What traits of a DC would you prioritize in the new hire?
Not trying to add another thread spelling out which candidates we should go after for our DC. But I was curious about what traits people would want Michigan to prioritize in their DC search.
Lay out the top 4 traits you would be prioritizing if you were Harbaugh. Here is a list to choose from to get started (feel free to add):
- Proven track record and experience
- Young and up and coming
- Overall recruiting prowess
- Great schematic coach
- Connection to Midwest recruiting
- Connection to Southern recruiting
- Connection to East coast recruiting
- Connection to West coast recruiting
- Connection to Michigan
- Connection to OSU
- Specialty on Defensive line
- Specialty on LB's
- Specialty on Secondary
- Has coached at a blue blood program
- Ties to Harbaugh
For instance, when Don Brown was hired, he was: Proven track record and experience, Great schematic coach, Connection to East coast recruiting, Specialty on LB's.
Curious to see what people would be looking for given the state of our program.
My list would be something like (in order):
1. Great schematic coach
2. Overall recruiting prowess
3. Experienced and proven
4. Connection to southern recruiting
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:00 AM ^
Someone who can keep Ohio state from scoring.
The end
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:03 AM ^
Actually, the defense already played OSU well before twice, but because the offense was and still is trash, it didn't matter.
2016 (2 OT) and 2017 OSU losses.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:32 AM ^
It’s hard to call giving up over 200 yards rushing playing well. That said, OSU has built an offensive machine. Hold them to 75 yards rushing and you probably are giving up 450 yards passing.
It seems like the best defenses are the ones which have the athletes on the d-line and in the secondary to be able to force a turnover or make a few big stops on third down during a game. I.e. you are going to give up yards and points, but can you change momentum a few times a game?
Don Brown’s results the past few years were the opposite of that. He focused on linebackers/hybrids. There were very few turnovers and it seemed like he gave up at least one or two huge momentum turning plays on third and long. Wasn’t there two 3rd and 30’s converted against Michigan without penalties each of the past two seasons?
To that end, I want a d-coordinator who wants a big/athletic d-line, athletic secondary, and focuses on pressure and coverage. Looking at Alabama’s recruiting classes, they always seem to get at least one guy who is @ 6’ 3” and 310 lbs whether he is a three star or five star. Having that pipeline ensures they will always have a big strong guy to anchor down the middle. That opens up pressure from the edge and helps generate those crucial third and short stops on the ground.
December 23rd, 2020 at 2:55 PM ^
I'm sorry, giving up 10 points in regulation, 7 of which came after a Mich interception set up OSU at Michigan's 13 yard line is a "terrible failure." OSU's only other regulation TD came off a Pick 6. The defense was demoralized by OT and gave up about about 50 yards in double OT.
So in reality, in regulation, the offense gave up 14 points while the defense gave up 3. In addition, a Michigan defensive INT set up the offense at OSU's 40, which they fumbled away at the goal line. Then the D forced a turnover on downs at OSU's 22 on a fake punt, which set up the offense for a TD.
Yes the defense since the 2018 OSU beatdown has been terrible. I was simply pointing out that overall, the offense has been far worse and there's no way Brown should be fired, but Harbaugh gets new life.
December 23rd, 2020 at 12:28 PM ^
Well said!
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:00 AM ^
Basically yours, but with a specialty focus instead of southern recruiting connection. Give me an elite defensive line and not only will the whole defense be better, recruiting any region will become somewhat easier.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:03 AM ^
This is exactly where my mind went. Give me someone with a DL specialty and great recruiting. We need to find a way to get that elite group of DL / DT recruits. When you look at Alabama and Clemson... they always have an elite DL. This helps cover for the rest of the defense if you do have some talent gaps at specific positions.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:02 AM ^
Does not wear a visor
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:05 AM ^
Harbaugh has one year left to prove something.
Great ability to field top 10 defense in 1 offseason.
Recruiting doesn't matter for shit with a 1-term DC. Get a guy with experience and have your assistant pool focus on recruiting.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
If Harbaugh signs an extension, I'd say there about a 90% chance he's going to be here longer than 1 year unless next year is an utter catastrophe.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
Agreed. Logical thought is severely lacking around here anymore. They will not bring him back under a new contract (even w/ reduced buyout) then turn around and fire him next year. Won't happen, especially with a new DC, in a year when we know our D is going to be a bit rough.
December 23rd, 2020 at 12:04 PM ^
I think the point he’s making is that, a coach who can scheme up a good defense is prioritized over a good recruiter. If the defense stinks next year, Harbaugh will be gone anyway! The whole purpose of the extension is to appear that Harbaugh will be here long term but in reality it makes him easier to let go because the buyout and annual pay will be much lower than what he is making now
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:05 AM ^
- Great recruiter with an ability to connect with kids & their parents very well. Bring back some energy to this damn program.
