Who will lead the way in re-establishing the storied Michigan “D”
Submitted by Wes Sims on Wed, 12/31/2008 - 18:21
Back in mid December, Scott Shafer resigned as defensive coordinator of the Michigan Wolverines. After resigning, head coach Rich Rodriguez released a statement: "Scott and I agreed that moving in a different direction was in the best interest of the program. I appreciate Scott's hard work on behalf of Michigan football the past year. He is a good football coach, a good person and a true professional. We wish him well in the future."
Shafer responded to Rodriguez’s statement with this, “Yes, it is accurate.” "We just had a mutual decision. We had different thoughts on the way we did things."
Both men handled the situation the “Michigan” way, with class and integrity but make no mistake about it, Shafer was the fall man for the team’s first ever nine loss season. A season in which Michigan gave up over 40 points in losses to Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois and Purdue.
With Shafer walking away, the Wolverines have a huge coaching vacancy to fill. Here are some the most talked about candidates.
Jay Hopson, who is currently on the Wolverines staff as line backers coach, seems to be leader of the pack, mainly because he knows the defensive system and knows the players. Hopson does have experience as a defensive coordinator when he was the DC for Southern Mississippi.
Jeff Casteel is next on the list. Casteel is currently the defensive coordinator and line backers coach for West Virginia. He obviously has ties with Rodriguez and even initially agreed to come to Michigan with Rodriguez last season before deciding to stay with the Mountaineers.
Current Notre Dame defensive coordinator Corwin Brown is an “outside the box” pick but Rivals.com report Michigan may have some interest in him. Brown was the defensive backs coach for the New York Jets from 2004-2007.
Lastly, East Carolina secondary coach Rick Smith has been rumored as being a serious candidate. Smith has been a defensive coordinator on two separate occasions in his career, with Cincinnati and Tulane.
Whoever becomes the defensive coordinator for the Wolverines in 2009, they will be without six defensive starters from 2008, including secondary anchors Brandon Harrison and Morgan Trent. At the end of the day, Michigan fans and alumni will want immediate results. Looking at the Wolverines 2009 schedule, this team and more importantly the defense have a chance to establish themselves early on in the season. The Wolverines open up with four straight home games: against Western Michigan, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan and Indiana.
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