[UPDATE: Somehow I forgot Campanile. Also since I wrote this Sam reported Partridge and Foote declined to interview($). Sorry—I wrote most of this before the Vikings thing.]

Hey, now that all that’s over we can go back to looking for a DC, and reportedly Jim Harbaugh is in the process of interviewing his guys now. Previously I went over some of the big swings Michigan might take to replace Mike Macdonald. Those were:

• Larry Foote, LBs coach of Tampa Bay, close to getting an NFL DC job.
• Jon Heacock, DC of Iowa State, former Bo grad assistant/Tressel’s heir at YSU.
• Brad White, DC of Kentucky (former teammate of Gattis)
• Seth Wallace, LBs/ADC of Iowa, groomed to be Phil Parker’s heir
• A couple of popular “not happening” names: Jimmy Lake and Vic Fangio

With a slightly updated format, here’s the next rung of the ladder: Guys who would be likely to take the job, and already have strong connections to Harbaugh and the program. First off, here are a few Michigan-/Harbaugh-associated names that are not going to be on the list:

• Derek Mason, DC at Oklahoma State. DBs coach at Stanford under Harbaugh became DC after he left then Vandy head coach after James Franklin. DC at Auburn last year. Was going on the list but he was just hired by Oklahoma State.
• Lance Anderson, DC/AHC/OLBs for Stanford. Harbaugh would love to get Lance back—they go back to when Lance was coaching DL for him at San Diego—but Anderson is next in line if Shaw goes, and it’s hard to believe anything’s changed since the last time Jim enquired about coming out East, nor the time before that.
• Brian Polian, special teams/recruiting coordinator at LSU. Had those roles and safeties under Harbaugh at Stanford, four-year stint as Nevada’s HC after, but followed Brian Kelly to LSU this offseason, and Jay Harbs already serves in the role Polian used to occupy.
• DJ Durkin, co-DC at Ole Miss. What happened at Maryland, players here weren’t sad to see him go.
• Brian Smith, co-DC at Rice. Don Brown protégé who coached safeties here in 2016-’17. His Rice defenses have been terrible.

STEVE CLINKSCALE

It says Clink on the hat. [The Athletic]

CURRENT JOB: Passing Game Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach at the University of Michigan. Coaches the cornerbacks.

SUMMARY: Age 44, highest title among remaining staff, A-level cornerbacks coach. Almost certainly in line for the co-DC title regardless. Helped turn around the Michigan secondary, well-liked, great recruiter, an institution in Detroit since he was handling the territory for Kentucky, been a co-DC but has never called plays.

HISTORY: Youngstown Boy who spent seven years (2001-‘07) after college as DBs coach of his alma mater, Ashland, in North-Central Ohio. Cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator under Tim Beckman and Tim Banks at Toledo (2009-‘11) and Illinois (2012), then DBs coach for three years at Cincinnati under Tommy Tuberville, promoted to co-DC in 2015. Defensive backs coach at Kentucky under Mark Stoops from 2016-2020, and was upgraded to passing game coordinator in 2021 before Michigan lost Mo Linguist and poached Clinkscale for the same title. Helped turn around Michigan’s weakest position group and guided DJ Turner II to a breakout season.

Clinkscale’s contract says he has to get a co-Defensive Coordinator title if Michigan was top-25 in passing defense. They dropped down to 27th in passing yards per game after the Georgia debacle, but Michigan would be silly to quibble over that.

RELEVANT RANKINGS: I’ll copy this from his writeup when he was a candidate for secondary coach, showing sack-adjusted yards per pass attempt:

CINCINNATI:
2012 (prior): 5.81, #39 Ovr, #4 Big East
2013: 5.34, #14 Ovr, #2 American
2014: 6.25, #70 Ovr, #7 American
2015: 6.49, #80 Ovr, #5 American

KENTUCKY:
2015 (prior): 6.30, #70 ovr, #12 SEC
2016: 6.72, #83 Ovr, #11 SEC
2017: 6.69, #87 Ovr, #12 SEC
2018: 5.21, #21 Ovr, #4 SEC
2019: 5.08, #10 Ovr, #3 SEC
2020: 6.43, #64 Ovr, #6 SEC

MICHIGAN:
2020 (prior): 6.62, #74 ovr, #7 Big Ten
2021: 5.42, #16 ovr, #3 Big Ten

Steve, feel free to use our tempo-free measures (lord knows you faced a lot of tempo). Michigan was also 16th in the NCAA’s pass efficiency defense metric, which is just the QB rating formula in reverse.

