Exit: Mike Elston
According to reports, Michigan DL coach Mike Elston is headed to the L.A. Chargers to join Jim Harbaugh's staff:
Michigan DL coach Mike Elston is expected to take the same job with the #Chargers, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 6, 2024
Elston, who previously coached at Notre Dame from 2010-2021, played an integral role in the Wolverines’ success the last two seasons. Now he follows Jim Harbaugh to L.A. pic.twitter.com/MQaUcoFS86
A player at Michigan from 1993-96, Elston had a long coaching career before joining the Wolverines in 2022. He coached most famously at Notre Dame, where he spent 2010-2021, first on special teams duties before moving to the defensive line. His work with ND drew wide acclaim and it was perceived as a major win when Harbaugh added Elston to the staff before the '22 season, after DL coach Shaun Nua joined Lincoln Riley's new USC staff. Over the past two seasons, Elston has helped coach and develop one of the most dominant defensive lines in Michigan history, one that ran roughshod over the Washington offensive line in the National Championship Game.
The past week or two was a seeming battle between Michigan and the LA Chargers for Elston's services, but just like Ben Herbert, Harbaugh won out. Elston's vacancy means that's another coach that Sherrone Moore will have to hire, as the staff looks more and more like a nearly brand new one, rather than continuity from the previous regime. Moreover, Moore will have to work quickly to ensure that Michigan's defensive line is not raided by other schools in the portal, now that Elston has moved on.
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February 6th, 2024 at 8:22 PM ^
Could Jim have helped Moore with a transition instead of gutting him like a stuck pig? Jim has coached for 20 years and Michigans current staff will be the coaching staff for the Chargers now? Fuck this shit. On a personal level I feel a lot of angst because what Moore is being left with from "I fucking love you man".
February 6th, 2024 at 6:19 PM ^
Two thoughts:
If Sherrone Moore emerges from this shitstorm successfully, he has a chance to be one of the best head coaches in program history. There is much to overcome. I sure hope that happens.
Are there no NFL assistant coaches interested in working on the Chargers staff? It seems as though Harbaugh is building his solely with people from Michigan.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:32 PM ^
I think its probable this has been Jims favorite staff of his career and thus he wants to keep that going rather than start over again with a bunch of NFL retreads
February 6th, 2024 at 7:02 PM ^
Then let Warde and Sherrone know that right away so that they don't keep getting caught flatfooted with new hires they have to make weeks later.
Can anybody say with confidence right now that Harbaugh is done raiding the staff? Is this going to go on for weeks and weeks?
February 6th, 2024 at 10:09 PM ^
Clink is the last one. I don't think he wanted anything to do with Bellamy. Depending on which insider you believe, we may have beaten JH for Campbell and Newsome (although definitely not as aggressively as he was pursuing Herbert/Minter/Elston). Hart is MIA somewhere with no contract.
And we got Abigail. Boom.
February 6th, 2024 at 10:45 PM ^
Moore will be gone in 3 years. (Ok if Warde is retained it will be 8 years) You can see it now. He was a nobody 4 years ago. OSU Georgia Bama Oregon going to buy our players. Moore has no connections. He was hired for continuity - thats all gone now. So he was hired for nothing. All these developers of talents are gone and Moore has no connection in the coaching ranks.
Culture now is two leftover guys. And a nutritionist. Be content with 8 win seasons (5 wins vs tomato cans) with 17th-20th ranked classes go forward as we wont buy players like top programs and our developers are all gone.
Enjoy team 144 - Michigan is back to RR Hoke era. Only at Michigan could this happen.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:21 PM ^
Soooo…
What if Harbaugh takes Sherrone too?
February 6th, 2024 at 6:23 PM ^
I mean does he have an OC or OL coach yet? Because I wouldn't even rule out him trying at this point.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:18 PM ^
First of all, Sherrone is the only guy on the staff for which any position on the Chargers would be both a demotion and a cut in pay. So har har chuckle chuckle.
Second, after seeing the lack of gravitas Sherrone has with his former staff mates, and the resulting lack of "continuity", plus the lack of support he's receiving from the AD, and considering some of the guys he's rumored to be looking at for his staff - I'd be ok with it if Harbaugh did take him now!
The supposed benefits of promoting him are probably largely gone now - or soon will be...🤷♂️
February 6th, 2024 at 8:24 PM ^
Yeah Harbaughs combo of delaying hires/taking our staff/giving Moore the vote of confidence is a wicked blow. Wicked.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:21 PM ^
Nobody fails to capitalize on success quite like Michigan.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:43 PM ^
Do you mean the university or the state? Because I’ve noticed the Lions happen to reside in Michigan as well
February 6th, 2024 at 7:45 PM ^
Well, were you on a State of Michigan themed site that would be a fair question...
February 6th, 2024 at 8:43 PM ^
It is unreal, and it seems to happen in multiple sports. It's like we just don't want to have continued success in anything. No other school punches themselves in the dong as much as we do.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:24 PM ^
Am I crazy or can't we simply just hire the best assistants from other teams if we are coming off back-to-back-to-back playoff appearances?
February 6th, 2024 at 6:26 PM ^
I suspect that you aren't crazy and that we can't just hire any assistant coach we want.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:03 PM ^
We have the money, if we want.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:27 PM ^
That's much easier to accomplish when you have the same head coach.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:25 PM ^
Damn!
February 6th, 2024 at 6:26 PM ^
I wonder how everyone would feel if they found out that Harbaugh had told Moore that he was only taking MInter, and then he turned around and took everyone else, too.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:05 PM ^
Maybe it was Minter that took these guys. When Harbaugh said: "Don't worry, I'm only taking Minter" . . . he should have been more specific.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:27 PM ^
Here's the one thing about Warde Manuel that I think is clearly true, and is a clear problem
He does not look proactive at all.
When there is no clear (public) evidence that the UM athletic department is taking this exodus (and NIL) seriously, there are two potential explanations
1) There is a lot going on behind the scenes, major offers were made, and all of the coaching departures were some variant of "wants the NFL/Harbaugh guy/money was insane/got passed over" for which there was nothing UM football could do.
2) Complete and utter inertia, due to some combination of laziness and/or hubris.
The thing is, if it's 1) then there are 1,001 ways to ****ing signal that through the media, focusing on NIL/retention stuff, doing OTR interviews with Sam Webb or whoever to make the fanbase and (more importantly) the team recognize that they are taking this competition as seriously 24/7/365 that the prior coaching staff and players clearly did.
The fact that there has been 0 evidence that this is NOT 2) is further evidence that WM is not proactive with messaging, which one might reasonably assume is correlated with being proactive in other areas.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:07 PM ^
Can we all just admit that we won a National Championship in spite of Warde Manuel, not because of him?
Warde seems like he would be just as content to go a gentleman's 9-3 every year and sit and count his money.
It feels like Warde's thinking is "We won a Championship, that should satiate people for a decade. That's good enough. As long as I can keep the stadium full, I don't need to go aggressively chasing another one."
February 6th, 2024 at 6:30 PM ^
Michigan fans, we freak out about shit. Harbaugh took four coaches with him from Stanford to the 49ers, including the two new coordinators (Fangio and Roman). None of these dudes proved to be crucial to anything. The Harbaugh assistant who stayed, David Shaw, he won a game or two. Actually he won two Rose Bowls and *checks notes* more games than any other Stanford coach.
UPDATE: When Pete Caroll left USC, he took *six coaches* with him, including the defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, OL coach, and QB coach for USC.
Guys, let's get some perspective here.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:01 PM ^
How dare you bring up facts and rationale thought to our angry mob mentality.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:09 PM ^
Trouble with your argument is that these were prior to the transfer portal and NIL. The bigger problem here will be other teams raiding our best players with the money to do so. JH is fully aware of these ramifications.
February 6th, 2024 at 8:27 PM ^
1. Uh USC got absolutely gutted and fell into a pit. What the fuck is your point. Enjoy the suck?
2. Elston holds the key to Grant and Graham.
February 6th, 2024 at 8:56 PM ^
Actually I think this move signals Cullen is a done deal, probably right after the SB. Elston with a raise would be a bit of an overpay if you have a DLine coach/DC. They could then hire an "up & comer" as DL coach.