- an innovative mind with an understanding on how to contain modern passing schemes.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
Ability to cover OSU crossing routes.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
1. Ability to recruit
2. Ability to develop talent
3. Ability to motivate
4. Ability to scheme
After the rule changes over the past 10-15 years almost exclusively aiding the offensive side of the ball its created a situation in which it's significantly easier to scheme your way to success on the offensive side of the ball than it is the defensive side of the ball. We just witnessed this with Don Brown. The scheme was fine but we didn't have the horses to properly execute it. Its amazing how a plethora of good players can make almost any defensive scheme work.
December 23rd, 2020 at 1:40 PM ^
Came here to say exactly this. Today's offenses have too many different ways to attack you to try to win on scheme. IMO, Don Brown is a good as anyone at scheme, but in today's game its impossible to hide talent deficiences to keep them from getting exploited by a competent offense.
Obviously it would ideal to get an elite playcaller along with an elite recruiter, but if there is a tradeoff to be made, I would rather get an A+ recruiter/B+ playcaller (Kerry Coombs type) than an elite schematic guy would has trouble pulling in the talent needed to compete (like Don Brown).
December 23rd, 2020 at 8:22 PM ^
Running a predictable, one dimensional defense is not good scheming. Seeing the other side with superior athletes and expecting your guys to live on an island all game is poor scheming. Calling and showing a blitz and watching the offense adjust and leaving the blitz on is poor scheming. Don Brown was a one trick pony that could haul around the kiddies crumbled under the men.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
- No beavers
- Also, let's give them a consulting case study: how many times do you let Ohio State run a mesh route before you change schemes?
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:07 AM ^
Question. After thinkin about it, why do a lot of us want mason so bad? He wasn’t that great of a recruiter and last DCd for Stanford. What makes his defenses special?
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
Admittedly, I was originally on the Mason train. After more thought, I've shifted to the idea of Larry Foote or Marcus Freeman.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
Because we could call his defense The Brick Wall.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:09 AM ^
He has to be great with X's and O's and he has to be able to recruit. You can be smart but if you don't have the horses it won't matter. Additionally, there are a lot of talented defenses that are just bad across the board. It would be nice if he could adapt based on his personnel. Basically, I'm looking for a unicorn
I don't care where the unicorn comes from.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:55 AM ^
Just to be thorough I checked to see what Bonnie Tyler was up to. She is 69 years old so I question her ability to recruit. She did marry a 1972 Judo Olympian so he might be able to help with the Defensive Line with their ability to get leverage.
December 23rd, 2020 at 3:10 PM ^
Bonnie Tyler - I Need A Hero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWcASV2sey0
Sometimes this board is a blast from the past
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
-Southern recruiter (Preferably someone who has inroads in FL/GA and/or Louisiana/TX).
-If it’s an up-and-coming position coach, someone who has put talent into the NFL or has at least coached his position into the strength of their overall D.
-Ideally younger. I’d like to see Michigan become a place where coaches stop on the way to becoming future head coaches.
-The ability to adjust his defense.
Random Coach I Like:
-Mike Reed (Clemson DB coach and former Eagles DB coach that built up Sheldon Brown/Lito Shepherd into elite CBs). Only 48 years old. Young, solid recruiter. He is a bit older, but he’s been at Clemson for some time now, and has seen their program evolve from a solid program to a monster.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:39 AM ^
Solid recruiter at Clemson may not translate to solid recruiter at Michigan. Where they have had success recruiting is important.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
For me, it would be:
1. Great schematic coach
2. Specialty on Defensive Line
3. Overall recruiting process
4. Ability to coach up talent
We saw the amazing things that could happen when an amazing defensive line meets Dr. Blitz, and losing that D-line has hurt our defense.
I'm also adding that he has "ability to coach up talent." Recruiting 5 stars is great, and we need as much talent as we can. But what separates Bama/OSU/Clemson apart is that they bring in 5-star talent and make them better. It's not enough to just get Rashan Gary, the coach needs to turn him into the defensive powerhouse that we expected him to be.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:20 AM ^
It was Gary, not the coaching. He hasn’t been any different in the NFL. He was and is just another guy whose play on the field doesn’t measure up to his combine numbers.
December 23rd, 2020 at 3:12 PM ^
Top line recruits also sometimes just don't pan out for a number of reasons.
Here is a list of #1 recruits since 2010.
2010 - Ronald Powell - Florida - Bust
2011 - Jadeveon Clowney - South Carolina - Great college player, underwhelming pro.
2012 - Dorial Green-Beckham - Missouri - Underwhelming
2013 - Robert Nkemdiche - Ole Miss - Underwhelming
2014 - Leonard Fournette - LSU - Turned out good
2015 - Trenton Thompson - Georgia - Bust
2016 - Rashan Gary - Michigan - Underwhelming career
2017 - Jaelan Phillips - UCLA - Bust so far
2018 - Trevor Lawrence - Clemson - he's been alright...
