Daily assistant coach reset and discussion...

nickespitia · Jan 19, 2021

This has definitely been the strangest offseason I can remember. First, there was all of the extension drama with Harbaugh and now it seems like we get a new list of potential hires every day that don’t always include the coaches who actually get hired. I thought it might be useful to summarize who has actually been retained, who was let go, whose status is uncertain, who we thought might be hired but then fell through, and what positions still need to be filled. Then maybe we can talk about coaches we’d like to see hire.

Current staff (announced or thought to be signing soon.

Head Coach/QBs - Jim Harbaugh
OC/WRs - Josh Gattis (1)
RBs - Mike Hart (2)
OL - Ed Warinner (3)
TE - Sherrone Moore (4)
DC - Mike Macdonald (5)
DL - Shaun Nua (6)
S - George Helow (7)
Special Teams Coordinator - Jay Harbaugh (8)

We currently have 8 of the 10 assistant coaches announced. We don’t know what position group Macdonald will coach but its likely to be LBs or DBs depending on who else is hired.

Coaches who have been let go

Ben McDaniels QB
Don Brown DC
Mike Zordich CB
Bob Stoops S

I would have liked to see Zordich be retained but most of these moves were expected.

Coaches in limbo

Brian Jean-Mary

Initially it looked like BJM would be retained. Now its less clear. I’d like to see him stay. He’s an established recruiter and has built good early relationships with Burnham and Cheevks in the 22 class. I thought the Sams and Vipers played well enough given their talent and experience.

Coaches we thought we coming but appear to be taking other opportunities/remaining with their current team.

Co-OC/Qb - Joe Moorhead (Oregon)
Co-DC/S - Tim Banks (PSU)
LB - Christian Robinson (Florida)
CB - Jesse Minter (maybe Vandy’s DC)

Moorhead would have been a great hire and generated a lot of excitement. They other guys may have been very good coaches but I can’t say that Im disappointed that they aren’t being added to the staff.

Positions we still need to add

LB coach
CB coach

Right now we don’t have anyone to coach LBs or CBs but there are a few options. MacDonald, BJM, and Helow have all coached LBs in the past. MacDonald and Helow have also coached DBs/S before. Maybe BJM is retained and he and Mac coach LBs. Or maybe BJM is let go and Mac and Helow coach the backers freeing up room to add a CB and S coach.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a coaching staff be so close to being completed while still having so many things unsettled. It will be interesting to see how the staff comes together.

@ChrisBalas @GFunk @totchman @Section_6 anything Im missing? Any thoughts on what happens next?

Ib3490 · Jan 19, 2021