CAN HE RECRUIT? It would seem so. Clink managed to hang on to 5-star Will Johnson and was the only post-Linguist hire they could have made to keep TN 3* Myles Pollard in this year’s class, not to mention keeping TN 4* Kody Jones in the fold. Prior to Michigan, Clinkscale was the guy responsible for recruiting 5* Justin Rogers and 4* Marquan McCall out of Oak Park, Deondre Buford out of MLK, and numerous other 4-stars from SEC country.

CONNECTIONS: Is already in the building, duh.

SYSTEM FIT? Mostly, but will he try to run the defense they ran for one year or the defense he coaches for years under Mark Stoops?

PROS: Continuity. Allows Michigan to broaden their search for an extra assistant, and would probably be okay with them shopping a co-coordinator title for the right guy. Does well by a key assistant and lessens the likelihood he’s poached by another school offering him full DC honors.

CONS: First-time coordinator, and only spent 1 year in Macdonald’s system so it’s either another transition or a guy who only has the fundamentals down. Takes away from his duties when CB coaching is going to be critical with so many young players in line for lots of snaps next year. Essentially trades Macdonald for whoever you bring in on a lower tier.

WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? Definitely.

OUTLOOK: Most likely will get a co-DC title soon. Might have to wait out the DC search, however.

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JESSE MINTER, VANDERBILT

via Georgia State Athletics

CURRENT JOB: Defensive Coordinator and Safeties, Vanderbilt

SUMMARY: Age 38. Longtime Ravens assistant/analytics dude with one year of Power 5 coordinating at Vandy and seven years of being an FCS or Sun Belt DC. Son of former two-time Notre Dame DC and longtime Cincy HC Rick Minter. Was a CB coach candidate last year before they hired Linguist.

HISTORY: If the name Minter rings a bell you probably read some old X’s and O’s articles about the 4-3 Under defense, when Lou Holtz’s defensive coordinator Rick Minter disguised a bunch of blitzes to hold 12-0 Texas A&M to just 3 points in the 1993 Cotton Bowl. That’s Jesse’s dad, who went on to coach at Cincinnati so long he holds the program record for both wins and losses.

The younger Minter played receiver at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, of an age with Steve Breaston/Jason Avant/David Harris. He got his coaching start at Cincy as a grad assistant in 2007 and 2008 under Brian Kelly, an entire Dantonio era since the elder Minter had moved on. Michigan DL coach Mike Elston was coaching tight ends and special teams, and handling recruiting, those years so they would know each other.

Jesse Minter moved on to Indiana State to coach linebackers under Brian Kelly associate Trent Miles for 2009 and 2010, and rose to defensive coordinator for 2011 and 2012. Minter followed Miles in the same role to Georgia State, a new program that won one FCS game in three years before they arrived. In three more years Miles and Minter led them to an FBS bowl game, with Minter a Broyles Award finalist in 2015. Minter also brought in his dad to coach the defensive line.

Led by the Minters’ defense, in 2016 Georgia State nearly upset #9 Wisconsin, which replaced starting QB Bart Houston with Alex Hornibrook in the second half. Injuries piled up over that season, and Miles was fired (yes, GSU’s admin is that dumb) ten games in. WRs coach Tim Lappano took over as interim HC and got credited for the rivalry win over Georgia Southern the following week, but everybody moved out when the season ended.

