Michigan offer ‘means a lot’ to highly-coveted 2025 ATH Jamauri Brice

Michigan has been doing their due diligence on the recruiting trail and been handing out even more offers since Sherrone Moore took over the reins to the program.

Wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy has extended several more scholarships and recently put the Wolverines in the mix for one of the Peach State’s one highly-coveted prospects this cycle in Cartersville (Ga.) 2025 athlete Jamauri Brice.

In all, Jesse Minter, Mike Elston and Steve Clinkscale joined him in Los Angeles, while Jay Harbaugh joined Mike Macdonald with the Seattle Seahawks. Combined with the vacant linebackers coach role and Moore’s newly vacant role as offensive line coach, and Moore needed to make a number of hires and coaching decisions before Michigan began spring practices.

So how did the first-time head coach do? In reality, we won’t know until the 2024 season gets underway, or at least spring practices get going. But weighing the importance of continuity, recruiting prowess, experience and other factors, we offer our initial grades for the eight assistant coaches taking on new roles this spring.

Kirk Campbell — Promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach

The efficiency that Moore promoted Campbell to offensive coordinator — the final discussions were being had the same weekend Moore had his introductory press conference — should say a lot about the confidence Michigan’s program has in Campbell.

Though he was only quarterbacks coach for one season in Ann Arbor, he was a well-liked analyst that JJ McCarthy strongly vouched for to be promoted last offseason. And in seeing how McCarthy improved in Hird downs, the red zone and on deep passes — essentially the three weak points in his game in 2022 — it’s easy to see why he was such a fan of Campbell. Currently, McCarthy is trending toward becoming Michigan’s highest-drafted quarterback since Forest Evashevski was taken 10th overall in 1941, and he himself has credited Campbell a great deal for his help.

Throughout 2023, players spoke of Campbell’s ability to teach and truly connect with players. He’s a big believer in film study and getting players to lead discussions on scheme or progressions. Though strength of competition must be kept in mind, he did shine in one game as Michigan’s acting offensive coordinator, leading the Wolverines to a healthy 402-yard, four-touchdown day against East Carolina with a heavy emphasis on the passing game.

Campbell’s resume isn’t as stacked as an outside candidate’s would need to be to land this gig. He spent a handful of years working up the Division-II ranks (West Virginia Wesleyan, Tiffin, Alderson-Broadus) before taking an analyst job at Penn State that he held for three years. He then spent two years as Old Dominion’s offensive coordinator before being let go, then found some traction at Michigan.

But in both the working world and coaching world, there’s value in getting to see a coach in the role before hiring them to it. Just like Michigan liked what it saw in Moore as a future head coach, Moore liked what he saw in Campbell as a future offensive coordinator. We won’t knock Moore valuing trust and continuity over a “splash” hire here.

Grade: A-minus

Grant Newsome — Promoted to offensive line coach

Newsome was probably due for this promotion. Though just 26 years old, the former offensive lineman has been an assistant in some capacity with the Wolverines since medically retiring from football in 2018. Always known as one of the smartest players on the team when he was playing, Newsome immediately shined in the coaching sphere, becoming the first player Jim Harbaugh coached at Michigan to be hired as an on-field assistant by Harbaugh. He spent two years as tight end coach, but also drew praise for his “genius” ability to diagnose defenses

“Grant Newsome … pretty well documented all his players are playing really well,” Harbaugh said in September. “He’s in the box and he is diagnosing defenses like somebody that’s been coaching for like 20 years. It’s that good. It’s better than anybody that’s ever been up there.

“He’s telling us exactly where the shades are aligned, what we should be running. He’s giving coverages, fronts … it’s just as good as I’ve ever seen it from a coach coaching from the press box during the game today.”

So while Newsome hasn’t coached offensive line before, there’s genuinely no doubt from within the program that Newsome can shine in the role. Plus, he’ll still have Moore around as a mentor in the duo’s seventh year working together.

