Potential Co-OC/QB Coach Candidates?

Submitted by MaizeBlueA2 on January 21st, 2023 at 8:47 AM

WARNING: This list is NOT based on any type of "insider" information.  Multiple sites (On3, 247, etc.) have floated names, I don't have subscriptions to all of them to ensure I've included the names that they've mentioned.  This is simply a random message board poster closing his eyes and trying to think about stuff that makes even a little bit of sense - I'm also trying to be somewhat realistic. I'm not talking about what type of offense they run, because we're clearly not going to drastically change the offense...it's about who fits what we do.

I've been building this list for the last two days, but feel free to list names that are missing!  Yes, it's long, I know "this should be a Diary," but no one reads diaries.  Last, these are not posted in any particular order, but I have sorted them into categories.

Here we go (I've linked wiki pages because they are consistent in format, I'm not cannot vouch for the accuracy)...

 

FIRED COACHES

Greg Roman (50): Obviously the most common name, he's been rumored to Michigan before and he's the first name that comes up simply because he falls into 3 of these 4 buckets.  The biggest issue with Roman is that he doesn't have a ton of experience as a QB coach.  There were also rumors the first time his name was floated that he's not that big into recruiting...which, people also said about Matt Weiss.  The fit is the obvious connection (Harbaugh, Ravens, etc.) and the fact that Jim Harbaugh could basically be the QB coach if he wanted to be.  With that said, the new Jim Harbaugh that is now a little more of a CEO (e.g., Saban and Swinney, but not nearly as much as either of those two) is the one that has had the most success.  Roman's name always comes up with Harbaugh, but he only has 2 (!) years of college coaching experience and it was 13 (!) years ago!  That said, he was a Broyles Award finalist and Harbaugh obviously took him to SF, where they had a ton of success and made it to the Super Bowl.  If Harbaugh has the Super Bowl itch, maybe Roman gives him comfort (joke).  RBs love Roman's offense, mobile QBs are a fan, WRs hate it.  If he came to Michigan, you could expect more of the same (run heavy, a lot of complaining about giving touches to the WRs).

Brandon Streeter (46): Former Clemson coach, was a rising star until he took the reigns on his own.  Admittedly, a lot of it was not his fault.  His predecessors were handed generational QBs (Watson, Lawrence, even Boyd was great).  He basically got 2020 Joe Milton.  Streeter is a A level recruiter, and a true QB coach.  With Michigan's passing game in need of some tweaking, it could make sense to look outside to integrate new ideas and concepts.

Paul Chryst (57): He's a fired coach, and there is a Harbaugh connection because Chryst was like the only coach in the B1G that Harbaugh actually likes and gets along with.  Chryst's background is a little interesting because he's a LONG TIME OC/QB coach, but his offenses are never dynamic and he loves to run the ball.  He also doesn't really develop QBs at the level you would expect.  Chryst actually feels like an great hire if Harbaugh left for the NFL and Moore was promoted to HC (due to his obvious HC experience).  The value here would be purely experience and Harbaugh being comfortable with him.

Mike Sanford (40): A hot name years ago, Sanford reached too quickly to be a HC, flamed out, and hasn't really recovered.  Still considered a great offensive mind, and still young enough to be a candidate for any OC job (age only mentioned because he doesn't have enough "stink" to be completely untouchable like a 50 or 60 year old OC would presumably have - re: Drevno, Borges, Chow, etc.)  Most recently at Colorado, where he was fired because the HC got fired.  He was named interim HC where he went 1-6 to close the 2022 season and Deion Sanders did not retain him.  Sanford has been all over, never really staying anywhere for more than a couple years, but one of his early stops?  Stanford (with a 't').  He arrived right after Harbaugh left to coach with David Shaw and Shaw promoted him every year he was in Palo Alto.  Sanford overlapped with Luck, but he was only coaching RBs at the time.  He does have B1G experience, coaching under Fleck at Minnesota in 2020 and 2021.

