The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1371232
50 THE WOLVERINE JUNE/JULY 2021 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL (3-4 defense) now being imple- mented as the base look, though the Wolverines insist they will throw multiple looks at opposing offenses. Two of the most obvious examples of the changes made are that the vi- per linebacker spot is no longer pres- ent, and the former defensive ends are in a different role. "Really good," Harbaugh said of how the transition has gone so far. "We've got good players on defense, and you see it jelling, you see it com- ing together where players are do- ing some different roles based on the scheme, different positions. "Defensive ends are now stand-up outside backers. It fits them. I think they're excited about it and learning those new positions. We've got a de- fense that is sound and good. They're fitting the players to the scheme and how their talents are going to be used, and it's some good players, so I think it's a process and it's a daily thing, but I see us being pretty darn good on defense." One of those aforementioned out- side linebackers that will be key to U- M's success in 2021 is returning cap- tain and junior Aidan Hutchinson, who missed the final three and a half games of last season due to an ankle injury and decided to come back to school as opposed to declaring for the NFL Draft. While Hutchinson couldn't fully participate in every drill this spring, his leadership hasn't gone anywhere. "Unbelievable. Not just the de- cision to come back, but the deci- sion to come back, all in," Harbaugh raved. "He was out there every day, learning the new scheme. And right now, physically [he's] in the top three across all the key performance indicators. He has come back, train- ing at the highest level, all in, wants to be great, wants to be great for Michigan." And he's a solid piece to build around on a unit desperate for im- provement. — Clayton Sayfie CO-DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MAURICE LINGUIST BECOMES HEAD COACH AT BUFFALO Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh apparently isn't done making changes to his coaching staff, with co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Maurice Linguist having accepted the head-coach- ing job at the University of Buffalo May 7. He was an assistant coach for the Bulls from 2012-13, and has ties to the program. During U-M's assistant coaching turnover that saw six assistants from the 2020 season replaced, Linguist and former linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary were the only two to leave on their own volition (Jean-Mary is now in the same role at Tennessee). Linguist was brought on by Har- baugh in mid-January, and he hit the ground running, especially on the recruiting trail, helping land 2022 Germantown (Tenn.) High four-star safety Kody Jones and 2022 Grosse Pointe (Mich.) South five-star cor- nerback Will Johnson. Current play- ers had also mentioned how he con- nected well with them and brought energy to practices. Linguist is the 17th Harbaugh as- sistant coach, at all of his stops, to have become a head coach at either the collegiate or professional level. He wished Linguist well heading into his new role. "I am happy for Mo Linguist and his family on this opportunity to be head coach at the University of Buf- falo," Harbaugh said in a statement released via the program's Twitter account. "We are excited for Coach Mo and know that he will do great things as a head coach." Though it was not official as of press time, TheWolverine.com has confirmed U-M is expected to hire Kentucky assistant Steve Clinkscale to replace Linguist. Clinkscale had been on staff at Kentucky since 2016 and was elevated to defensive pass- ing game coordinator following the 2020 season. Clinkscale's defensive backs led the SEC in pass defense the last two years, and prior to joining the Wild- cats he was an assistant at Cincinnati, where he was the defensive coordi- nator in 2015; Illinois; Toledo; West- ern Carolina; and Division II Ash- land, his alma mater. — Clayton Sayfie U-M SEES THREE OF ITS FOOTBALL PLAYERS DEPART THE PROGRAM Three players departed the Michi- gan football program in the span of 10 days from April 14-23, beginning with redshirt junior defensive tackle Phillip Paea April 14, freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy April 16 and sixth-year senior offensive tackle Wil- lie Allen April 23. Of the trio, Worthy was the most no- table and impactful departure. He was rated as the No. 66 overall player in the country out of high school by Rivals. com and was the third-best prospect the Maize and Blue signed in 2021, behind only Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star quarterback J.J. Mc- Carthy (No. 44) and West Bloomfield (Mich.) High four-star running back Donovan Edwards (No. 58). Worthy asked out of his National Letter of Intent before ever playing a game in the winged helmet, and announced April 24 he'd be heading to Texas. Allen also departed Ann Arbor without ever having played a game at U-M, after transferring in from Louisiana Tech. The 6-6, 343-pound- er's next school will be his fifth. He redshirted as a freshman at LSU in 2016 and played for Tyler Junior Col- lege in 2017, before spending 2018 and 2019 at Louisiana Tech. Paea, finally, appeared in just three contests during his four years in Ann Arbor, and was seemingly buried on the depth chart once again this spring. The Berrien Springs, Mich., native began his career as an offen- sive lineman, but was moved to de- fensive tackle prior to the 2019 sea- son. Paea's only played in one game on defense this past year. Fifteen Maize and Blue players have departed the program since the team last took the field against Penn State Nov. 28. — Austin Fox 2021 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (2020 Record) Sept. 4 Western Michigan (4-2) Sept. 11 Washington (3-1) Sept. 18 Northern Illinois (0-6) Sept. 25 Rutgers (3-6) Oct. 2 at Wisconsin (4-3) Oct. 9 at Nebraska (3-5) Oct. 16 Bye Oct. 23 Northwestern (7-2) Oct. 30 at Michigan State (2-5) Nov. 6 Indiana (6-2) Nov. 13 at Penn State (4-5) Nov. 20 at Maryland (2-3) Nov. 27 Ohio State (7-1)