Jim Harbaugh has officially been welcomed back to Michigan with a 7-year contract as the Wolverines head football coach. The next question on everyone’s mind now is. who will join Harbaugh on his inaugural staff? Both the offensive and defensive coordinator positions are expected to be vacant, as last year’s defensive coordinator, Greg Mattison, has retired, and last year’s offensive coordinator, Doug Nussmeier, was ineffective, and has neither strong ties to the school or Harbaugh to help save his job. There are a number of able and likely candidates to replace these men, and Michigan’s coordinator candidates are detailed below.
Offensive Coordinator
Greg Roman — San Francisco 49ers
Roman had been Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator in San Francisco for the entirety of his tenure there, four years, and served as an offensive assistant in Harbaugh’s final two years at Stanford. Roman is also believed to be a lock to follow Harbaugh to Ann Arbor. The New Jersey native has only two years of experience coaching at the college level, but has 17 years of experience in the NFL, coaching offensive linemen, tight ends, and quarterbacks. Under Roman, Michigan would be expected to emphasize Derrick Green and the running game, much like how he and Harbaugh had emphasized Frank Gore in San Francisco, and Toby Gerhart at Stanford.
Cam Cameron — Louisiana State Tigers
Should Greg Roman not become Michigan’s next offensive coordinator, for whatever reason, luring Cam Cameron away from the bayou and back home to Ann Arbor would be the next best thing. Cameron spent the first decade of his coaching career at Michigan and has worked for Michigan desciples in the past. The 53-year-old Cameron has previously served as head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Dolphins, and might favor a more pass-oriented offense than Roman.
Defensive Coordinator
Jim Leavitt — San Francisco 49ers
Like Roman, Leavitt was a member of Harbaugh’s 49ers staff since 2011, and has a very respectable track record as both a defensive coordinator and head coach at the collegiate level. Leavitt served as South Florida’s head coach for the first 13 years of the program’s existence and only endured two losing seasons during that time, compiling a 95-27 record. However, the biggest obstacle to Leavitt’s hiring are the events surrounding his dishonorable discharge from South Florida in which he attempted to cover up the fact that he had struck one of his players. Michigan has always emphasized integrity in its athletic department (whether or not it has always been enforced), and may have trouble accepting this hire given his past conduct.
DeWayne Walker — Jacksonville Jaguars
Unlike the other defensive coordinator candidates on this list, DeWayne Walker does not have a history of working with linebackers, a trait which every one of Harbaugh’s defensive coordinators at Stanford and San Francisco have all shared. Instead, Walker has worked with defensive backs from the pros to the community college level, and from Southern California to New England. Walker would be an interesting hire from the perspective that he would work with former five star recruit Jabrill Peppers, whose current commitment to remaining with the Wolverine is unknown after appearing in just one game as a true freshman. Peppers may be just too intrigued by the idea of working with someone who knows what it takes to play corner in the NFL to even consider transferring elsewhere.
Bill Sheridan — Detroit Lions
Harbaugh may not have to look much farther than a short trip up I-94 to find his next defensive coordinator. Sheridan is currently the linebackers coach for a vaunted Lions defense which has gotten very good returns on a linebacking corps which had suffered a number of injuries. The Michigan native has served on the Wolverines coaching staff for two separate stints (as well as on the rival Spartans and Buckeyes staffs), as well as a defensive coordinator for both the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Should Sheridan join Harbaugh’s staff, his son, Nick, who previously played for Michigan could also join the staff as a quarterbacks coach or graduate assistant, as he currently coaches for the Tennessee Volunteers as a GA.
Jason Tarver — Oakland Raiders
When Jim Harbaugh went one way, Jason Tarver went the other. Prior to Harbaugh becoming head coach in San Francisco, Tarver had served as an offensive and defensive assistant for the 49ers, and would join David Shaw’s inaugural staff at Stanford as defensive coordinator the following year. With the Raiders currently looking for a new head coach (Harbaugh, ironically, having been a candidate for the job), Tarver likely will not retain his job in Oakland and will be on the market for Harbaugh and the Wolverines to hire.
Bill McGovern — Philadelphia Eagles
Bill McGovern has served as a linebackers coach for each of the past fifteen years, as well as four years as a defensive coordinator at Boston College. McGovern took over coaching duties for the outside linebackers with the Eagles in 2013, and worked on a staff which employs a 3-4 defensive front, which Michigan is likely to adopt sooner than later under Harbaugh. The well traveled coach has also worked with defensive backs in the past, as well.
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