Exit Chris Partridge
Chris Partridge's rumored departure to Ole Miss has come to pass:
OFFICIAL | Ole Miss adds three to coaching staff
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) January 2, 2020
Welcome to the family‼️
https://t.co/NETLJ0ZXQ3 pic.twitter.com/G6kxU8aAMg
Partridge has not been announced as Ole Miss's defensive coordinator, which was the rumor because going from Michigan to Ole Miss without a promotion is a less than lateral move. You might also note that Lane Kiffin also hired DJ Durkin, because nothing in the world will prevent a football coach from getting a job.
Partridge's departure is a blow to Michigan, as he was reputed to be one of the better recruiters on the staff and did excellent work as Michigan's special teams coordinator in addition to his position coaching duties. He was Michigan's fourth-highest paid assistant behind the two coordinators and Ed Warinner.
Your guess is as good as anyone's as to who replaces Partridge. Devin Bush Sr would seem like a logical choice, FWIW.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
It was his culture. Didn’t you listen to Jabrill Peppers’ interview about Durkin while he was DC at Michigan?
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
'I'm glad to hear DJ Durkin found another job'
What in holy hell?
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:00 PM ^
I'm glad to hear DJ Durkin found another job,
Would you want Durkin to coach your son?
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
Friction lol. Partridge owes the world to Harbaugh and is getting this job because of Harbaugh. Otherwise he probably would still be in high school. Partridge rebuffed Saban to stay here and this is nothing more than career advancement that he could not get here unless he was promoter to co Head coach or co DC, the latter I'm surprised didn't happen. Both him and Durkin will do well there.
January 2nd, 2020 at 10:34 PM ^
I think it's pretty well established that co-OC is a meaningless position
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:30 AM ^
Hitch your wagon to Lane Kiffin at your own peril. Props to him for the swell promotion though. Nice little career arc for Partridge.
[edit] Also entirely on board with promoting D Bush Sr. Solid coach with strong ties to Florida's fertile recruiting.
January 2nd, 2020 at 10:38 PM ^
It's gotta be a dude from OH, CA, or FL. Ryan Day plucked Washington and Mattison bc they were our two biggest recruiters in OH. My reservation about hiring another OH dude is that any OH dude worth his salt views OSU as a promotion and would bail the first chance he gets .
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^
This happens. He rose up thru the ranks pretty quickly so he must be pretty good. It will be interesting to see how he does as a coordinator. This sort of thing should be expected to happen basically every year with assistants. He is a good coach, but he is replaceable. It's not like he went to osu. That was way worse.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:33 AM ^
Our recruiting is gonna take a hit, but this is still a chance for harbaugh to make another hire.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
Maybe not. As long as we keep Campinelli (whatever the spelling) we’ll be okay in NJ
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:33 AM ^
Let Ole Miss suffer as Partridge learns how to DC on the job.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:17 PM ^
It'll actually be interesting to watch what he does. He's a Don Brown disciple now, right? I wonder if he'll go crazy aggressive with man coverage down there too
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:09 PM ^
And now he has a chance to learn on the job and make mistakes where we won't want him fired by mid-season (see Gattis, Josh). Just like Alabama couldn't/wouldn't take a chance on Gattis to be a first time OC, Michigan can't/won't take a chance on Partridge being a 1st time DC. I'm not sure making him a co-DC to Brown would work (or be necessarily desirable). Let him learn and innovate in the SEC for a couple seasons, and then maybe he'll be ready to return.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
Where there is challenge there is opportunity. Does Rivera have a job yet...DC and LB coach???
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
yeah, he's the HC of the Redskins and Jack Del Rio is his DC.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:50 AM ^
Ron Rivera? The guy who's been either a DC or head coach in the NFL for the last 15 years and has never been a college coach Ron Rivera? That's a little too outside the box.
(Plus he's already been hired to be the new Redskins coach.)
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^
Jim Schwartz
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:13 PM ^
ahahahaha - YES.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:37 AM ^
From the frying pan, into the tire fire...
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:37 AM ^
Hey Jim take a pay cut and give him more money to stay.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:39 AM ^
This move probably helps out Rutgers more than it hurts Michigan. Losing Partridge kind of sucks. I thought he'd stay at Michigan until he got a better opportunity somewhere else. I'm sure he is getting a promotion to go to Ole Miss, but I don't think hitching your wagon to Lane Kiffin is a great idea either. Patridge is a relatively young guy so branching out and working with other experienced coaches isn't a bad way to look at it either. Kiffin and Durkin at Ole Miss in the SEC is going to be entertaining as hell to watch no matter how it plays out. If Kiffin has success there, going up against Saban, Kirby, and Jimbo will be great. If it is a complete dumpster fire and is pure madness, well, that'll be fun to watch too.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:43 AM ^
I'm not happy about Partridge leaving, but it is interesting to see how informed fanz wanted him to replace one of the top DC's in the nation and constantly talk about improving at RB coach when RB's were a bright spot on the team & the position Partridge coached (safety) was mostly seen as a weak spot where players were consistently burned & cost the team games.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
Why don't you add in our best recruiter and special teams that has been tops in the big ten while he was coach?? Oh didn't fit your narrative huh
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^
I think part of the reason Jim got Campinile last year was to keep a Jersey connection on the staff- Chris was a good recruiter and really good ST coach but with the secondary loaded and Giles coming back we should be able to attract a really good replacement. Bush SR could step in as a coach and bring a strong South Florida connection for example.