 

RAVENS TREE

Tee Martin (44): If Harbaugh goes back to big bro, Tee Martin is a great name to at least consider.  The Former Tennessee QB is coaching WRs for the Ravens, and he's split QBs and WRs for most of his career - mainly with the WRs.  The biggest advantage to Martin (besides the Ravens connection and NFL experience) is that he has a ton of collegiate experience for an NFL coach and he was an A+ recruiter.  Of all of the names mentioned, it is doubtful that any would recruit better than Martin (especially in SEC territory).  Martin was on Kiffin's staff a USC and recruited so well that he was retained when Sark took over.  Sarkisian elevated him to PGC before he got fired and Martin survived again, this time under Clay Helton.  Clearly he adds value in some way (likely recruiting).  Now he's got some Ravens in his blood and John Harbaugh on the resume...he may be the ideal candidate for Jim to bring to Ann Arbor.  You could also probably bring him in as QB/PGC and elevate Hart to co-OC, if needed to keep everyone happy and justify the pay bumps.

 

JIM HARBAUGH TIES

David Shaw (50): Also a fired coach, so he hits two buckets.  But he's only on this list because of the Jim Harbaugh connection - without that, no shot, because he could go be a HC if he really wanted to be a HC.  Or do TV for a year and then get back into coaching during the next cycle.  If he takes an OC job, it would likely be in the NFL.  Shaw likes the MANBALL, but without a generational QB in Andrew Luck his passing game has been, *excuse my language*..."boo boo."  Shaw has recently interviewed for the Broncos HC job, so this seems the most far-fetched and isn't worth much more thought.  Also, his Wiki page was edited to say he coaches the Ravens, he doesn't - at least not today.

Tavita Pritchard (35): A much more realistic "Stanford guy," clearly Harbaugh has been in contact with Shaw because he keeps raiding their former program.  Pritchard has connections to both of them, playing QB for Stanford in the Harbaugh/Shaw HC/OC days (his first start was the famous 41-point underdog game, with the win over USC).  Harbaugh brought him on to coach immediately after he graduated and he's never left Stanford, he was retained by the new coach, but demoted to just being the QB coach. He was most recently the OC at Stanford, which, eek.  Screams west coast Iowa.  Born in Tacoma, WA, he's the definition of a "west coast guy."

Willie Taggart (46): Everyone knows the connection here, Harbaugh recruited him to WKU, he played for Jack Harbaugh, Jim was the best man in his wedding, basically a brother.  Harbaugh hired him at Stanford before Willie left to go be the head coach at WKU.  Taggart feels like a much better candidate to replace Biff Poggi than he does Matt Weiss (assuming he has the ability to be an intermediary and "stand up" to Jim like Biff did).  He doesn't have a ton of OC experience and hasn't coached QBs directly since 2006 (it's probably safe to assume that as a former QB, like Jim, he's involved with the QBs even as a HC).  There are rumors about Deion bringing him to Colorado to be an analyst, but nothing has been confirmed (to the best of my knowledge)...if that's the case, Jim, get him to Ann Arbor to be an analyst!  Which could be the case if...(see Kirk Campbell).

Jimmie Dougherty (44): Remember him?  Also someone who falls in multiple buckets, but again, he's in the Harbaugh list because if Jim wasn't at Michigan, he probably wouldn't be a candidate to come back to Michigan (where he "coached" as an analyst in 2016).  Dougherty is a QB coach/Passing Game Coordinator/Offensive Coordinator...it's what he does.  There's obviously familiarity and a natural fit.  Harbaugh hired him going all the way back to their San Diego days.  Of all of the names mentioned on this list, Dougherty may be the #1 coach in "guy who's offensive number actually matter."  Because he's done it for so long and it's almost always the same job.  

 

MICHIGAN CONNECTION

Brian Griese (47): *deep inhale*, *LeBron voice*, "MICHIGAN MEN!! ...THIS IS FOR YOU!!!"  You all know who he is, but some don't know that he's not just an alum who is still around the game (most notably in broadcasting), he's currently the QB coach for the 49ers and have you seen Brock Purdy?  Probably more about Kyle Shannahan, but still...  That said, he's got one year of coaching experience and it isn't in college.  This is all about a bright mind around the program, who is a "Michigan Man" (and went 3-0 versus OSU), and would bring a ton of fresh ideas.  But would he recruit?  