2019 - Nolan Smith - Georgia - TBD
2020 - Bryan Bresee - Clemson - Looks good so far.
Rashan fits right in the middle of this group of players with Green-Beckham and Nkemdiche, that had underwhelming careers but still drafted relatively high
Now let's look at the 5* players OSU and Bama have recruited from 2010 - 2016 (Bolded are players drafted outside of the first two rounds or worse)
Bama:
Dee Milliner, Phillip Sims, Cyrus Kouandjio, Ha Ha Clinton Dix, Trey DePriest, Landon Collins, Eddie Williams, TJ Yeldon, Reuban Foster, Derrick Henry, Jonathan Allen, OJ Howard, Robert Foster, A'Shawn Robinson, Cam Robinson, Da'Shawn Hand, Tony Brown, Marlon Humphrey, Rashaan Evans, Calvin Ridley, Kendall Sheffield, Blake Barnett, Daron Payne, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Damien Harris, Ben Davis, Mack Wilson, Jonah Williams
Hit rate: 17/28 = 60%
OSU:
Curtis Grant, Braxton Miller, Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington, Vonn Bell, Jalin Marshall, Raekwon McMillan, Justin Hilliard, Nick Bosa
Hit rate: 4/9 = 44%
Michigan:
Derrick Green, Jabrill Peppers, Rashan Gary
Hit rate: 2/3 = 66%
What does this mean? That recruiting is a crap shoot. Sometimes players develop into their potential, sometimes they don't. We just don't recruit enough 5* for us to reap the benefits often enough. This year Bama signed 6 5*'s and OSU signed 5 (so far). The likely hood is that 3-4 will turn into stars and 2-3 will turn into role players or busts.
Our last 5 star players drafted actually sow a full spectrum of how this recruiting turns out. Green was an outright bust. Peppers was a star. Gary was good but not great. DPJ was okay and drafted low. I think we can put the narrative that Michigan can't develop 5* talent to rest.
December 23rd, 2020 at 3:24 PM ^
Interesting and thank you for the analysis. While I am envious of the 5 stars that others recruit it always seems to me like we have enough talent to win any (and all?) big games if we played at the best possible level during the disaster games. Dropped passes, penalties, and busted coverages with questionable play calling seems to be the problem more than talent and maybe even more than scheme.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
He has to be able to "dial up the pressure", "dominate in the trenches", "attack the QB from all angles", "turn guys into dudes"...
And stop Ohio State and Wisconsin from scoring over 30.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
Someone who follows the ABCs of success in college football:
Always
Be
Crootin'
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
You call yourself a defensive coordinator, you son of a bitch?
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
You are searching for a unicorn...
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
The only requirement I want is that there is no requirement to have connections to Michigan, OSU, or any other school, region, philosophy, or whatever the hell else you might have connections to.
Just find the best available DC for the price you can pay, and hire the guy. Or girl - I don't fucking care. Find the guy that can explain how a defense can morph around with the talent available to it, how he would teach that, and how it would be implemented/integrated into today's program. This guy had better be able to run his defense, and recruit for it, without interference or direction from the coach. Because Jim MF'ing Harbaugh does not interfere with defense. Hell, he doesn't even want to think about it. Defense needs to be a self-sufficient entity for a Jim Harbaugh team.
December 23rd, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
I agree completely with these sentiments, but I will point out that is exactly the process we used to hire Don Brown.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
Tbh a nice body, cute face, great personality.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
Matt Patricia is available.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:37 AM ^
And drives a motorcycle...
motorcycles are cool
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:48 AM ^
That must be the "young and up and..." trait mentioned in the OP?
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
Someone who could develop, adjust, and recruit!
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
I am all for a younger guy like Campanile. In fact, I'd take him in a blink... Miami Dolphins...won 9 games so far.. hes the LB coach... but that ship has probably sailed.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
Recruiting is the first priority for me. Before any scheme you run you need the athletes for it.
December 23rd, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
Jimmys and joes more important than the Xs and Os
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:24 AM ^
1. Schematics 2. Up-and-coming 3. Relates well with his players.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:25 AM ^
Stopping osu
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
I'd say "adaptability" is something that comes to mind. Obviously not all offenses do the same thing or have even close to the same personnel. You've got to have the ability to adapt to what you're going against. I LOVED Don Brown's tenacity, commitment to his players and his aggressiveness. Where I think he suffered was his inability to properly change things up when Plan A didn't work.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
I'd muse a bit about trying to get Greg Mattison back as full DC.
He understands tOSU's offense, how their team works, and is a hell of a DC and DL coach.