Minter landed with the Baltimore Ravens through his dad’s former player, secondary coach Chris Hewitt. The son rose to assistant DBs coach in 2019 and DBs coach (with Hewitt the pass defense coordinator) in 2020. Minter was on Michigan’s radar in 2021 but Maurice Linguist popped open. By the time Linguist took the Buffalo job, Minter had accepted the Vanderbilt defensive coordinator role. Vandy went 2-10 last year with a pretty bad defense.

RELEVANT RANKINGS: The NCAA’s stats for FCS go back to 2012 so…

• 2012 (Indiana State): 3rd/FCS in scoring defense, 6th/FCS total defense
• 2013 (Georgia State): 117th (last, Sun Belt) in SP+, 128th in DFEI
• 2014 (Georgia State): 127th (last, Sun Belt) in SP+, 119th in DFEI
• 2015 (Georgia State): 88th (4th, Sun Belt) in SP+, 57th in FEI
• 2016 (Georgia State): 49th (4th , Sun Belt) in SP+, 52nd in FEI
• 2017 (Ravens def analyst): 2nd in Pass DVOA
• 2018 (Ravens asst safeties): 4th in Pass DVOA
• 2019 (Ravens asst safeties): 5th in Pass DVOA
• 2020 (Ravens DBs): 8th in Pass DVOA
• 2021 (Vanderbilt): 115th (last, SEC) in def SP+

A lot of noise in there. The Ravens loaded up on secondary talent in this era but fell off a cliff in passing DVOA last year, firing Wink Martindale and bringing back Mike Macdonald, so you can read into that as you may. He took over terrible defenses at Indiana State, Georgia State, and Vanderbilt, then ran them out against much better competition. GSU’s progression from 2013-‘16 is the most impressive part of his resume. They fell off a cliff after Minter left.

CAN HE RECRUIT? Probably can. Nothing at Georgia State or Indiana State will tell you much except about where his connections are, but Minter nabbed a 4-star safety out of Louisiana all on his own, and Vandy has been recruiting above their normal punching weight of late, though it’s hard to tell if that’s because of the new DC or because they hired 247’s director of scouting as their recruiting director at the same time.

CONNECTIONS: GA on the same staff as Mike Elston at Cincy for 2 years. Is Ravens family; worked with Matt Weiss in analytics before both were promoted to assistants.

SYSTEM FIT? Exact. Worked alongside Macdonald in Baltimore, installed something similar in Nashville last year. Vandy is the one SEC school where I’d believe he’s worked with academic limitations before.

PROS: Came up with Macdonald at the Ravens so it’s an exact system fit. Eight years as a college DC before he turned 40, probably looked like a better DC candidate last year than Macdonald if we’re going on resume. Young. Multiple ties to disparate members of staff plus experience in new recruiting grounds.

CONS: One year of recruiting in the Power 5, and that at Vanderbilt. Presence of dad at GSU and all the other Ravens defensive minds, including Macdonald’s, means you can’t exactly credit Minter for all of the success he’s been around. Multi-year projects abound. Safeties coach means moving Bellamy, probably receivers/recruiting coordinator.

WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? 50-50. On one hand he’s already a defensive coordinator in the SEC, so why become a co-defensive coordinator in the Big Ten? On the other hand, Vanderbilt isn’t exactly SEC. Might not want the optics of leaving a job after just one year, though his dad’s vagabond ways makes that less of a concern.

OUTLOOK: Probably Michigan’s #2 candidate if they can’t lure Larry Foote.

------------------------------

CHRIS PARTRIDGE, OLE MISS

[Erich Upchurch]

CURRENT JOB: Co-Defensive Coordinator (with Chris Kiffin, previously with DJ Durkin) and Safeties Coach

SUMMARY: Age 41, built Paramus (Jabrill Peppers, Rashan Gary) into a New Jersey powerhouse, plucked by Harbaugh in 2015, originally in an off-field role. Coached LBs and safeties as well as special teams at Michigan, and was their most effective recruiter, until Lane Kiffin hired him hired him as co-DC at Ole Miss.