Grade: A

Steve Casula — Hired as tight ends coach from Massachusetts

Casula wasn’t an internal hire, but certainly is no stranger to Moore or Michigan. Prior to spending the last two years as UMass’s offensive coordinator (and working for Don Brown), he spent three seasons as an analyst with the Wolverines, including the breakthrough 2021 season. Before arriving to Ann Arbor in 2019, Casula spent two years as Ferris State’s offensive coordinator, and three years as Davenport’s first-ever OC. Thanks to an ambitious start that had him coaching at high schools while in undergrad, Casula is actually entering his 19th season of coaching despite being 36 years old.

As far as Michigan’s hire of him, the primary benefits to Casula are trust in his work ethic and demeanor within the program, and that he has spent seven seasons as a collegiate offensive coordinator, including two at the FBS level. Even if those were at UMass, that’s a wealth of experience to bring to a tight ends coaching position. He also coached tight ends at Western Michigan, Colgate and Ferris State, so the positional teachings won’t be unfamiliar to him, either.

We wonder if Michigan could have dreamt bigger here, getting a bigger-name outside hire or proven ace on the recruiting trail. But Casula’s coordinator experience and familiarity with Michigan should be assets in his new role.

Grade: B

Don “Wink” Martindale — Hired as defensive coordinator

Perhaps the most significant hire Michigan will make under Moore, the Wolverines didn’t just stay in the Baltimore Ravens tree with their defensive coordinator hire, they went for the trunk. After success with Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter, Michigan hired Martindale, who was both of their boss when he was Baltimore’s defensive coordinator from 2018-21. In all, Martindale has a long, decorated career that includes seven years as an NFL defensive coordinator, 12 years as an NFL linebackers coach and seven years as a collegiate defensive coordinator. He worked for Rick Minter and Jack Harbaugh, and comes with the endorsement of Macdonald, Minter and John Harbaugh.

I gave this grade a B-plus when it happened, noting Martindale’s long time away from the college game (he has been in the NFL since 2004), lack of recruiting ability and the potential staleness of his defensive philosophies after losing his job twice in the last three years. Those concerns are still there, to be sure, but Michigan seemed to complement potential shortcomings with their other defensive assistant hires. We’re grading each hire individually, but Michigan making the hires it made elsewhere gives it the leeway to hire a scheme-consistent play-calling veteran like Martindale.

We still would have vouched for a younger coach on the rise, who could potentially be a long-term assistant to help Moore start his tenure on a strong note. But Martindale will be motivated to get back to the NFL, which is hiring his former assistants in Baltimore left and right, and should allow Michigan’s defense to continue to be among the smartest, best-prepared defenses in the country.

Grade: A-minus

Gregg Scruggs — Hired as defensive line coach from Wisconsin

As we noted, Michigan hired a number of young, college-tested defensive coaches to complement Martindale, and Scruggs and one of them. Though just 33, Scruggs has spent two years as Cincinnati’s defensive line coach, one year in the role for the New York Jets and one year with the Badgers.

A Cincinnati native who shined at Louisville from 2008-11 (including three years while Moore was a graduate assistant), Scruggs spent six seasons in the NFL before joining Luke FIckell’s staff at Cincinnati in 2018. He began as a director of player development, then was promoted to defensive line coach in 2020. After helping the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff in 2021, Scruggs was hired by the New York Jets for the 2022 season. He reunited with Fickell at Wisconsin last year.

Scruggs’ resume is shorter that of Mike Elston’s, but has shown promise. At Cincinnati, he recruited and developed standout tackle Dontay Corleone Jr., as well as NFL Draft picks Curtis Brooks and Myjai Sanders. In Madison, he was the primary recruiter for two four-star defensive line prospects, Ernest Willor Jr. and Dillan Johnson, and helped the Badgers retain highly coveted 2022 recruit Jamel Howard.

