He's now at Rutgers. During the brief but intense New Jersey Satellite Camp War he was the head coach at Bergen Catholic, and had some takes to get off his chest:
“Obviously, Michigan wants to conspire with Paramus Catholic to do whatever they want to [Nunzio] do,” added Campanile, whose brother Anthony is on the staff at Boston College, one of five programs that will join Michigan at Paramus. “So I don’t think they’re making friends from that standpoint with a lot of these schools. I really don’t know what to say about it. But it is what it is. They’re obviously aligned with those guys, and if that’s what they want to do, it’s their business.
“But I don’t think Rutgers should let those guys come in here and have their way. I also think that any high school coach in New Jersey who lets their kid go to Paramus Catholic has to kind of rethink what they’re doing. I’m glad that Rutgers is doing it. I’m glad that Ohio State is doing it. And I hope it’s extremely successful.”
Gonna be an awkward Thanksgiving.
Michigan still has a DL spot to fill and will be gently ushering an offensive coach to another job. Jerry Montgomery, a former M assistant now with the Packers who Sam Webb had said was in contention for the job, is apparently being offered the opportunity to stay with Green Bay and may be off the table. No other names have sprouted forth.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:33 PM ^
Me likey.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
Seems like a strange fit since Zordich has done well with the secondary but otherwise sounds like a good hire.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:36 PM ^
Zordich coaches corners. Partridge was coaching safeties, but would likely move to OLB/Vipers with this guy coming in.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
He must be going nuts knowing he gets to work with Dax Hill now. If he turned those BC guys into draft picks, I can only imagine what he will do with Dax.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
Hopefully Metellus takes a big leap with the new coaching. We really could use a strong year from the safeties.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:01 PM ^
Metellus is pretty darn good now. Another leap would be great though.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
I did not expect Metellus to ever start here. He is pretty damn good. Big time production from a near 2 star player at one time.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
Metellus has been a damn fine safety here, not sure how much improvement you're expecting from a guy heading into his 4th year.
Biggest knock I see for Metellus is he isn't an elite athlete (but not many are, guys like Dax Hill don't grow on trees) other than that he's done a great job during his time here.
January 11th, 2019 at 2:06 PM ^
Really? Maybe I’m the only one who found him often out of position and many times unable to recover on busted plays...
January 11th, 2019 at 2:34 PM ^
You're not totally wrong. He has been a very good safety for us, and overall he is plus member of the defense. However, there have, in fact, been a number of times when he was out of position or unable to recover on busted plays. Basically, he has played great, other than those few times. I think adding the word "often" with respect to him being out of position is being too critical, thought.
Unfortunately, at safety, when you are out of position or can't recover, it shows up, usually in a big way because it means a bunch of yards, if not worse. Reality is, though, that every safety gets out of position from time to time, but some can cover it with elite speed.
January 13th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
Agree with this, plus when a safety screws up it is much more obvious than most positions. There were a few times early last year where I thought Metellus was playing poorly, then rewatched games and realized it was just a couple of bad plays.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
does this mean zordich on way out ???
January 11th, 2019 at 3:02 PM ^
Yes...no... maybe so.
But really no as he coaches corners.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
Sounds like a great fit to me. Now let's find a great d line coach to finish the set.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
Alabama has good coaches if we hired their Co-Defensive Coordinator to be our Offensive Coordinator.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
Looks like an article typo by the Michigan Insider. Gattis wasn't a co-DC.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:19 PM ^
ROTFL!!!!!
January 11th, 2019 at 12:46 PM ^
Don't know much about him, but his name rings a bell.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:01 PM ^
I see what you did there
January 11th, 2019 at 1:19 PM ^
non-Italian speakers will not get this.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:49 PM ^
also, those who went to schools who call their "bell tower" a campanile -
e.g., UC Berkeley
January 11th, 2019 at 12:46 PM ^
"and will be gently ushering an offensive coach to another job"
Talk about a potent throwaway line!