HISTORY: Played for Lafayette College then immediately became defensive coordinator, associate head coach, and wide receivers coach of Paramus Catholic High School. After two years Lafayette brought him up to the D-II ranks as a defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator, and he moved on from there after a year to The Citadel, as DL/Special Teams. In the offseason, his best friend from Lafayette, 49ers LB Blake Costanzo, would come back to share Partridge’s apartment. When Partridge came back to be the head coach of Paramus, Costanzo would come help coach the kids. In turn, Partridge got to hang around the 49ers, and got to know their head coach Jim Harbaugh. He also recruited Jabrill Peppers, one of the best high schoolers in the nation, from Don Bosco to Paramus.

When Harbaugh came to Michigan, he hired the Paramus coach as an off-field assistant, officially as director of player personnel. But when DJ Durkin left and other staff positions opened up with him, Partridge was quickly promoted to special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. Partridge played a key role in recruiting the 2016 class, including #1 overall prospect Rashan Gary, his former player at Paramus, and Devin Bush Jr., who then played for Partridge at Michigan for his first two years. In that time Partridge played a key role in Michigan’s innovative recruiting techniques, from hiring the coaches of power high school programs (Partridge, Bush Sr., Biff Poggi), to inviting Paramus to play in the Big House, to satellite camps. Those ticked off the SEC and others who thought that threatened the advantages gained through cheating, extortion, and limiting local players’ options, so the NCAA broke up the satellite camp circuit and created the awful “Partridge Rule” that effectively locks high school coaches of D-I athletes out of their most natural path to moving up to the NCAA.

In 2018, Alabama made a play to poach Partridge, but he remained at Michigan, earning a pay raise and a move to safeties coach with Al Washington coming in to take over linebackers.

Partridge did finally leave Michigan after the 2019 season, accepting a co-Defensive Coordinator role (with Durkin) at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin. He’s held that role for the last two seasons, with Durkin leaving recently and being replaced with Lane’s brother Chris.

RELEVANT RANKINGS: You know the Michigan stats. Here’s Ole Miss before and since:

2019 (year prior ): 41st (9th, SEC) in Def SP+, 109th in special teams FEI
2020: 99th (13th, SEC) in Def SP+, 14th , 63rd in special teams FEI
2021: 36th (8th, SEC) in Def SP+, 44th in special teams FEI

CAN HE RECRUIT? Does the Pope Bear take Catholic poops in the woods? It’s a close call between Cam Cameron and Chris Partridge who’s the greatest recruiter in Michigan football history, and I’d give Partridge the nod because it’s a tougher era. It’s technically frowned upon, but Partridge recruited Peppers (a transfer from Don Bosco) and Rashan Gary to Paramus in the first place. Partridge’s friendship with Devin Bush Sr. was key to the recruitment of Bush Jr. and the Flanagan friends. Daxton Hill, Chris Hinton, Cesar Ruiz, Luigi Vilain, Aubrey Solomon, Trente Jones, Ambry Thomas, Cam McGrone…you name the big recruitment from Partridge’s time at Michigan and he was either heavily involved or called in to close. Partridge has since brought top-50 DT Tywone Malone and top-100 CB Davison Igbinosun to Ole Miss from New Jersey, and the guy is also the main reason Michigan was able to become a player in Georgia.

SYSTEM FIT? This would be weird, since Michigan’s gone through a big transition since Partridge was last here. Bringing him back would more likely be some kind of in-tandem thing with Clinkscale, perhaps with another Ravens analyst on hand. Partridge certainly knows how to run a man defense that dominates college crappe offenses, but Michigan’s been run out of the building twice by Ryan Day’s pro-style approach with that thing. Absolutely a cultural fit, though. Some of the guys he recruited are starters, or becoming such.

CONNECTIONS: Was here for Harbaugh’s first five years so some of the safeties he recruited (RJ Moten, Jordan Morant, Makari Paige) are still here, and the list of the recruitments he was involved in hardly stops there.

PROS: Elite, ELITE recruiter. Gets along with Harbaugh, loved by Michigan fans, keeps Michigan on the cutting edge and returns some of the swagger. Has to be given some credit for Michigan’s special teams being as good as they are.

CONS: So does Jay keep special teams or do they have to share again? How “co-“ of a DC was he with Durkin?

WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? No, apparently.

------------------------------

ANTHONY CAMPANILE, Miami Dolphins

[Patrick Barron]

CURRENT JOB: Linebackers coach, Miami Dophins

SUMMARY: Age 39. Coached both sides at Don Bosco and Rutgers, was at BC after Don Brown, LB coach at Michigan in 2019.

HISTORY: The New Jersey legend, and brother to the New Jersey coach who made some mean remarks about Harbaugh’s satellite camps, Campanile was a Schiano assistant who coached the secondary, tight ends, and wide receivers. He moved to Boston College when Don Brown came to Michigan, rising to co-DC/DBs coach in 2018 before Michigan recruited him for 2019. He left after one season to be the LBs coach of the Dolphins.

The upshot here is the LB coaching in 2019, when Cam McGrone replaced Devin Bush Jr., had a few mental mistakes, but fewer than he would in 2020. That year also had an injured Josh Ross whose season went way worse than expected, and lots of Devin Gil.

RELEVANT RANKINGS: BC dropped to 23rd (6th, ACC) the year after Don Brown departed, and 32nd (5th, ACC) the year after. Miami (the NFL Miami) was 10th in DVOA last year, 11th the year before.

CAN HE RECRUIT? We only got one year of him, but Campanile helped bring in the New Jersey guys I credited Partridge for above.

SYSTEM FIT? Unsure, because he’s only ever been a co-DC. Probably not going to run Don Brown’s defense without Brown.

CONNECTIONS: Worked here a year. Worked for Brown before that.

PROS: One year at Michigan got him an NFL job so we’re getting a guy on the rise. If Michigan’s interested it’s for the same reasons they brought him here the first time.

CONS: Hasn’t been a DC except one co- year at BC. Ditched us after the letdown of 2019 for what felt like a lateral move.

WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? Probably.

------------------------------

CLAYTON WHITE, South Carolina

WKU Athletics

CURRENT JOB: Defensive Coordinator, South Carolina Gamecocks (since 2021)

SUMMARY: Age 44. Jim/Jack Harbaugh associate, DBs coach for Jim in his first three years at Stanford. Has coached a lot of positions, and been a DC at two jobs since 2017. Runs a 4-2-5/Quarters system.

HISTORY: Former NC State linebacker who hung on for three years in the NFL. Coached one year in high school before Kent Briggs of Western Carolina (the Catamounts!) hired him as the DBs coach and recruiting coordinator. Bill Cubit, then in his second year at WMU, hired White to coach defensive backs and special teams. That was a great defensive year for the Broncos, and Briggs was only there a year before Jim Harbaugh brough him over to Stanford as the DBs coach, where White famously converted Richard Sherman to defense.

When Harbaugh went to the NFL, White landed with Known Friend and Trusted Agent Willie Taggart, who’d just taken over at WKU. But he was only there a year before he was poached by new UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni, but didn’t get to coach under new defensive coordinator Don Brown(!) in 2011, instead handling special teams and running backs. That lasted a couple of years then White jumped back to his alma mater to coach safeties under Dave Doeren and DC Dave Huxtable, plus special teams. White stuck around for four seasons there until Western Kentucky, now under Mike Sanford Jr. with the departure of Jeff Brohm, hired White as his defensive coordinator, with cornerbacks his other duty.

South Carolina hired Shane Beamer last year, and Beamer hired White away from WKU.

RELEVANT RANKINGS:

WESTERN KENTUCKY:

2016 (Prior): 45th (1st, Conf-USA) in SP+
2017: 83rd (4th, Conf-USA)
2018: 93rd (8th, Conf-USA)
2019: 31st (1st, Conf-USA)
2020: 27th (3rd, Conf-USA)

SOUTH CAROLINA:

2020 (prior): 76th (12th, SEC)
2021: 49th (11th, SEC)

CAN HE RECRUIT? Yeah, as evidenced by multiple times he’s been named the recruiting coordinator of whatever school he’s at. He reeled in a couple of 4-stars at Stanford when Harbaugh’s program was just getting off the ground, got a top-100 RB to NC State, and pulled one of the best LBs in Mississippi to Columbus. White’s name is associated with players of numerous positions, a sign that he’s being called in to help close.