He’s young, accomplished, a player’s coach and has drawn praise for his relationship-building with players. The early returns on recruiting (expect his hometown Cincinnati to be a big focus) and developing players is promising, too. In our mind, the only better hire we can think of is Scruggs with four or five more years’ experience, and he might be ready to be that kind of coach now.

Grade: A

Brian Jean-Mary — Hired as linebackers coach from Tennessee

Another hire that should help on the recruiting trail, Jean-Mary returns to Michigan after three seasons with Tennessee. The longtime power-five assistant coach (who first met Moore at Louisville when the two worked under Charlie Strong) has had stints at Louisville, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia Tech, so there’s no shortage of power-five experience on his resume. Even beyond his own position, Jean-Mary is lauded for his recruiting ability. According to 247Sports, Jean-Mary has been the primary recruiter for 17 former four- and five-star recruits, which is actually more than the rest of the hires in this story combined.

In addition to recruiting, Jean-Mary now has 21 years of experience being an on-field position coach, including three seasons as a defensive coordinator for South Florida, which should allow him to bring a wealth of experience and ideas into the defensive coaching meetings. Jean-Mary isn’t quite as highly regarded as a developer or schematic coach, but he also has worked at one school longer than three seasons since his four-year stint at Louisville from 2010-13.

All in all, this is a great, college-minded hire to complement Martindale, and gives Michigan a leading voice in its recruiting strategy and approach.

Grade: A

LaMar Morgan — Hired as defensive backs coach from Louisiana

Michigan took some lumps in its defensive back coaching search. First, Steve Clinkscale changed his mind about joining Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers. Then, Houston Texans safeties coach Stephen Adegoke appeared to have informally accepted the job, before opting to stay with the Texans. Regardless, Moore didn’t take long after to hire Morgan, who was working as Louisiana’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons.

Morgan’s main connection to Moore is that he comes highly recommended by Jesse Minter from their one season together at Vanderbilt in 2021. That year was actually Morgan’s only on-field coaching stint at a power-five program before he returned to his alma mater as a coordinator, but Morgan has been coaching cornerbacks and/or safeties at the college level since 2014.

He brings play-calling experience, plenty of connections in the south — he has coached in Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina — is on the ascent of his career and made a strong impression in his interview. He didn’t appear to be Michigan’s first or second choice and doesn’t have much power-five experience either in recruiting or developing players. But a Minter-recommended collegiate coach with his experience level at both cornerback and safety makes plenty of sense.

Grade: A-minus

JB Brown — Promoted from analyst to special teams coordinator

Likely to be the most scrutinized hire Moore makes this offseason, the head coach took very little time after Jay Harbaugh’s departure to promote analyst JB Brown to special teams coordinator. Brown is an analyst that special teams players have credited over his three seasons in Ann Arbor, and has spent time at Kansas (2015-16), Houston (2017-18) and was special teams coordinator at Texas Southern from 2019-20 before joining Michigan’s staff. In Brown’s three seasons in Ann Arbor, Michigan ranked second, third, and seventh in SP+ special teams efficiency.

Our lower grade doesn’t have as much to do with Brown — though he is fairly inexperienced as an on-field coach with little track record as a recruiter, evaluator, play-caller or talent developer — as it does the decision to go with a standalone special teams coordinator. Such a role is decreasing in popularity around college football, and is seen as a waste as college football positions get more specialized and recruiting becomes a larger emphasis. Of the Big Ten’s 17 other teams in the Big Ten, only four have special teams coordinators who don’t coach other position groups: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Purdue.

247Sports’ Steve Lorenz reported that Brown is a coach that could take on another role and should help in recruiting, so this decision could end up looking just fine for Moore. But on paper, hiring a coach with two years of on-field coaching experience at the group-of-five level to a role solely focused on special teams is quite a swing.

Grade: B-minus

Overall GPA: 3.6

Michigan and Moore probably had to make more hires than expected this offs