Nick Sheridan (34): Reunited with Michigan, reunited with Mike Hart, reunited with "home" (Sheridan is from Saline).  Another connection?  Willie Taggart gave him his first job in college football (at WKU) and took him to USF, he has to know Harbaugh.  As a coach, opinions on Sheridan are mixed, but he's young - a trend we've been working at Michigan with the ACs, he's a "Michigan Man", and he's got experience (in and outside of the B1G).  No feathers would be ruffled.  That said, he's only really been an OC once (2020 and 2021 at IU), so Moore would presumably take the lead there.  He's coached QBs and TEs.  Fun fact: a 'Sheridan' has been mentioned in every (non-Rich Rod) coaching search at Michigan since 1986.

Kirk Campbell (36?): Last on the list, but maybe a front runner?  Currently an analyst with OC experience (ODU) that Harbaugh raves about.  He also loves to promote from within and feels like it keeps the existing culture (eventually it'll bite you in the butt to always go "in house", but this probably wouldn't be the "reach" that ends things).  Does he know the offense inside and out?  That's really the only question, because everyone is looking at this 2023 team as a national championship team...it would be easy to see Campbell (who is also obviously a 'Jim Harbaugh Tie') as the Jesse Minter on offense, come in, don't change anything, let's keep this thing going.  He was also interim QB coach at PSU after being an analyst there.  Shared because Weiss was considered an X's and O's film rat and Campbell has been an analyst at the college level for at least 4 years.  However, that could mean a number of things, does he just love film, game planning, and analyzing?  Does he have terrible people skills, and that's why the big brain hasn't developed into a big time OC job?  None of the above?  Who knows...

 

TL;DR? Yeah, me neither...I'm not going back to proofread through all of that, I'll just apologize for spelling and grammatical errors.  Hopefully it's not too bad...

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DMack

January 21st, 2023 at 10:52 PM ^

We need a guy who can actually coach and make the offense better, develop QB's. and recruit. I don't see a home run hire but Chryst, T Martin and Griese are the best choices for me. Chryst IMO was a good coach and a guy who was able to get the most out of kids who weren't 5 star recruits. He has been a HC for another Big Ten program so he would easily be best prepared over-all to back up Harbaugh, with his experience. It would be like having two experienced head coaches. I wonder if he wants to be the head guy again any time soon because if he does, he won't be around long. T Martin would probably be the best recruiter but not sure he can coach or develop talent. He seems more like the hired gun type recruiter but how long he stays matters. Finally Griese is a Michigan Man and we love him around here. He was a very good QB here so I think he can teach. Not sure he can coach, or recruit but we might find a guy who wants to be here long term, if he loves us back.

Someone said Devin Gardner would make a good QB coach and I also heard Leftwich's name tossed around and folks are saying good things about him as well. I like both Especially DG Wouldn't it be great to have a staff full of coaches who went to Michigan? That's the hook, and it sells the brand to recruits and their families. The brotherhood, the fraternity, screams to the entire nation that something is so great here that the guys are eager to come back and serve. With the success of the last two years however, an offense that struggles even a little bit or has two losses would be considered a failure to Michigan fans. We need to hire someone who really want's us as much as we want them.

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JonnyHintz

January 22nd, 2023 at 7:58 PM ^

It may eliminate some of the big names, but I’d assume Michigan would like to keep Moore working with the OL and that may be a bit much in addition to being the sole-OC. 
 

So I would assume Michigan would like to delegate some of the coordinator duties. Let Moore handle the OL and the playcalling and the overall direction of the offense but delegate some of the weekly prep and installation to a PGC and/or RGC. 

Joined: 01/11/2015

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stephenrjking

January 21st, 2023 at 1:07 PM ^

Which ones?

I'd like the passing game to be more aggressive, too. I have yet to encounter a persuasive argument that addresses, with any sort of detail, how that should occur. Michigan has had, roughly, the same sort of issues with passing aggression since Harbaugh came here, through no fewer than 6 offensive coaches with some sort of coaching title that suggests influence on the passing game.

