Mike Macdonald Named Defensive Coordinator
It’s now official: Jim Harbaugh has hired Ravens LB coach Mike MacDonald to replace Don Brown as Michigan’s defensive coordinator.
OFFICIAL: Mike Macdonald Named Michigan’s Defensive Coordinator
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) January 17, 2021
» https://t.co/7LlqGxnDpJ pic.twitter.com/4xZRiAvqIc
The MacDonald hire was rumored for weeks but couldn’t happen until the Ravens season ended, which it did with their playoff loss to the Bills on Saturday.
MacDonald has never been a coordinator at any level. He got into coaching while a student at Georgia, assisting his former high school coach at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens. Georgia hired MacDonald as a graduate assistant in 2011, and John Harbaugh picked him up as a coaching intern for the Ravens in 2014, working with the secondary and linebackers until earning a coaching position with the latter in 2018.
Michigan still has a number of staff moves to make, and it’s not yet certain which coaches will be retained, but with safeties coach-in-absentia Bob Shoop almost certainly not being invited back, Harbaugh still has at least a secondary coach position to fill, and could look for a more experienced college coordinator to be the Phil Martelli behind the neophyte.
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January 17th, 2021 at 3:24 PM ^
Just to clarify, the Zilwaukee Bridge was still a bascule bridge at the time so the charley horse probably occurred in line to cross it.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:13 PM ^
Note also: his "d" is lowercase.
Not a good omen.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:18 PM ^
The size of a man's d is not important, its what he does with it
January 17th, 2021 at 4:22 PM ^
Keep telling yourself that.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:36 PM ^
How would you know, el Papa?
January 17th, 2021 at 8:07 PM ^
That’s what she said?
January 17th, 2021 at 10:49 PM ^
This is true, although the d should always be checked for the other d.
disease.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:24 PM ^
Yeah Seth, but in keeping with the Doobie Brothers theme, do you think they'll play "Black Water " on the PA System at the stadium during breaks.
I mean it's a great song, amirite?
January 17th, 2021 at 5:06 PM ^
Doubtful Mick, but perhaps they would use a song from when he was ACTUALLY IN THE BAND!!!!
What a fool... believes???
January 17th, 2021 at 5:48 PM ^
Damn, you're right. Well I just wanted to mention that song cause I love it is all.
January 17th, 2021 at 6:25 PM ^
It is indeed! MM brought a whole different demention to the band
January 17th, 2021 at 11:28 PM ^
PA should play ‘Takin it to the Streets’ every third down.
January 17th, 2021 at 5:01 PM ^
Ah, the old Zilwaukee bascule. A regularly repeated traffic backup that stretched nearly half a state both ways.
While waiting, get out of your car. Have a picnic. Finish a game of Monopoly. Bascule in the sun.
January 17th, 2021 at 8:33 PM ^
I was probably in the car behind them. And once a winter we got a chicken dinner at Frankenmeuth and stayed to see the glockenspiel.
January 17th, 2021 at 3:25 PM ^
Did we ever figure out what happened with Shoop?
January 17th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
Still coaching via FaceTime
January 17th, 2021 at 6:34 PM ^
Jim forgot to call him in October and tell him the season was back on. Ol’ Shoop’s still waiting by the phone (he has a landline only) wondering what’s going on.
January 17th, 2021 at 3:29 PM ^
tough to know if this is a great hire or a bad hire...presumably, John gave him an excellent recommendation.
Pluses:
Was an excellent position coach in the NFL
Young guy, should have a lot of energy on the recruiting trail and relating to players
Familiar with Raven's scheme
Minuses:
Unknown on how he is with game planning and play calling
Don't know if he will be a good recruiter...
January 17th, 2021 at 6:29 PM ^
What is his time for climbing 40' up a tree?
January 18th, 2021 at 7:51 AM ^
To paraphrase the Campbell guys any change is a risk.
I would have preferred a Muschamp or someone with more experience. But they got this guy who seems to have a ton of respect in the league.
I’ll choose to be optimistic. But it is a concern. Maybe he sees something in the college game he can use his NFL experience to take advantage of and he’s like Fisch. Maybe he can’t make the transition or his hype is due to the system he’s in and he’s like Weiss.
No way to know until he hits the field. If as it was said on the Locked on Wolverines podcast (love that podcast) other teams had decoded Browns on field signals we should at least get a boost there.
January 19th, 2021 at 10:35 PM ^
This guy obviously came highly recommended by John H, who cares a lot about Michigan doing well. I will assume he's an up-and-coming defensive genius until proven otherwise
January 17th, 2021 at 3:29 PM ^
Did Bob Shoop do anything? Coil cords? Clean up locker room? Anything?
January 17th, 2021 at 5:56 PM ^
If he simply leaves, I'll take it at this point.
