Chris Partridge out as Ole Miss DC, Alabama DC in
Per Chris Low https://twitter.com/clowespn/status/1613989289435561984?s=46&t=-wllgLo-7WI_mBwt-M2v8Q
no mention of what might happen to Partridge, but he’s obviously been a popular figure here for a while and who knows if there’s staff turnover coming. Maybe he’ll go join Durkin at A&M, though perhaps he’s not unlikable enough for that staff
January 13th, 2023 at 3:09 PM ^
Analyst???
January 13th, 2023 at 3:11 PM ^
We need to get back to hiring high school coaches that bring 5 stars with them.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:04 PM ^
Partridge was one of those guys. He worked at Paramus Catholic where Jabrill Peppers and Rashan Gary and a few other recruits were from. Also he was one of the best recruiters on the staff, winning 24/7's best recruiter award a few years back.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:09 PM ^
Was he really a great recruiter or was it because he had all those connections from high school which are now somewhat gone? That's why I'm saying get the next Chris Partridge, not the current one.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:13 PM ^
I think he's a decent recruiter due to having plenty of experience recruiting players to Paramus Catholic HS in Jersey. Pretty sure that he is not that well liked by plenty other high school coaches in NJ for that very same reason though.
January 13th, 2023 at 6:18 PM ^
Yeah, he was not liked by other coaches around here for importing players from outside the district.. He stole Gary from a public school in Scotch Plains and Peppers from fellow Parochial power Don Bosco. One of them and their mom got set up in an apartment near PC. I forget which one.
January 13th, 2023 at 8:17 PM ^
I know for sure he joined the staff after Jabrill was already on the team. He may have joined the staff before Rashan's freshman season, can't remember. I do know that he won "Recruiter of the Year" in 2017, the class after Rashan's. He recruited all kinds of players from all sorts of different areas of the country. He was a fantastic recruiter.
Also he was Devin Bush's position coach... so yeah. Probably not bad at coaching either.
January 13th, 2023 at 5:39 PM ^
Uh, I think that was his point
January 13th, 2023 at 3:12 PM ^
Not saying I have any knowledge about anything, but it's not uncommon to have at least one or two staff changes after another highly successful season -- might not be a bad name to keep in the back pocket, especially if we can get him in a recruiting role.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:14 PM ^
There’s NFL staffs to be assembled, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
January 13th, 2023 at 5:44 PM ^
Insider on TOS says major staff shakeup coming
January 13th, 2023 at 3:18 PM ^
Get him here to run recruiting.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:44 PM ^
Did he recruit well outside of the kids he brought with him? Can he go to an area outside of this familiarity and lure in studs? I don't remember what i ate yesterday, let alone how good of a recruiter he was 'outside' of his own kids/area.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:52 PM ^
Dax Hill, Devon Bush, Khaleke Hudson, Makari Page, Aubrey Solomon, Chris Hinton, Luigi Villain, Ambry Thomas, Trente Jones, DJ Turner, Jordan Anthony, Cam McGrone, Myles Sims, Michael Barrett, James Hudson to name a few not from Jersey.
Not all worked out here but the man has an eye for talent and the ability to land players.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:58 PM ^
A little bit better than Helow who has his old job...
January 13th, 2023 at 4:02 PM ^
I thought he was the safeties coach at Michigan?
January 13th, 2023 at 4:06 PM ^
Nope. Linebackers. Also he won 24/7's award for best recruiter a few years back when he was at Michigan. Dude is a fantastic recruiter and has a great eye for talent. Not a bad coach either, just might not be a great schemer.
January 13th, 2023 at 5:03 PM ^
He was safeties coach when he left. He started his on-field stretch as a linebackers coach though. Was in an off-field role for one season prior to that.
January 13th, 2023 at 6:25 PM ^
Is Helow any good at actual coaching? LBs have not been good under him.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:59 PM ^
Does NIL reduce the effectiveness of Partridge’s go-to tactics in recruiting?
January 13th, 2023 at 3:21 PM ^
Those Ole Miss defenses were rough so maybe got a bit over his skates as a DC. Would be nice as a position coach and recruiter, obviously.
January 13th, 2023 at 8:46 PM ^
That was the problem at Michigan. He was ready for the next step and Jim didn’t think he was ready for it so he let him go and try it elsewhere. Also was a mediocre position coach. Overall he was an OK coach but most likely he won’t be returning to Michigan.
January 14th, 2023 at 12:42 AM ^
Over his skates? That’s not a thing.
January 14th, 2023 at 8:42 AM ^
People say "over your skis" but I don't that this actually possible to flip over your skies and fall on your face. You can, however, be over your skates and fall down pretty easily.
