The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/798849
APRIL 2017 THE WOLVERINE 41 grades, classes kids were taking, ar- eas of the country they were from and anything else he thought would help decide whether a kid was the right fit. "Technically, there are no athletic scholarships for service academies, so Army and Air Force would bring in more kids. They'd do that because they know guys are going to leave. "The big reason Navy didn't have to is because Sean would help iden- tify guys that they knew would stick around for all four years. He would compile all this data and would look at what made for a successful service academy football player, not just on the field. That's one of the advantages they had over other service acade- mies." Magee was a perfect fit, but he's also expanded his connections to the NFL, James noted. The Navy coaches are very close to the Baltimore Ra- vens' staff, led by Jim Harbaugh's brother John, as well as coaches like New England's Bill Belichick, who has an extensive history with the school dating to his father, a longtime Navy assistant. The NFL, in a managerial capacity, could be a logical next step for Ma- gee, and while the contacts are nice to have, there's no substitute for learn- ing from someone with experience. Harbaugh has it, of course, hav- ing coached four years for the San Francisco 49ers. Still, Magee did his homework before accepting the job when Harbaugh reached out. "Sean is Navy through and through. He wouldn't have left for just any school," James said. "With Michigan, there were certain simi- larities brought up between Michigan and the Naval Academy, one being the idea of recruiting the whole per- son, not just athletes — people and not just players, very similar to what they had going on at the Naval Acad- emy. He likes that approach. "Another thing he told me was when he visited Ann Arbor, he went in and watched the guys practice a little bit. There are very few schools that work harder than Navy, but he said Michigan was very similar. He was really impressed by that culture." NEW ANALYSTS BRING A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE Michigan's other recent additions appear to have been, too. Kevin Lempa, a 42-year coaching veteran, was most recently a defensive coordi- nator at Hawai'i, but he left to fill one of the defensive analyst positions. Hawai'i head coach Nick Rolov- ich didn't take it personally, telling the Honolulu Advertiser he thought it was more of a personal decision. Lempa still has a home in Maryland and family on the mainland. "I don't think this was an unhappi- ness deal for Lempa," Rolovich said. "I think this was an opportunity to get closer to his family. Being a new grandfather and spending Christmas with his grandchild really put some things in perspective for him, and it was something he wanted to be able to continue to do. That's a lot harder to do from over here." Harbaugh was thrilled to land him. Finotti's replacement worked with Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown at Boston College and Mary- land. He was serving as Hawai'i's defensive coordinator for the second time in his career, and his first stretch (2000-02) was very successful. His 2001 Warriors led the nation in fumble recoveries (21), and the fol- lowing year they produced 25 turn- overs with then-program records in defensive scoring (32 points) and pick-sixes (four). The defense had 32 interceptions over his two seasons leading the unit. Lempa worked with Brown as the defensive backs coach at Boston Col- lege (2013-15), where he helped coach the nation's top defense in 2015. "Kevin is a great addition to our football program and defensive staff," Harbaugh said. "He adds a wealth of experience and knowledge on the defensive side of the ball, and Kevin's working relationship with Coach Brown will be a big asset for our team." Lempa was equally excited at the thought of teaming up with Har- baugh a second time. He was a de- fensive assistant with the San Diego Chargers during Harbaugh's first season with the team in 1999, near the end of Harbaugh's NFL playing career. "I am very excited and honored to become part of Coach Harbaugh's staff," Lempa said. "I am also fired up to be working with Coach Brown again." He'll be joined on Michigan's team of analysts by former NFL quarter- backs coach Scott Turner, the son of longtime NFL offensive coordinator Norv Turner, though the university had yet to make the official announce- ment as of March 12. Turner spent the past three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, helping groom quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewa- ter and Sam Bradford. Turner was released in January de- spite having done a good job with the Vikings quarterbacks — his father, who was the offensive coordinator, had resigned from the coaching staff in the middle of the season, and the two had worked together at a few NFL stops. Turner is slated to be an offensive analyst under Harbaugh and Pep Hamilton, who left his job as quar- terbacks coach and assistant head coach with the Cleveland Browns in January to become the Wolverines' quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. Both Lempa and Turner will likely have opportunities to move up the ranks in the near future given how quickly Harbaugh's staffers have ad- vanced during his first two years back in Ann Arbor. If the time comes to replace them, Harbaugh has made it clear he's going to shoot for the moon in searching for their successors. ❏ Scott Turner, the son of longtime NFL coach Norv Turner, has been hired as an offensive analyst. PHOTO COURTESY MINNESOTA VIKINGS