The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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18 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2017 BY JOHN BORTON G reg Frey broke into a big smile on the Signing of the Stars Stage at Crisler Cen- ter. Like a grizzly in a well- stocked salmon stream, he knows he's in a good spot. The former Michigan offensive line coach, named Jim Harbaugh's new tackles and tight ends coach and run game coordinator, admitted a return to The Big House wasn't a tough call. "It's been an unbelievable expe- rience," he said. "It took me about 18 seconds. I muted the cell phone, looked at my wife and said, 'We're going to Michigan.' I'm fired up. I can't wait." He has reason to be excited. He spent the past six years at Indiana, where the natural resources simply are not as vast as Michigan's from facilities to personnel, despite Frey's own potent recruiting efforts. He can scan Michigan's list of incoming freshmen and see a 6-6, 340-pound offensive tackle in Chuck Filiaga, or view the overall roster and ponder mammoth tight ends such as 6-6, 276-pound Tyrone Wheatley or 6-7, 252-pound Ian Bunting. Frey can imagine the power of Michigan — especially a Harbaugh-led Michigan — when hitting the recruiting trail anywhere, and especially in his home territory of Florida. He can envision Saturday afternoons in Michigan Stadium again, in front of 110,000-plus, all gearing up for more from a program that has won 20 games in Harbaugh's two seasons so far. Harbaugh makes it clear he intends to keep raising the bar for the Wolver- ines. Part of that effort involved bring- ing in Frey, the head coach stressed. "I just looked at getting a great coach," Harbaugh said. "A book was written on that — Good To Great. It's getting the right people on the bus and then finding out the seats for them. "He's a tremendous coach. Of all the coaches in the Big Ten over the last two years, it was Indiana and what they've done offensively, what Greg Frey has done, that I've been most impressed with, over any coaching job over the last two years I've witnessed." That's strong praise, given the bat- tles the Wolverines have faced the past two seasons. There's no question the Michigan boss remembers his team's 2015 showdown in Blooming- ton, when it needed double overtime to finally outgun the Hoosiers 48-41. That Indiana offense averaged more than 500 yards per game behind an offensive line Frey fashioned. The Hoosiers not only pushed Michigan to the limit, they lost by only a touch- down to Ohio State (34-27). Frey earned a nomination that year for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach. Harbaugh paid close attention to the drivers behind the IU attack, even when he didn't have a position open on his own staff. "I've recommended him to [Or- egon head coach] Willie Taggart, I told my brother John, who was look- ing for a line coach [with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens] — 'I would find out who is at Indiana, coaching their offense, coaching their line,'" Har- baugh recounted. "They didn't hire him, so I thought, 'What the heck? I'm going to go after him.'" So he did, and Frey jumped at the chance, after coaching at Michigan from 2008-10. The 2010 Wolverines set a school record with 6,353 total yards, averaging 250.2 yards pass- ing and 238.5 rushing behind Denard Robinson at quarterback. Frey developed some strong tal- ent at Michigan, including David Molk, who eventually won the Rim- ington Award as the nation's best center, along with All-Big Ten and NFL performers Taylor Lewan, Pat- Back For More Greg Frey Returns To Michigan After Impressing Jim Harbaugh Frey, who previously coached U-M's offensive line from 2008-10, said it was an easy call for him to return to Ann Arbor to serve as Harbaugh's tackles and tight ends coach and run game coordinator. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN