Hello: Tank Wright and Bob Shoop
Michigan has apparently filled its defensive vacancies. As mentioned a couple days ago, assistant S&C coach Tank Wright is getting a bump to position coach. Webb reported this was likely and twitter sleuths noted a change in Wright's twitter bio to go from "S&C coach" to just "coach" recently.
Wright followed Ben Herbert from Arkansas a couple years back after a career as an OLB/DE at Arkansas which led to a cup of coffee in the NFL. As soon as he finished that coffee he signed up to be an S&C guy at his alma mater. If you've ever been party to an online discussion of strength and conditioning you know that evaluating S&C guys is… uh… contentious. I have no real idea whether Ben Herbert is a dude or not; nobody on Earth could tell you whether or not Wright is. His bio from Arkansas sums it up:
He fits the profile of a young, hungry guy who will hang upside down like a bat if that's what's necessary to recruit, but don't confuse this with the Partridge hire. Partridge had assembled a powerhouse at Paramus Catholic (Jabrill Peppers! Rashan Gary! Other guys!) where none had previously existed. He was such a good recruiter that half of New Jersey's coach fraternity hated him. Wright may or may not work out; he is not the obviously good idea Partridge was.
[After THE JUMP: Jim McElwain 2.0?]
cameo time
Michigan's other hire is frankly weird. It's a familiar name to anyone who's watched a metric ton of college football. A question we have all asked is "Is that Bob Shoop?" A statement quickly followed by that question: "Huh, I thought he was at [School X]."
This is because Shoop is a well-travelled defensive coordinator. He's been a college DC since 2007, when William & Mary hired him. James Franklin picked him up in 2011 while he was still at Vandy. After three years there he popped over to PSU with Franklin. Then a series of two-year tenures at PSU, Tennessee, and Mississippi State before Joe Moorhead got broomed.
That left him scrambling at the same time Michigan was scrambling post-Campanile departure. Thus a marriage of convenience based on the fact that Shoop has background with Don Brown. This is reminiscent of hiring Jim McElwain minus the shark jokes: Shoop is a coordinator-level guy who apparently does not recruit much…
On the recruiting trail, the hiring of Shoop is not expected to move the needle a ton. He finished the 2020 cycle ranked 428th in the country according to the 247Sports Composite Recruiter Rankings and finished 2019 as the 117th ranked assistant coach in the SEC according to the same metric.
…and is likely to leave as soon as someone pulls him off the retread pile. What's the point? Hiring a bonus coordinator may have made some sense under Harbaugh's offensive regime. It doesn't when Don Brown is the be-all and end-all on defense to the point where Michigan refused to hand out any frippery titles to retain Partridge/Campanile.
I dunno, maybe the combination of Brown and Shoop will be like the bit where the robots come together and make a super robot that overcomes all problems. I doubt it. Anyone who doubts the primacy of recruiting should take a gander at what happened to Michigan's DTs against quality opposition this year.
Lowballing Steve Clinkscale, who's had two excellent secondaries the past two years and is a proven A+ recruiter in the state of Michigan, looks pretty bad right now.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:08 PM ^
Brian is twisting the truth here. Either his anger is clouding his judgement or is just misinformed.
Also, his anger leads him NOT to mention that under Shoop, Penn State had the BIG's top scoring defense in 2016. At MSU he had the SEC's top scoring defense in 2018. Even in 2019 with one of the youngest units in the country, his defense was okay and improved throughout the year.
January 17th, 2020 at 3:24 PM ^
It fits with Brian's current narrative that Michigan doesn't have an adequate "football culture". Doesn't matter to him whether it is true or not because Brian is checked out and just keeps this blog because it's better than finding a real job.
January 17th, 2020 at 4:20 PM ^
Brian has become nothing but a whiner.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:07 AM ^
Said this before, but bringing back the support guys from 15/16/17 makes the most sense to me. Albert Karchnia is one of these guys and is making a name for himself. CMU has the most talent in the MAC, and one reason is they are not afraid to compete in Florida, NJ, and in the portal.
Personally, I would try and get Ron Bellamy or Jermaine Crowell. The State of Michigan has an all-time 2021 class. If you just get the 5-7 kids you want from Michigan your composite would be 4.375!
Also, Cato June or Kovacs would be fun.
Cheers
January 17th, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
Are you close friends with Albert or something? You don’t post often but it always seems to include him.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:56 AM ^
Attended the same high school and know his family (his father is the high school VP and asst hoops coach OLSM).
Worked along people he has worked with, he is a superstar in the making.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:43 AM ^
I don’t get the infatuation with Cato June. Aside from him being an alum, that would be a lackluster hire and fans would be irritated that he’s even being considered.
He’s a running backs coach at an FCS school that just went 2-10. The fact that he’d be considered for a defensive coaching position, which he has never coached before, does nothing outside of scratch the fan nostalgia itch of having a former player on staff.
You have a safeties coach opening? Go get a proven safeties coach. Fans would flip their lids if Michigan went out and brought in the Montana State QB coach to coach the linebackers or something. It makes zero sense. And aside from Cato being a former player here, he makes zero sense as well.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:17 AM ^
Fans would flip their lids if Michigan went out and brought in the Montana State QB coach to coach the linebackers or something.
Not if said QB coach was an all-time great Michigan linebacker. Is the only way to demonstrate you could be a good position coach to have coached it before? Does playing the postion at a high-level for a decade-plus count for nothing?
By that same logic -- Partridge was a terrible hire because he had never coached LBs (or any position) at the college level. Also, UM and OSU must not know what they are doing by hiring Al Washington because he had not coached LBs prior to his stint at UM.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
But that’s the problem. The only way fans WOULDN’T flip their shit was if he was a Michigan alum. Why is Michigan alum a metric for quality of coach? If the guy isn’t coaching said position at the FCS level, why would a major P5 school consider him for the position? That’s a horrible move that would cause the board here to mutiny if it weren’t for the “former M player,” connection.
Partridge was brought on in a non-coaching role. Given a tryout for bowl prep after Durkin took the Maryland job. And Harbaugh decided he had shown enough to get a full position. How in the hell is taking a running backs coach from a terrible FCS school a comparable situation in your eyes?
But yes, playing the position counts for literally nothing when it comes to coaching. Tons of coaches coach positions they never played. Josh Gattis played as a safety, and is an offensive coordinator for example. If playing ability were an indicator of coaching ability, why would Howard hire him to coach running backs instead of linebackers?
Ignore the former Michigan player part. Because that has literally ZERO bearing on coaching ability. “Michigan hires offensive coach from 2-10 FCS team to coach defensive position.” THAT is what you’re advocating. That is asinine. That is insane. That would universally be chastised as a horrendous move. Because it IS a horrendous move. Get rid of your nostalgia. That has zero place in coaching decisions.
Washington going from coaching DL to coaching linebackers is a LOT different than going from coaching an offensive position to a defensive position. Not to mention Washington was brought in almost exclusively for his recruiting chops and prior experience with Brown. The issue isn’t just that he’d coach a new position. The issue is you’re going to a terrible team at a much lower level to get a guy who doesn’t even coach that side of the ball. Hiring ANYONE from a 2-10 team would be looked down upon by fans. Add in that it’s from the FCS level. Add in he doesn’t coach that side of the ball.
point being, the ONLY reason he’s being mentioned is because he played here. Period. And that’s no way to determine coaching hires.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:23 AM ^
I know Albert since I went Michigan at the same time as him. Good guy. Idk what he did during his time as intern in Schembechler Hall but he clearly has a network of promoters on here lol
January 17th, 2020 at 10:07 AM ^
So it has now come to this, great!!!
January 17th, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
What frustrates me most with the past 2-3 years of Harbaugh is that he does not seem to emphasize recruiting to the level that other top programs do. Yes, we want our position coaches to be top notch coaches and have the ability to develop our players. But, we also need to have a number of position coaches that can go out and close on top level recruits to at least narrow the talent gap with OSU.
I am not criticizing either of these hires specifically, but who on our new recruiting staff is a proven ace recruiter?
January 17th, 2020 at 10:33 AM ^
Gattis and Moore are supposedly elite recruiters. Nua, Brown and Warriner do well.
Just a quick side note. Remember when Warriner was hired and Brian and everyone else reported he was a good oline coach but he sucks at recruiting?
That narrative according to Sam and others seems to be completely false.
As Ygritte says. We know nothing.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:41 AM ^
Yeah, the about-face on that front is jarring. It's almost like sometimes you have to see how a guy actually performs in a spot before assuming the worse.
Yes, Michigan needs to improve recruiting. At the same time, a big part of recruiting is being good, and Bob Shoop absolutely does that. And Wright did play for 4 years at Arkansas on some good teams. And he's young and likely very motivated. He may turn out to be a good coach and recruiter, and the reflexive "OMG why didn't we sign the guy from Kentucky?!" is tiring, especially when his biggest pull last year was Rogers, a guy even MSU wouldn't touch. Who's to say he'd be demonstrably better in the region than anyone else.
January 17th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
Apparently the Kentucky coach is the best coach of all time and anyone less is a complete failure. I heard he’s the only college coach welcome in the city limits of Belleville and Detroit. Watch out Kentucky will be in the SEC championship game within 4 years.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
The whole magic recruiter thing seems weird. I get that some people have crazy charisma and you'd run through a brick wall for them, but it seems like most football coaches have at least a little of that or they wouldn't be football coaches.
I'd love to see a knowledgable diary about what makes a super-recruiter. Seems to me that it is like sales where charisma is a prereq and then it is 50/50 luck and 110% effort. ...and having a pre-existing network a la Patridge also really helps.
If umgoblue11's diary the other day is accurate, then it seems like only being able to go after 1/3rd of the recruits would allow us to focus our efforts.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:44 AM ^
No one. Hence why UM can't even sign top 10 classes anymore. I'm just here for the replies because I said the exact same thing about the Shoop hire yesterday that Brian is saying today and got absolutely crucified for it. And when OSU hires stud recruiter Kerry Coombs once the Titans get bounced this hire is going to look even dumber. Harbaugh just doesn't fucking get it. Nua gets a job because he knows Magee. Zordich get a job because he knows Durkin. Shoops gets a job because he knows Brown. And on and on. Anyone see a pattern here.
This program is in deep shit because they simply don't put the resources into recruiting that OSU does. It has nothing to do with academics or cheating and everything to do with not having our own Mark Pantoni and having a head coach who couldn't give a rats ass about recruiting. But it is damn funny seeing all you idiots keep defending every move this man makes because why again? He's 0-5 against OSU and hasn't won the B1G and has lost at least 3 games every year? If OSU lost 3 games in a season Columbus might burn down. Trieu and Wiltfong told you guys the recruiting department was a mess and UM isn't putting the effort into it that other programs are. UM loses its two best recruiters and UM's response to that is to hire a guy who is a proven dog shit recruiter? LOL great job Jim.
This is sad and depressing. Guess we just have to wait until Harbaugh goes back to the NFL because the guy just don't fucking have what it takes to run an elite program in college anymore. And finally, LOL at anyone who believes that drivel umgoblue11 wrote in his diary. That is the biggest sack of lies I've ever read in my life.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:51 AM ^
Ah, there he is. I thought I detected the pungent smell of liquid diarrhea headed this way.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:58 AM ^
You're right. This is sad and depressing. and i'm not talking about the football hires.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:17 AM ^
It's not sad and depressing. Real problems that real people have are sometimes sad and depressing. This is just a football team with coaches and players. I know I shouldn't respond to you but you are apparently one of those trolls that doesn't go a way if you stop paying attention to them. Find something better to do than barfing over every single comment and thread on this site.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:23 AM ^
9-10 wins is "deep shit" and you're this worked up about it? 9-10 wins by a sports team you're not part of is "sad and depressing" and you want Jim to leave?
If 9-10 wins under Harbaugh is this bad for you, how did you refrain from killing yourself during the RR and Hoke years?
January 17th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
He is reborn in 2015 January.
January 17th, 2020 at 2:39 PM ^
It all depends on the goal. I hate to agree with him, but 9-10 wins a years makes us solidly . . . mediocre. It's fine - we are better than the MAC schools, definitely better than 2-3 or more of the BIG Ten, but at 9-10 wins a season, we will NOT be playing in the BIg Ten Championship Game, winning our division or ever making the playoffs.
So, no, it does not equate with the RR and Hoke years, but if the goal is to be amongst the top 4-6 teams, then yes, 9-10 wins is being in deep shit - too good to make a change, but not good enough to succeed.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
Boy, where do I start?
Class rankings under Harbaugh:
'15 - 37th Overall (Mere weeks to fix post-Hoke exodus)
'16 - 8th overall
'17 - 5th overall
'18 - 22nd overall
'19 - 8th overall
'20 - 11th overall
Harbaugh "can't even sign top 10 classes anymore?!"
You think Zordich was a bad hire?
January 17th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
OSU signed 9 top 100 recruits this year UM signed 1. But sure go around bragging about that #11 class that Wiltfong said any coach in the country could accomplish at Michigan. You idiots just don’t get it. And it doesn’t help that 47% of the guys in 2026 and 2017 classes have transferred or left early. 47%! In comparison OSU is at 31% and they sing more 5 stars than anyone.
January 17th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
You're near "Peak Maizen." This account is going to flame out before the weekend is over at this rate.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
But you don't get it JPC!!!! None of us get it!!!!!! If only we and Harbaugh would get it!!!!!!! Everything would be fixed!!!!! If they would recruit good players instead of he bad ones they recruit, things would be fine. Why don't they do that!!!!!!!!
Its like when poor people are poor. They just don't get it!!!!! They should make more money!!!!!!! If they did that, everything would be fine!!!!!!
Why don't you get it!!!!!!!!
January 17th, 2020 at 2:47 PM ^
I can't believe that I am agreeing with Section 1 for second time in the same thread, but if you strip away the insults and tantrums, what he is saying in this comment is 100% correct. We are simply not recruiting at a level to allow us to compete with OSU or other elite programs. Even our better classes lacked more than a handful of true top-ranked recruits, and largely elevated their rankings with large numbers. I'm not saying that Harbaugh hasn't gotten his share of talent - DPJ, Gary and a handful of others come to mind. But, OSU has more top 100 guys IN THIS CLASS than we have gotten in the past three classes combined.
Were this not enough, the retention of highly-ranked players has been pretty poor.
Bottom line: While Section 1 may not be the best messenger, his complaints about our recruiting prowess are not invalid. A program with our tradition, facilities, fanbase, infrastructure and resources, coached by a former successful NFL coach, should be reeling in talent and we simply are not.
January 17th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^
Yes, us idiots "just don't get" arguments like "Jim Harbaugh can't even bring in top 10 classes anymore" that are demonstrably false. You held that out as a data point supporting your argument, and are now trying to move the goalposts.
I am genuinely curious - you pointed to Zordich as an example of cronyism in Harbaugh's hires - you think he is a bad hire?
January 17th, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
Sheesh man. You're delusional.
It's one thing to question if Michigan is emphasizing recruiting enough (many here would ponder that) and it's another to do what you're doing, which is coming in here yelling about sheeple and how Michigan football is doomed and you're the martyr who is dying to bring us this word that recruiting is important and no one will listen to you
Everyone knows recruiting is important. You're just being a loud and obnoxious ass
January 17th, 2020 at 1:32 PM ^
Are you mentally challenged or something?
"If OSU lost 3 games in a season Columbus might burn down."
QUIT comparing OSU's results to Harbaugh's results!
OSU has won TWO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, in the last 20 years.
Michigan has won ZERO.
One was the YEAR BEFORE Harbaugh was hired!
Harbaugh took over a team that was a laughing stock, and was NOWHERE NEAR respected! He wasn't hired to get a good team "over the top". He was the best coach available and willing to take over a joke of a team.
OSU and Michigan are in different stages of their existences. "Harbaugh's recruiting" or "Harbaugh's assistant coaching hires" have NOTHING to do with that! Michigan's problems pre-date Harbaugh.
All the recruits have known THEIR ENTIRE LIVES is that OSU is one of the best teams and Michigan ISN'T (and the team that lost to Appalachian State). That's NOT a Harbaugh issue, so STOP making EVERY post about how we shouldn't stand for anything less than top 5 recruiting classes, conference championships, and national championships. OSU is literally in the way of ALL of those goals. Building a program doesn't happen instantly. It takes time. People like you only help make that process harder, for the coaches, because of negative expectations and press.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
HARBUAGH DEFLATED THE MSU RISE...
Have some fucking perspective...they had huge momentum and he knocked them back down to irrelevancy. Saved our program as far as I'm concerned.... unless you wanted MSU to switch places with us ?
And here comes the team with McCaffrey... I'm putting money on them to win title... not saying they'll win it but will sniff the playoff enough where I can hedge the bet.
The best is yet to come...