Some people want more complexity... but Michigan's passing game is at least in some ways materially more complex than some of the passing offenses we imagine we want. Air raid and Briles-type stuff is actually quite simple, for example.

The singular issue I think most of us can put our finger on is that Harbaugh offenses want to scheme receivers to be clearly open and coaches the QBs to find those guys, and is resistant to trusting QB/receiver teamups to make throws where the defender is in position, even if it's possible for the throw location and the receiver skillset to combine to make it a catchable football. This was, obviously, most visible with Nico Collins, but I believe it contributes to other issues, including red zone game planning.

I think there zero chance that Harbaugh goes for a substantial overhaul of an offensive system that is bringing a bunch of key players back and is already pretty effective (yes, it could be *more* effective, but it's not like we were Iowa or anything). 

Honestly, I think the best chance Michigan has to upgrade the passing attack is to get a guy to work as an analyst and/or QB coach that already knows Harbaugh's preferred schemes. Instead of the transition cost of learning "this is what we do here," he already knows, and may have the trust to encourage the offensive braintrust to adapt what they already do to a more aggressive mentality. Coaching McCarthy and receivers to deploy more back-shoulder throws on certain vertical concepts, for example. Not a revolution, but better execution and using some natural tools that are available if they can be deployed.

 

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CFraser

January 21st, 2023 at 5:01 PM ^

I worry the OL will take a few steps back if Moore takes on OC full time. But it may result in a better offense in general. I’d love to get a great QB coach and let them focus solely on that room and no OC duties. Tom Brady needs something to do next year maybe. I keed, I keed. 

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Team 101

January 21st, 2023 at 9:01 AM ^

Great list - I agree that Chryst would be a dumb hire.  One other thought is Scot Loefler but he is a head coach at Bowling Green so probably not available.

Joined: 04/15/2013

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AresIII

January 21st, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^

Just based on his analysis and his energy level, I think Devin Gardner should get some consideration here.  With his personality, it's hard to believe he wouldn't excel at recruiting as well.

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Vote_Crisler_1937

January 21st, 2023 at 10:04 AM ^

I mostly enjoy Gardners work with Sam Webb and attended his live film reviews in Royal Oak a few years ago. I wonder if he has the seriousness and maturity to coach in Jim Harbaugh’s or any other elite coach’s environment just yet. He gets awfully silly and off topic with Sam. Of course that’s a different thing and perhaps Gardner is ready but it is my question. 

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stephenrjking

January 21st, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^

How someone interacts on a broadcast program is not a fair picture of how they would function as a coach.

That's both in favor of and against Devin; I'm sure he can be plenty serious when he needs to be. On the other hand, the ability to diagnose plays and talk about them on air does not remotely make someone a good coach. 

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DMack

January 22nd, 2023 at 12:01 AM ^

Why not give him a shot. I think he would relate well with recruits, and players. We know he already has a reputation for working with QB's during the off season. He knows offensive schemes and play calling probably as well as the other people being mentioned and he's a Michigan Man, Someone gave all those other guys a shot. why not him? There's nothing wrong with his maturity. level he acts silly on the internet because it's entertainment. He's done more for Michigan than anyone on the list except Griese.  Sam, gone ahead and put that together so my man DG can get at least some consideration and  that check!!!!!

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MadGatter

January 21st, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^

He coaches elite 11 camps and is a personal qb coach for a lot of Detroit area QBs of all ages (i think he calls his business Young Go-Getters). Also most importantly he has a positive pre-existing relationship with Jaydn Davis which may be enough to lock him in.

It depends on what route Harbaugh wants to go with this hire. Does he want another co-OC to help out Sherrone (who is inexperienced but seems capable)? Or is he okay with just a pure QB coach? I would prefer the later. Get someone who can recruit (QBs and otherwise) and can also develop QBs at a high level. Weiss wasn't that guy and its been a problem for a while under Harbaugh. 

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MJ14

January 21st, 2023 at 1:05 PM ^

Don’t wanna say anything negative about Devin at all, because he’s a good dude and played really hard for Michigan. But Moore was also best friends with Devin and that hurt Michigan more than it helped. Hiring Devin would not help with Davis, I can promise that. 

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