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 12:37 PM ^
Re: all the negativity. I don't know what everyone expects. People act like Harbaugh should've just done something as simple as hire Brent Venables, Joe Brady, and Ryan Day this offseason. People have made themselves completely miserable with respect to Michigan football
January 17th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
We should be a basketball school because the State of Michigan is a basketball state. The sooner we realize that, the happier we're all going to be.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:21 PM ^
Don’t watch the Iowa game tonight.
January 17th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
I highly doubt Clinkscale was lowballed.... unless you can confirm it.
And it's easy to sit here and criticize the Shoop hire, but the optics should tell you that that late in cycle, this was a slam dunk....
January 17th, 2020 at 12:58 PM ^
You highly doubt it because you don’t want to believe it. You know nothing fanboy.
And this isn’t late in any process. The coaches convention was just last week tons of coaches on the move now. You should stop posting and let the people who know what they are talking about do the talking.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:05 PM ^
No he highly doubts it because Brian isn't god. He might be to you, but to everyone else he's an emo football fan who has been known to spout off when he gets a sadz.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:53 PM ^
let the people who know what they are talking about do the talking.
Yep, this strategy has always led to good things happening throughout history.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:53 PM ^
"fanboy" lol.... Show me any history where Harbaugh has lowballed anyone... in fact, he has the money cannon, more than most. I don't doubt that with Partridge and Campanile on staff, the salary pool was limited... that would have been the only limiter here.... but to imply we went cheap.... no history of it, and in fact just the opposite...
January 17th, 2020 at 1:54 PM ^
I don't understand the logic of most of the people on this board. There's a lot torches and pitchforks towards a guy that took over a train wreck of a program, because he hasn't beaten one of the best programs in the nation, won a conference championship (which requires a win over the aforementioned team), or a national championship (lol)......within FIVE YEARS of taking over the train wreck. They point to recruiting, and expect to be on the same level as that aforementioned program. The unreasonable and unrealistic expectations are not only silly, but are toxic for our program. Those people should rejoice in the fact that he has made the program respectable again, instead of the laughingstock that it was.
Let's analyze what a 16 year old kid (which is about when they are realistically being recruited) has known for THEIR ENTIRE LIVES, the year Harbaugh took over. What happened during their lifetime?:
Michigan = suffered biggest upset/most humiliating loss in college football HISTORY, "stretchgate", "concussiongate", NEVER losing less than 2 games (three 2 loss seasons, five 3 loss seasons, two 4 loss seasons, two 5 loss seasons, a 6 loss season, a 7 loss season, and a 9 loss season), 6 wins-8 losses in bowl games, ZERO national championships, 1 outright conference championship (also shared two others), losing to crappy teams (like Rutgers and Maryland), being shutout by Notre Dame (0-31), having constant dogfights against terrible teams, crappy records vs rivals (4-13 vs OSU, 9-8 vs MSU, and 8-6 vs Notre Dame), ZERO Heisman winners, and every single sports TV program ridiculing them at every opportunity.
Ohio State = 2 national championships (also played for another one), 9 conference championships (4 were outright), 6 seasons with 1 or less losses (two were undefeated), a heisman trophy winner, and one of the best coaches in college football history (won 3 national championships, which 2 were at another school....along with producing his own heisman winner). Oh, and they won one of their national championships THE YEAR BEFORE Harbaugh got the Michigan job (so, I'm sure that didn't hurt their recruiting).
That's what those recruits knew about each school, during their entire lives....up to Harbaugh taking the job. OF COURSE Ohio State is going to be having an easier time recruiting those kids! It's common sense!
While OSU was going undefeated one year and winning a national championship another year.....within 3 years before Harbaugh got the job.....Michigan was getting worse (5 losses, then 6 losses, and finally 7 losses).
OSU has just added to that success, even more, since Harbaugh took over, as well.
So, again, why is our expectation for Harbaugh to be beating OSU (which not many other teams have been able to do, either) and winning championships within a few years? Please, someone explain, because (based on what he inherited, the obstacles he is facing every year, and the fact that he has immediately made the team respected again) he is not doing a bad job. So, PLEASE, stop with the ridiculous posts about Harbaugh apologists and shoving lofty expectations down our throats.
January 17th, 2020 at 2:36 PM ^
Two years ago LSU lost to Troy. Fucking Troy.
