Report: Shaun Nua to USC
As broken this morning by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports and confirmed by Steve Lorenz and Josh Henschke, it appears DL coach Shaun Nua will accept the same job at USC. Nua took some heat for the state of the DTs under Don Brown but emphatically turned that around in the last year, both on the recruiting trail and in the development of Mazi Smith, Chris Hinton, Donovan Jeter, and Kris Jenkins.
Off-field analyst Ryan Osborn, who’s been heavily involved with the defensive ends over the course of the development of Kwity Paye, Aidan Hutchinson, and David Ojabo, would seem like a logical replacement. While losing a well-liked and respected position coach to a lateral move isn’t great, having a ready replacement on hand makes it an easier pill to swallow.
It’s probably more surprising that the staff has remained mostly intact this offseason after the year they all had. Michigan managed to sweat out the coaching carousel without losing Broyles winner Josh Gattis, Special Teams Coordinator of the Year Jay Harbaugh, or Sherrone Moore, position coach of the Joe Moore Award finalist offensive line. The insider sites also think National Coach of the Year Jim Harbaugh may be close to signing an extension($).
January 5th, 2022 at 9:46 AM ^
It's worth noting that DL recruits frequently tag Osborne when they commit or have good visits. Dude seems like he's full of energy.
January 5th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
Sad to lose Nua, but that’s a cost of success, which means it’s a good problem to have. Keeping as much of the crew as possible together remains key, as does building upward as you can or as you must. Thank you Coach Nua, and: Go Blue!
January 5th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
Multiple places reported Ryan Osborn was going to UConn. Was that not official back in November?
January 5th, 2022 at 10:02 AM ^
That was predicated on Osborn not having an on-field role at Michigan available. I would guess this changes things.
January 5th, 2022 at 9:49 AM ^
Wish him luck, and absolutely proved me wrong with his performance this year. I was on the "he should have been let ago when Brown left" train, but the growth of the line this year proves I was wrong about his abilities. And USC makes sense for a guy who has West Coast ties.
Will be interesting to see how this affects line retention this year; as noted there's already a guy on staff with deep connections to the players but you never know.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:31 AM ^
Same. DL performance spoke for itself this year.
This is the reality of college football.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:04 AM ^
Last year most wanted to get rid of Nua and we quickly realized the recruiting disadvantage due to the Don Brown scheme requirements he wanted. We were basically telling DE's they could be 3tech pass rushers and could barely land DT's...
Now, Nua has improved the group and also has Aiden as a major award winner to his coaching credit as well as turning the dline into a strength.. Granted I think he was a bad fit for Brown's system but I digress we'll find a really good replacement.
Best to him.
January 5th, 2022 at 12:41 PM ^
It's a major award!
January 5th, 2022 at 10:12 AM ^
Sucks for continuity purposes, but this is the first year the interior DL has been remotely decent under him and that may just have been because Hinton and Mazi are upperclassmen. Word is that Ryan Osborn has been coaching the DEs this whole time, so I'm not really sure how a big a loss this actually is
January 5th, 2022 at 2:26 PM ^
I agree with you. Hutch and Ojabo were all-world players and may have minimized the role of the interior line. Next year would definitely have been a real test to see if the DL under Nua was indeed a big step forward.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:17 AM ^
I think you buried the lede on this, when mentioning JH's contract extension in the final paragraph. We have a great staff, led by a jackhammer. Attrition is going to happen, but I love the engine that's been built. Choo Choo MF
January 5th, 2022 at 10:41 AM ^
Harbaugh signing an extension? That can't be true. At least, not according to all those oh-so-well-plugged-in football reporters and their avid followers. We're all supposed to be wearing helmets to keep from getting injured by the falling pieces of sky.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:52 AM ^
I think we should try to poach former Michigan player and Notre Dame Defensive Line coach Mike Elston. Hell of a recruiter, alum, experienced, young. Kind of a pipe dream but he's out there.
January 5th, 2022 at 11:13 AM ^
This would be the ideal choice but I read something about Elston referring to ND as home after Kelly left for LSU. It is hard to fathom that, but people get comfortable in shitty places too, I guess.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:52 AM ^
that's unfortunate to lose a coach to a horizontal position.... That said, I think he's from the west coast, so maybe it makes sense for him family wise.
Best of luck to Nua. Hopefully Osborn steps in and Michigan doesn't lose a beat...
January 5th, 2022 at 12:16 PM ^
The right answer is always to promote this dude.
January 5th, 2022 at 12:44 PM ^
The players and 'cruits seem to LOVE him (the DEs in particular mentioned Osborn a lot this season) and Spartan fans already hate / mock him so he seems like a perfect fit if he can coach at all....
I am curious how Nua-to-Osborn swap would affect K. Henry's recruitment. (if that horse hasn't left barn already.)
January 5th, 2022 at 9:19 PM ^
Sherrone Moore, position coach of the Joe Moore Award finalist offensive line.
Finalist!? Is this post from the past?
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