January 17th, 2021 at 3:31 PM ^
I posted about this hire more than a month ago before there were any rumors (we have a common friend). John is very high on him and it was a matter of time before he left for a better position. So, why not help your brother. Through our common friend, a person who I trust a lot, I heard that he is a very smart and warm person. This friend thinks he will be a terrific recruiter.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:20 PM ^
Great info, thanks! Fingers crossed your friend is right.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:39 PM ^
What is also interesting is that Meyer is reportedly going after the Raven’s DL coach as his NFL defensive coordinator. Any insights there? And is the Raven’s defense that good?
January 17th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
Can you elaborate more on your previous comment that the last couple years have taken a toll on Jim Harbaugh? Are any of these new assistants being brought on as potential replacements to Harbaugh if he decides to retire or take a break?
January 17th, 2021 at 11:28 PM ^
I don't want to pretend that I am an insider. I have this one connection to John and have worked with Warde in the past. Again, this is second-hand, but Jim has been really frustrated with the college game and, of obviously, his team's performance the last 2-3 years. Let Brown go was not easy for him. He was torn between staying at UM or just retiring. From what I hear, he never really considered NFL.
January 17th, 2021 at 11:38 PM ^
That's actually not great to hear. Because once you start thinking about retiring, you're thinking about retiring.
January 18th, 2021 at 10:24 AM ^
I wonder what it is about college that frustrated him; and what is different from his Stanford days?
Trying to beat OSU? Or trying to deal with donors/fanbase/administration? Or how the college game is played? Recruiting? Staff? Not sure.
We do seem to have a youth movement in hiring so far so I wonder if he's trying to build a program that he can leave in decent hands in a couple three years 'Here Mike, come to Michigan and in '04 when I leave...'
January 18th, 2021 at 4:39 PM ^
I think he's hinted at his frustrations: It feels like Michigan is playing by different rules than other college powers and simultaneously held to a different standard.
His attempts to gain advantages within those standards were rebuffed (satellite camps, etc.). The media coverage on Harbaugh is hyper focused and often unfair with regard to his quirks, not his record/performance.
The Big Ten has treated Michigan like shit and I think that travesty in '16 took a lot out of him. He also was officiated differently and some of the quotes from actual refs seem to indicate an anti-Harbaugh bias.
All that said, this is all fixed in the way he himself has advocated for: winning. I think personally that the winning cures all culture is toxic throughout sports. We could do way worse for a coach when it comes to off the field stuff, although I admit to not having a complete picture there. Just beat those Ohio bastards occasionally and he'd be fine.
January 19th, 2021 at 4:35 PM ^
I've read his off field stuff is quite good WRT the players. But that's all 10,000 view stuff I don't know anything good or bad directly.
Man, the Satellite camp thing really has me ticked off just thinking about it again. That and the officiating warnings and penalties he got when Meyer would be practically on the hash mark.
January 18th, 2021 at 11:40 AM ^
Along with JFW's question - what about the college game is frustrating for Jim?
If he is seriously considering retirement, the contract with Michigan makes more and more sense, for both parties.
January 17th, 2021 at 5:31 PM ^
Nepotism is never a good thing. Who’s next DC candidate after three years?
January 18th, 2021 at 8:16 AM ^
So the new D coordinator is related to Harbaugh by blood or marriage? Is that what I'm to understand from your comment?
January 18th, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
Considering this hire must pan out for JH and he had insider info from his brother, I'll choose to be optimistic. Honestly, I am happy to see JH taking the risk rather than be conservative.
January 17th, 2021 at 3:40 PM ^
I’m going to keep an open mind on this, but the background leading up to this is Josh Gattis 2.0.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:19 PM ^
Either that, or the John Beilein of Michigan defensive coordinators.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:26 PM ^
Little known fact, John Beilein was never an assistant coach.
January 17th, 2021 at 4:34 PM ^
Did you know he had a player, Charles Matthews, who was a Kentucky transfer?
January 17th, 2021 at 4:38 PM ^
And Duncan Robinson played in Division III.
January 17th, 2021 at 6:58 PM ^
Nik Stauskas was not just a shooter.
January 18th, 2021 at 1:08 PM ^
Glenn Robinson and Tim Hardaway had dads of the same names who played in the NBA.
January 17th, 2021 at 7:28 PM ^
John Beilein pre-Michigand and MacDonald seem like total opposites actually.
January 17th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
Zilwaukee Bridge wasn't complete until the late 80s.
(disclaimer: I lived in Saginaw at that time)
January 17th, 2021 at 3:55 PM ^
It also collapsed on itself...
January 17th, 2021 at 4:14 PM ^
Really?! I don't remember that. I remember the bridge being the most popular place to kill yourself. If that means anything.
January 18th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
It didn't collapse.
A cantilevered segment shifted while they were building it.
" at time in 1982, the bridge was roughly two-thirds completed, and a 150-foot (46 m) long segment weighing 6,700-ton (6,070 metric tonnes), not being properly counterbalanced, tipped down to being five feet (1.5 m) out of alignment, with the other end rising 3.5 feet (1.1 m). A pier footing cracked, presumably due to resulting stress."
January 18th, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
Do you know if that shirt's still for sale anywhere?
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