Today they are the National Champions.
People like you really need to shut up.
January 17th, 2020 at 4:33 PM ^
Lol....yet I never see anything said on TV about it. Michigan's loss to Appalachian State is still talked about on TV. Everyone knows that Michigan lost to Appalachian State. Nobody knows about LSU losing to Troy.
Plus, LSU hasn't been a tire fire for most of these kid's lives (they've won championships), but Michigan has.
You post on EVERY thread , with the same garbage, about how we should be outraged over not out producing OSU (on the field and on the recruiting trail), but fail to see the difference between where each team has been the last two decades.
Michigan was basically Sears. A former powerhouse, but hasn't been profitable for years. On the verge of bankruptcy, but had to have K-Mart (!) buy them, to save them.
Your philosophy is that they can just hire a great CEO, and have their stocks outperform Walmart or Amazon in a few years, because "they are Sears, and even an average CEO can get the the stocks to be profitable. We should be #1 in the market. We shouldn't settle for a CEO that just makes us highly profitable".
Yeah, Sears thought the same way, and now they are no longer in business.
Michigan was about to turn into an afterthought, completely, in the minds of fans and recruits....until Harbaugh came in and turned things around. Now, dipshits like you are constantly spamming a MICHIGAN FAN SITE, about BS expectations! You, sir, are the one that "needs to shut up". Be a fan , and let the professionals do their jobs.
Newsflash, genius, the recruits (that you do highly convet) read this blog and your negative posts, about their potential coaches. Do you think that helps or hurts the program (even in the very slightest bit)? You bitching about Harbaugh or his assistant coaches isn't going to change anything, but does (possibly) affect the thoughts of high school kids, making the biggest decision of their lives.
With all that said....am I happy with losing to OSU? NO, I am not. However, I'm a realist, and understand the reality of where the two teams have been in the last two decades. I understand the disaster that Harbaugh took on (and improved). I understand that a real turnaround takes more than a few years.
You should really just go watch another team.
January 17th, 2020 at 2:57 PM ^
This is the reality coming from Kentucky. The turnaround from the RR/Hoke debacle is awesome. People need to stop whining about no titles given the ditch this program was in. It took Tom Osborne 10+ years to overcome the Oklahoma bogie man, and doing it all without 'roids ! Barry Switzer's Oklahoma teams were so juiced it was crazy ... just research the Brian Bosworth era.
Some structural things would really help us (and everyone else) compete:
- FBI investigation into college football like it did in basketball
- Expand the playoffs to 12 teams and run it more like the NFL playoffs
- On-line academic classes for athletes need to be audited for fraud
- Legal NIL contracts - registered with the IRS with public reporting
These four things would start to level the playing field. Write your Senator.
January 17th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
Shoop >>> Partridge in player evaluation, development and X&O training
Partridge >>> Shoop in pure recruiting
Look at CP's 2017 class ... it was mostly a bust. Team is going back to its roots. We can't buy the 5-stars anyway and the one's we tend to get are head cases or not really 5-stars. The go forward recruiting is going to change to become more about self-scouting and player evaluation, both in terms of football skills and program fit (character, academics, etc.). Too many high-star flame outs from 2017. Looking more for the Hursts, Payes, Winovichs, Higdons, Hudsons, etc.
Really, really like the Tank hire. The players and recruits all rave about him.
January 17th, 2020 at 2:38 PM ^
Patridge > Shoop in every fucking way imaginable. There.
January 17th, 2020 at 3:20 PM ^
Literally every commenter on this message board > Maizen. There.
January 17th, 2020 at 8:23 PM ^
That made me laugh. Even that Salvatore guy with the old style av is better than maizen.
January 17th, 2020 at 6:50 PM ^
Speculation.
January 17th, 2020 at 2:05 PM ^
I'm fine with it. Let's let the coaches, who are more connected to the teams needs, make the decisions.
January 17th, 2020 at 3:19 PM ^
not particularly impressed, but i don't think these hires are a death sentence for recruiting. my hope is that this indicates that harbaugh himself will be more involved and proactive as a recruiter (front & center like he was for the first couple classes), as opposed to umgoblue11's description of him as being more in a "closer" type of role.
i also hope that they can focus tank's role on recruiting. i actually like the idea of having a young former NCAA player that has a lot of energy and enthusiasm being a liaison to recruits. i just hope he has the chops. there's nothing to indicate one way or another whether this will turn out this way, which i again think is rather unimpressive. but it is not necessarily a reason for hopelessness.
i know brian said that shoop might be another sharkelwain hire, but i think that would be a good thing insofar as his position group actually improved quite a bit with his coaching. i think it's likely this hire is more like nua, who has not produced anything obvious either in developing our kids or recruiting new ones. nua seems like a replacement-level coach in what turned out to be our greatest area of need. i'd love to be wrong if anyone has any insights about great things he's doing, but i've seen nothing of substance yet.
January 17th, 2020 at 4:24 PM ^
The problem with hiring McElwain types (1 and moving on) is that less recruits are going to sign up for a position coach with a foot out the door. I don't think Harbaugh is hiring Shoop for a 1 year stint. But we will see.
January 17th, 2020 at 5:23 PM ^
that part is a fair point, though i don't think shoop has ever been a head coach so it doesn't seem like he is the same immediate flight risk that mcelwain was.
i'd rather have good coaching and no recruiting than meh coaching and no recruiting, which is what i'm worried about with nua.
my hope is that if shoop is like mcelwain, the coaching will at least be good per the track record, even if the recruiting isn't. coaching up kids to become winovich-types is a good tradeoff if you aren't bringing in already-elite talent.
January 17th, 2020 at 3:25 PM ^
Wait and see how it plays out. A year ago, not many people knew who Joe Brady was, then LSU goes wild. Joe Moorhead was the next great upcoming coach and then he wasn’t. There are tons of names that appear great and don’t work out. Like Matt Canada a couple years ago. Just because on paper someone looks better doesn’t mean it is a better fit for the program. I trust Harbaugh to know a fit for his staff over someone writing on a message board.
January 17th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
I get why people are getting down on Harbaugh generally. But most of his replacement hires have done well; in many cases, he traded up. So he deserves the benefit of the doubt here.
January 17th, 2020 at 4:32 PM ^
Harbaugh is just weird. It's like he is out of innovative ideas. What happened to hiring successful HS coaches like Partridge, Poggi, Bush & Finotti ?
Now he hires Bob Shoop. Shoop might make sense as a DC, but not as a position coach who is a poor recruiter. Further, Shoop will jump at the first bigger money DC job offered to him. Just like Jim McElwain. Who could've guessed that Mcelwain wouldn't be satisfied to stay on as a wr coach? Bet Mac recruited his butt off at M. Bet Shoop will too.
How many wasted Asst Coach hirings will Harbaugh make? How many chances to bring in ace recruiters will he fumble?
Michigan has become a rehab program for coaching retreads. A way station for out of luck coaches.
January 17th, 2020 at 5:12 PM ^
Want to point out that Poggi isn’t a successful ha coach. He’s a multi millionaire who decided he wanted to play the part of football coach so he spent literally millions of his own money to build a football factory highschool in Maryland.
January 17th, 2020 at 4:50 PM ^
Why are we supposed to think Steve Clinkscale was lowballed? And, although I think that recruiting is very important, I don't know why the hell I should give a shit about the 247 recruiter rankings. Talk about a useless statistic; are we going to look at his high school GPA too? There may be good evidence that Shoop or Wright is a bad recruiter, but that isn't it. Then again, when it comes to Brian's football coverage on Mgoblog, I don't expect much past reposts of other writers comments these days.
January 17th, 2020 at 6:48 PM ^
Fucking sucks
January 17th, 2020 at 6:52 PM ^
Yadda yadda. 9-3ish with L to OSU. Rinse and repeat.
January 17th, 2020 at 7:10 PM ^
Ugh. How many more 3-4 loss seasons do we have to endure b4 Harbaugh "resigns" or "steps away"?
January 17th, 2020 at 7:50 PM ^
Dam you make Shoop sound like zhit. Maize and Brew has a little better look at who we are actually getting. I like Mgoblog but sometimes facts are better than opinions. It does say he isnt a great recruiter but everything else sounds great.
January 17th, 2020 at 8:38 PM ^
Lowballing Clinkscale is an excuse. He wasn’t leaving UK for UM - just like Marrow didn’t in 2016. That’s an indictment in and of itself.
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