So, I got interested in the whole University of Michigan football coaching situation recently. You know how it is, you hear things, especially with the team doing well and all the chatter online.
My first move was just trying to get a basic idea of who was running the show. It’s not always simple, these things can change pretty quick in the world of college sports.
Starting with the Big Name
Naturally, the first name that popped up for me, like for most people I bet, was Jim Harbaugh. He was the head coach, the main guy, for quite a while. Then, bam, news hit that he was leaving. Saw it everywhere. He decided to go back to coach in the NFL.
I dug around a bit more on that. Found out that Michigan apparently really wanted him to stay. They were even talking about a new deal, potentially making him the highest-paid coach in college football. But it seems he just had his sights set on the NFL again. Fair enough, I guess. He did a lot for those players while he was there.
Looking at the Bigger Picture
But one coach doesn’t make the whole team operate, right? So I started trying to see who else was involved. It takes a whole crew.
You’ve got different types of coaches doing different things. It’s kind of like this:
- Teaching the Basics: All coaches are basically teachers, right? Getting players to understand the fundamentals of football. That’s job one.
- Practice and Training: They run the practices, design the drills, do the physical conditioning stuff. Gotta get the players ready physically.
- Giving Feedback: Watching film, telling players what they did right or wrong. Trying to improve their skills constantly.
- Specific Roles: Then you have guys focusing on specific areas. I saw someone named J.B. Brown mentioned as the Special Teams Coordinator. Looks like he’d been an analyst there for a few years before getting that job. Shows they sometimes promote from within.
It’s more than just drawing plays on a whiteboard. These coaches are involved in a lot. I even read somewhere that they often have to handle basic first aid if a player gets banged up in practice. It’s a full-on job, managing players, strategy, training, the whole nine yards.
So yeah, that was my little journey trying to get a handle on the Michigan coaching staff. Started with the big news about Harbaugh and ended up realizing just how many people and different roles are involved in keeping a top football program like that running smoothly. It’s quite an operation.