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:52 AM ^
Well shit
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:56 AM ^
Your guess is as good as anyone's as to who replaces Partridge.
Two turtle doves?
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
A bird in the hand may not be as good as one in the Bush (Devin Sr... that is....)
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:58 AM ^
Would be nice if it worked out for CP to stay here another year or two but this was inevitable.
Harbaugh is good at identifying and hiring assistants. I'd expect that to continue.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
Can always bring him back if Brown leaves for whatever reason in 1-2 years.
And you'll have a better idea on whether or not he can truly coordinate a defense.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:04 PM ^
Are there any 5 star DT or CB recruits who's dad is a coach? ;)
January 2nd, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
Or just hire his HS coach like JH did with Partridge and Rashan.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^
Devin Bush Sr. was doing a little more coaching on the sidelines than I've seen in the past.
Hire would make a ton of sense...hopefully he could get into FL the way Partridge got into NJ.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
I doubt it'll happen, but I'd go after any successful HS head coach in Ohio with college coaching experience. We need to be aggressive in our recruiting of that state.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:09 PM ^
I actually wouldn't hate that. We've been pretty locked out of Ohio for a while and that's one of our main regional sources of talent. Bring someone in as a ST coordinator / Ohio recruiter
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
I had hoped that Ben McDaniels would have filled that role, being from Ohio and whose dad is a high school coaching legend in the Cleveland area. I don't know much about how Michigan organizes recruiting, but it doesn't seem like they have him doing much other than focusing on QBs, which seems like a bit of a waste of resources to me personally.
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:08 PM ^
Not a bad idea but just keep in mind that if the OH coach succeeds then he might be poached away by OSU later. So that is a factor.
January 2nd, 2020 at 2:10 PM ^
Maybe someone from Texas?
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
Meh. Bummer to lose him, but that's life. Frankly, the ability for coaches off of Harbaugh's staff to get poached and get promotions elsewhere is a big recruiting tool for bringing the next up and comers behind them. It's ultimately a good thing to have guys get poached periodically
Plus if he's any good, he can be the DC here in X years once Kiffin gets Ole Miss sanctioned to death again
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:19 PM ^
good for Chris but ooof. Joining Lane is a bold move. Best of luck there. Stay out of the garbage
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
Michigan should promote Bush Sr and add Willie Taggart to the staff.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:25 PM ^
Taggart is now FAU's head coach.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:22 PM ^
So now two members of the harbaugh coaching tree will be bagmen that this blog laments.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^
This, to me, is a lot like getting an undergrad from university and a graduate from another. Sometimes, there's value in being around different systems and ideas, so as to not get locked into your biases. He gets to learn on the job as a DC in the SEC (and maybe learn some tricks of the trade wink wink). A few years from now, who knows, maybe he's our next DC, with his own style and not shoe-horned into being Don Brown 2.0 (as he probably would be if he stayed on as Co-DC or whatever). Or, I don't know, maybe he's our next head coach if things go great there? He's been at Michigan long enough to be a "Michigan man" by now right? Chris Partridge 2025.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:38 PM ^
He was a good recruiter, but are we satisfied with the recruiting we've had last few years?
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:39 PM ^
Wonder how much of a raise he got. Hard to fathom wanting to be a coach at Mississippi, especially with the meager chances of ever winning the division, much less the conference. OTOH, great recruiter + bagmen could equal real recruiting success.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
Welp - we weren't beating OSU, the bowl game, pretty much any team with a pulse and ranked in the top 15, or a meaningful road game with CP, so nothing really changes without him.
9-4 is a heck of a lot better than 3-9 that's for sure. So I can't complain.
But these last few years sure feel like a kick in the dick after how exciting it was the first two years of the JH tenure.
Oh well. Life goes on.
As for CP - enjoy your 3-year max run at Ole Miss. Lane will either get canned or leave before the first recruiting class has "graduated"
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
Where is the outrage? He accepts a position a day after (meaning he’s been in contact prior to the game) and our safety was burned a few times in the game.
/s
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
Just hire the head coach at a high school that has a few recruits you want, just like Partridge (Peppers and Gary).
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
That's a good idea, but unfortunately Peppers was already on campus for a year before Partridge was hired. Definitely need to get a coach with at least two or more this time.
January 2nd, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
Who's the Belleville (MI) coach?
We keep missing on those kids.
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