SYSTEM FIT? This would be a little awkward. He runs a 4-2-5 most similar to the Dantonio setup, basing out of two-high and calling his hybrid the “Spur,” which is a term not used in these parts since Rich Rodriguez. Of course, Michigan spent a lot of last year in that setup, with Barrett at the hybrid position.

CONNECTIONS: Worked for Harbaugh all his years at Stanford, previously worked for Warde at UConn.

PROS: I don’t know the details of early WKU but it looks like he inherited a young defense and left with a good one. The turnaround at South Carolina last year was impressive because they had a lot of pre-season attrition. Already an FBS coordinator who’s gone up against playoff-caliber teams. Knows Harbaugh well, can recruit in SEC country and would open up the Carolinas. Time at Stanford means he’s used to academics recruiting.

CONS: See below, re: system. Never coached a top-25 defense,

WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? Likely, not a given. Harbaugh’s an old friend, and White doesn’t seem to have a hard time bouncing between jobs.

------------------------------

MIKE ELSTON

[UM Bentley Library]

CURRENT JOB: Defensive line coach, University of Michigan.

SUMMARY: Age 47. Michigan linebacker, longtime DL coach/AHC for Brian Kelly passed up for DC so many times he decided to go back to his alma mater.

HISTORY: Already covered. From that:

Elston’s name has been bandied about by Michigan fans whenever there’s been a staff opening, going all the way back to when we were discussing potential DCs for Rich Rodriguez. Over that time Elston recruited and developed all sorts of great linemen whose names will ring your bell: Kapron Lewis-Moore, Louis Nix, Khalid Kareem, Daelin Hayes, Julian and Romeo Okwara, Jerry Tillery, Sheldon Day, Jarron Jones, Isaac Rochell, Stephon Tuitt, Adeokuno Ogundeji…and I am sure I’m leaving more out. He also beat out Michigan in recruiting those guys. He currently has Florida 5-star DE Keon Keeley and a top-100 DE from Ohio, Brenan Vernan, committed to him for 2023.

Thought to be a likely candidate to move up to defensive coordinator under Marcus Freeman, Elston had been a mainstay of Brian Kelly’s staffs going back through Cincy to when they both joined Central Michigan in 2004. Elston was a DL coach and recruiting coordinator for Eastern Michigan before that.

Before EMU, of course, Elston was a Wolverine, recruited out of St. Mary’s, Ohio, by Gary Moeller in 1993, which means like Ron Bellamy and Mike Hart, Elston is in my database (and Dr. Sap’s rolodex). Mike was Tom Lemming’s #15 player in the Midwest, BlueChip Illustrated’s #14 linebacker, and the #37 player in the Midwest to Superprep. (That's a 4.05* in my composite). Elston started 10 games next to Jarrett Irons and Sam Sword for those mid-’90s Carr teams that couldn’t keep their SAMs healthy, famously returning in 1996 after rehabbing shoulder and knee surgeries at the same time. After his playing career ended, Elston joined Carr’s staff as a grad assistant for the 1997 run, and hung around until EMU’s DE job opened up in 2001.

SYSTEM FIT? It’s not a given he’d run what they’ve been running at Notre Dame. His DL builds have been similar to Michigan’s latest (think Louis Nix et al.) so I don’t really know.

RELEVANT RANKINGS: Hasn’t been a DC. Excellent DL coach.

CAN HE RECRUIT? He was also Kelly’s recruiting coordinator. See the list above.

CONNECTIONS: Michigan alum (from Moeller/early Carr). Already here.

PROS: Despite no DC experience he’s certainly earned the opportunity by now.

CONS: Might be a good reason he hasn’t been a DC. Came here content to be the DL coach, so this feels like settling.

WOULD HE TAKE THE JOB? Of course. But if that’s what you’re doing you can just promote Clinkscale, who’s senior on the staff.