January 11th, 2019 at 3:23 PM ^
I mean, it has to happen, right? I very much doubt that Harbaugh would choose to carry an additional offensive coach.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^
Good luck! He looks like a chode in a beard, but so do most non-hipsters.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:04 PM ^
I could google it but I’d like to hear fri you what’s chode is?
January 11th, 2019 at 1:20 PM ^
You'd better just google it, Dave.
January 11th, 2019 at 4:27 PM ^
If you drop the "Y" from your name and precede it with a "Short fat", you will get the definition of a chode. Always one of my favorite words. Right up there with "Pud".
January 11th, 2019 at 1:04 PM ^
Ah, yes, hipsters. The paragons of authentic facial hair.
January 11th, 2019 at 2:12 PM ^
Freakin' Marcus Aurelius. What a chode!
January 11th, 2019 at 1:01 PM ^
I'd love to see him coach our safeties. That sounds like a great combination and one that addresses one of our biggest issues on the defensive side of the ball.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
As it turns out, we have a good coach who makes great hires. The sky is not falling.
Shocking news to like 80% of the whiners on this board, I know.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:18 PM ^
Yes, it seemed a wee bit premature to proclaim that the end times were nigh without waiting a few days to see who Harbaugh would hire.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:36 PM ^
The dumbest voices are usually the loudest.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:52 PM ^
SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!
January 11th, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
IN RETROSPECT, SURE!
January 11th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
Don’t like. I much prefer 70 year old turncoats on the coaching staff.
January 11th, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^
Yeah remember how Mattison was old enough that he'd retire before he went anywhere else? Lulz.
January 11th, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
monkey glands.
January 11th, 2019 at 4:26 PM ^
You rang?
Monkey gland sauce is a restaurant item in South Africa. The tangy sauce is prepared in several manners, and may include a blend of fruit[1] and spices.[1] It is typically served with meats,[2] such as steak,[3] hamburgers, pork ribs or chicken. Several popular South African fast food chains serve a monkey gland burger.
Despite the name, the sauce does not involve monkeys in any way.[4] Instead, it is made up of chopped onion, garlic and ginger, with a combination of chutney, soy sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and wine. At the time the sauce was developed, there was a lot of speculation in the popular medical press regarding the use of monkey glands as a means of keeping young due to the pseudoscience of Russian quack doctor Serge Voronoff.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^
Wonder what the implications are for Devin Bush Sr. I expected he might be in line for a spot, but looks like that is no longer available. With Jr going to the NFL, will Sr stick around?
January 11th, 2019 at 2:36 PM ^
It's rare that football coaches stick around at one place for a long time, particularly assistants/staffers. I would not be surprised to see Bush move along to somewhere else, if only because his son is off to the NFL.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:16 PM ^
Meanwhile, in East Lansing, Coach Mark Dantonio is having another news conference this afternoon to announce that he is adding "Senior" to each of his coaches' titles and getting them each different-colored hats, so that MSU can maintain its competitive coaching edge.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:17 PM ^
Hamp Cheevers!
January 11th, 2019 at 1:40 PM ^
Love this- appears to be a great hire from a fit and recruiting standpoint.
What are the board’s thoughts on bringing back Hoke for the DL spot? We know he can get it a done from a talent development standpoint (at the DL position) and would be a plus from a recruiting standpoint. He certainly wouldn’t be a risk to the maize n blue by electing to pass on a QB recruit every other year.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:51 PM ^
You must be new here...I mean really new here.
January 11th, 2019 at 1:56 PM ^
Not really. Explain what I’m overlooking.
January 11th, 2019 at 2:03 PM ^
Multiple multiple ad nauseam discussions of Hoke as a candidate in multiple multiple threads. You must be a babe-in-arms.
January 11th, 2019 at 2:10 PM ^
Shoot. You can call me Cody Parkey then...must have missed em’.
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