That could be the GA Minter just hired as an "analyst", named Roney - Michigan could offer him an on-field coaching position at a substantial raise. Supposedly a future star the players & coaches all love. That + some generous Those Who Stay funds could keep Grant & Graham Blue - if indeed they're thinking of portaling.
But, not to digress from the main point - Fire Warde!
February 6th, 2024 at 6:31 PM ^
This one stings again. Sherrone is starting from almost scratch on defense. More than coaches Im getting more worried about players entering the portal
February 6th, 2024 at 7:13 PM ^
Don't worry, our crack NIL program will keep them here.
Oh, wait . . .
February 6th, 2024 at 7:58 PM ^
Wait - we're using crack in place of money for NIL?!
That doesn't feel sustainable...
February 6th, 2024 at 6:32 PM ^
Now I have a new pro team to hate
Fuck the Chargers
February 6th, 2024 at 8:01 PM ^
Jim is gonna draft - at a minimum - Corum & Sainristil. Great undervalued picks who bring the Michigan culture with them. Barner, Keegan & possibly Zinter could also be great value picks.
Then how will you feel about the Chargers?
February 6th, 2024 at 6:33 PM ^
So Osborn, come on down ???
February 6th, 2024 at 6:33 PM ^
While entirely likely that Harbaugh is recruiting his former staff, two possibilities to consider.
1) Harbaugh is indeed recruiting his former staff and Michigan/Moore/Manuel are doing a terrible job retaining them
2) the staff is so fed up with Warde Manuel/the athletic department that Harbaugh is providing a landing spot for them to escape the turmoil.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:20 PM ^
There are other possibilities, some more likely than the two you proffered... and the reason probably varies by the individual.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:34 PM ^
Not a fan of
1) Harbaugh holding Michigan hostage after bowl season when he knew he was likely leaving if offered a job
2) proceeding to take multiple key staff members with him when the coaching carousel had eclipsed in the college game
3) UM apparently being behind the 8 ball on anticipating this
February 6th, 2024 at 6:37 PM ^
Yeah, this sucks. It sounded like Elston was more likely to stick around that Clinkscale, so if Harbaugh also pulls him to LAC that'll really suck.
I honestly don't get what Harbaugh's plan is filling a staff with all college coaches, but I'm sure he's got a plan. Hopefully we don't see a ton of player defections.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:42 PM ^
ok the more of this that happens the more i kinda am hoping harbaugh flops at LAC tbh
February 6th, 2024 at 6:42 PM ^
Can someone please remind Harbaugh that he hates Manuel, and not the University of Michigan?
February 6th, 2024 at 7:15 PM ^
We're not going to be calling him a Michigan Man when we throw dirt on him now.
February 6th, 2024 at 8:30 PM ^
Thats the cost of doing business. You think he has tears in his eyes for Moore? Nasty business.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:47 PM ^
Dammit Jim!
February 6th, 2024 at 6:47 PM ^
Speaks to Harbaugh’s ability to hire pro level talent at the college level.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:48 PM ^
National Champions
February 6th, 2024 at 6:48 PM ^
Curios to see what Moore says when asked about all these hires. Yes, he will take the high road, but he also might throw a little dig just to show he’s a little shitty about it.
I will always love Harbaugh for what he did here. I can also be pissed at him for literally not giving a shit about M after he left and how his departure would effect the future here.
Jim Harbaugh wins because he cares about nothing else. That’s impressive and not so great at the same time.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:17 PM ^
Maybeee . . . all those people that could never get along with Harbaugh weren't the ones that were actually the problem.
February 6th, 2024 at 8:32 PM ^
Seems like this makes less sense concerning Minter, Herbert, and Elston at this moment. 2 lifetime college guys leaving.
February 6th, 2024 at 8:34 PM ^
We may be bringing Brian Jean-Mary back to the staff. If you're not familiar with what happened when the Urban Meyer/Trent Baalke Jags called Harbaugh to request permission to interview him, check that out!
February 6th, 2024 at 6:48 PM ^
This feels like a failure of leadership on the part of Warde. He had two years to figure out that Harbaugh was leaving and failed to give him the contract he wanted. Then he failed to put in a contingency plan when he should have known that we’d get into a battle to keep staff. Sherrone has lost the majority of his staff at this point. We are late in the cycle and we are cheap. We will be left with crumbs at the end of this.
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