January 17th, 2020 at 11:24 PM ^
I saw you post this stuff about not having a mark Pantoni on your new Twitter acvount today. Please explain the difference between marks job and Sean McGee's, because they seem to have the same responsibilities, but with different titles.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
Guys like Moore, Campanile, Al Washington, Partridge, and Nua were brought onto the coaching staff almost exclusively for their recruiting chops. Gattis is another guy known as a great recruiter that was brought in.
We just lost 2 of our 3 best recruiters. Leading to the view that our staff isn’t built for recruiting and that’s somehow Harbaugh’s fault. But Harbaugh has certainly made recruiting a priority with previous hires.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
Brian hates these hires but he hates most things Michigan football related these days, so I don’t know what to think.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:58 AM ^
The program is in a much better position now than at any point since Carr, yet EmoBrian is in full bloom. It's funny, Brian wasn't this bad when we were being blown out by every team with a pulse under RichRod.
I'd find another place to read about Michigan football, but to be frank, I'm not paying for internet content and Brian and his crew are good writers.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
The program is in a better position since the two worst hires since the 1950's. Sounds like reason to celebrate. Nevermind that Lloyd Carr was 20-8 against top 10 teams, won a national title, won 5 big ten titles. Beat PSU 9 straight times. Beat Wisconsin every almost every year. (Two teams we now lose to). And had a winning record against OSU. Let me know when Harbaugh can even equal that.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:20 AM ^
You've lost your shit Maizen. I don't like these hires and I think Harbaugh has peaked at Michigan, but you're still an idiot.
January 17th, 2020 at 11:25 AM ^
Shawn, every post of yours looks like this
January 17th, 2020 at 12:10 PM ^
For every Wolverine Devotee there must be a Maizen. All things must be in balance in the universe. So it is written.
January 17th, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
and people wanted him fired too.
January 17th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
This. People were bitching about Carr and look what it got us. Yeah, I get it, we beat out Alabama for RR, but it seems to me that most people could tell that guy was going to suck from day 1. He leaves his alma mater who he has running on all cylinders for another job (no loyalty). He listens to Josh Groban or whatever that wings song was. ...and he's beady eyed. ...and we later find out he is a sexual predator.
Harbaugh needs to win more big games, but we beat Iowa and ND soundly this year and were a few less rounds of Shea playing golf, from beating PSU. OSU and Wisconsin were debacles, but we were in the Alabama game until the fourth quarter. It's not horseshoes, but anyone who witnessed Hoke against Bama has to be happy about our progress.
January 17th, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
It amazes me that people still want to compare Harbaugh to the WORST decade of Michigan football in modern history as if that is some sort of accomplishment. The bar has been lowered so often by a chunk of this fanbase that it is now subterranean.
January 17th, 2020 at 12:01 PM ^
Would you prefer he lie to you so you feel better between now and the annual OSu asskicking? Maybe he "hates" things that aren't getting UM closer to winning the games they need to. Novel concept I know. 8 straight years losing to OSU, 3-17 in the last 20, and you expect people to shit sunshine and rainbows on this blog for you. Amazing.
January 17th, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
Brian is a former computer programmer and football fan. Hanging your hat on any of the shit he says is pretty stupid.
January 17th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
And yet here you are on his forum. The guy puts in more work an analysis than any other UM writer on the net. But I don’t need to hang onto his every word to know Um football is underachieving just look on the field bozo.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:02 PM ^
Yeah Maizen, here I am commenting on his barely functional discussion forum. I'm not kissing his ass, or acting like he knows what he's talking about, or like the fact the he agrees with me means something. Here's the thing Maizen. You and I agree on more stuff than we disagree on. You're just a miserable asshole about it and it rubs everyone the wrong way.
As I've said to your 10 previous accounts - when you manage not to lose your mind, you're really knowledgeable about football and recruiting. You're reaching "Peak Maizen" now though, so all you're doing is acting like an ass.
January 17th, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
Honest question, regarding Tank, how is he "not the obviously good idea Partridge was" that seems just based on Partridge coaching HS ball in NJ? So we are saying that a guy with no college experience is a more obviously a good idea than a guy who has at least worked in college football before he got hired? Wright can't build up a High School recruiting pipeline if he is a SC coach in D1 and not a High school coach. How about we let it marinate a bit and see what happens?
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