January 15th, 2023 at 4:03 PM ^
The saying "out over your skis" literally means to lean forward too far in an unconscious effort to go faster, resulting in your actually going slower and having less control. It's a beginner's mistake. "Out over your skis" as an idiom means to be trying to do to much or doing something too soon.
"Out over your skates" is an expression used by people who have heard about "out over your skies" but misremembered it and then, instead of owning their mistake, tried to claim that the idiom actually is or should be referring to skates.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:23 PM ^
Alabama fans seem to be very excited about their DC coach Pete Goulding leaving
January 13th, 2023 at 3:41 PM ^
As they are at the prospect of Bill O’Brien leaving as OC. Rarely has there been a fan base so spoiled
January 13th, 2023 at 3:46 PM ^
Well, this could very well spell the end of the Bama dynasty if both are leaving. Change is not always good, and Saban at 315 years old will not be able to put the effort in to pick up the slack as when he was 110 years old.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:57 PM ^
What makes you think the top end of assistant and ex-head coach ranks will turn a blind eye to the Nick Saban Machine?
January 13th, 2023 at 4:02 PM ^
They did this with the recruiting focused staff they had post Lane that got killed by Clemson (the Locksley/Gattis OC and Tosh Lupoi co DC). They lost and then made the shift to Sark and Golding.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:57 PM ^
I still remember being stoked about Nussmeier, and my step-brother who lives in Tuscaloosa was laughing at me. He knew what was coming.
January 14th, 2023 at 5:15 AM ^
Nick Saban didn't make effort to keep him. So there's that too.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
The other part of this move is curious...why would you leave Bama to go to Ole Miss for the same position? Unless he was getting the firm handshake and Bama let him find a soft landing first.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:42 PM ^
Seems like most of the Bama people responding to that tweet were happy to see him go. Guessing this is the exact scenario you laid out in your second sentence.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:43 PM ^
He got Nussmeier'd
January 13th, 2023 at 3:49 PM ^
He got Gattis'd?
January 13th, 2023 at 4:17 PM ^
Seems like most Bama fans expected Saban to move on from both the OC and DC this year. They were really talented and most fans thought they underperformed. This guy was clearly given a firm handshake. I think BoB was on a one year deal and will walk
January 14th, 2023 at 11:34 AM ^
I don’t think Offense was their issue. They were third in the nation at 41.7 points per game behind only Tennessee (44.5) and Ohio State (44.2). The good guys (Michigan) were 6th at 40.4.
The Bama defense was also solid, allowing only 18.15 points per game which was 9th nationally. U of M was 7th at 16.07 ppg allowed.
It appears the only explanation is yes, they are fucking spoiled.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:40 PM ^
I can't believe Durkin still gets P5 DC jobs. But it is Jimbo, so I'm not surprised.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:45 PM ^
It's after Christmas...
No more Partridge in a Mississippi.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:58 PM ^
ba dum tss
January 13th, 2023 at 3:56 PM ^
IIRC he was an insanely good recruiter. Doesn't sound like he's ready for a coordinator role, so maybe we can plug an assistant coach gap if someone leaves. We definitely need some improvement on the recruiting front, and he loves Harbaugh. Good place to rehabilitate his image for a bit and give us an ace recruiter
January 13th, 2023 at 4:03 PM ^
There were a lot of people ready to throw over DB for him in 19. I’m not sure returns would have been better.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:00 PM ^
If I recall correctly, he was a pretty good LB coach. I do think Helow is doing okay - the improvement in Barrett and Colson is noticeable, but help there can't be bad, right? Also opens up some operating space for Jaybaugh to branch out again because Partridge also helped with ST.
Not a bad retread name to keep on the shortlist.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:12 PM ^
Everytime I see Pete Goulding I see Paul Walter Hauser. They're the same person in my book.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:18 PM ^
Great recruiter, mediocre DC.
Hoping we'll say something similar about Hartline in a few years...
January 13th, 2023 at 4:44 PM ^
Bring the guy in as a "well-paid analyst". The NCAA is likely to allow analysts to coach players soon and possibly even go out on recruiting visits. Partridge can help with ST and recruiting and would be a great option to move back into an on field assistant role in the event we lose someone.
January 13th, 2023 at 7:40 PM ^
I would take him back IMMEADIATELY to coach special teams
January 13th, 2023 at 8:20 PM ^
But what about Jay Harbaugh?
January 15th, 2023 at 5:26 PM ^
I can understand your desire to reduce Michigan's effectiveness in the name of parity, but it's too early to do that for Michigan by replacing a proven ST coordinator who has had two top-ten FEI ST rankings (including #1 in 2021) with a different proven ST coordinator whose best season was FEI #6 and whose worst was FEI #28 (excluding 2020, which was a disaster beyond any coordinator's control).
Going from a great STC to a good one seems unnecessary. Maybe your point will have more validity after Michigan wins a national championship.