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I'm going to give Butch some credit on the staff shake up this off-season.
Posted on 3/7/17 at 9:40 pm
Posted on 3/7/17 at 9:40 pm
He has upgraded his staff pretty significantly (If only for the loss of Martinez) imo with not only some guys that are a proven success coaching their respective position on the field and teaching their guys how to hone their craft, but they also look to be better recruiters than the guys that have been asked to move on.
S&C -- Rock Gullickson -- Huge improvement. (My favorite hire of the off season) Almost 20 years as a NFL S&C Vet. He was voted S&C of the year by his peers among other accolades while coaching in the league. He was a S&C coach for Louisville, Texas, and Rutgers prior to heading to the NFL.
DBs -- Charlton Warren -- Huge improvement all around. Martinez was terrible outside of maybe his 1st or 2nd season where we had a decent secondary #'s wise. He'd been regressing ever since. Warren has had strong results at UNC, Nebraska, and AF prior to coming to UT.
DL -- Brady Hoke -- Slight improvement -- I think he has the potential to be as good or better than Stripling in terms of teaching the craft (Strip did a very good job for us imo) and will be a huge asset in recruiting. He's a house hold name and a players coach who recruits have always enjoyed. I think Hoke and Beard have a strong shot to end up being 2 of our best recruiters when this class is finished.
Give Brady Hoke his due for Michigans huge NFL draft class
WR -- Kevin Beard -- TBD -- Love this hire from a recruiting stand point as he's only been on the job for a week and already giving us a huge boost down in FL with recruiting. I say TBD because this will be one of his first gigs as a position coach at a major program outside of 2015 with Miami, where he wasn't retained by Richt when Golden was fired in 2016). Beard is from South Florida and played wide out for Miami during college. I wasn't a huge Azzani fan in terms of technique or recruiting so I might give this a slight upgrade if for nothing other than what he brings as a recruiter. Azzani did seem to help Malone continually progress to his credit.
OL -- Walt Wells -- Improvement -- Huge recruiting asset with deep ties in terms of recruiting the state of TN. I think Mahoney was a major weak point on this coaching staff. Eager to see what Wells can do with a very talented position group.
QB -- Mike Canales -- Improvement for the fact that we had a GA coaching QB's last year..Jesus.. This was my least favorite hire out of the ones made, but I'm going to give him a shot. He's been in contact with a lot of QB's since he started recently so I'm curious to see if he can do anything with those guys now that he's reached out to them.
ETA: Jones now has 4 members on his staff that have either been a HC or interim HC during their career. Most notably Brady Hoke with 13 years HC experience.
Also happy to see that he brought in the 2 assistant coaches from the NFL to work as offensive analysts like what we are starting to see around the league at places like Bama.
What are your alls thoughts/expectations on Jones being able to get some new blood in town?
S&C -- Rock Gullickson -- Huge improvement. (My favorite hire of the off season) Almost 20 years as a NFL S&C Vet. He was voted S&C of the year by his peers among other accolades while coaching in the league. He was a S&C coach for Louisville, Texas, and Rutgers prior to heading to the NFL.

DBs -- Charlton Warren -- Huge improvement all around. Martinez was terrible outside of maybe his 1st or 2nd season where we had a decent secondary #'s wise. He'd been regressing ever since. Warren has had strong results at UNC, Nebraska, and AF prior to coming to UT.

DL -- Brady Hoke -- Slight improvement -- I think he has the potential to be as good or better than Stripling in terms of teaching the craft (Strip did a very good job for us imo) and will be a huge asset in recruiting. He's a house hold name and a players coach who recruits have always enjoyed. I think Hoke and Beard have a strong shot to end up being 2 of our best recruiters when this class is finished.
Give Brady Hoke his due for Michigans huge NFL draft class

WR -- Kevin Beard -- TBD -- Love this hire from a recruiting stand point as he's only been on the job for a week and already giving us a huge boost down in FL with recruiting. I say TBD because this will be one of his first gigs as a position coach at a major program outside of 2015 with Miami, where he wasn't retained by Richt when Golden was fired in 2016). Beard is from South Florida and played wide out for Miami during college. I wasn't a huge Azzani fan in terms of technique or recruiting so I might give this a slight upgrade if for nothing other than what he brings as a recruiter. Azzani did seem to help Malone continually progress to his credit.

OL -- Walt Wells -- Improvement -- Huge recruiting asset with deep ties in terms of recruiting the state of TN. I think Mahoney was a major weak point on this coaching staff. Eager to see what Wells can do with a very talented position group.

QB -- Mike Canales -- Improvement for the fact that we had a GA coaching QB's last year..Jesus.. This was my least favorite hire out of the ones made, but I'm going to give him a shot. He's been in contact with a lot of QB's since he started recently so I'm curious to see if he can do anything with those guys now that he's reached out to them.

ETA: Jones now has 4 members on his staff that have either been a HC or interim HC during their career. Most notably Brady Hoke with 13 years HC experience.
Also happy to see that he brought in the 2 assistant coaches from the NFL to work as offensive analysts like what we are starting to see around the league at places like Bama.
What are your alls thoughts/expectations on Jones being able to get some new blood in town?
This post was edited on 3/7/17 at 11:23 pm
Posted on 3/8/17 at 12:12 am to TRUERockyTop
A lot of unknowns on the offensive side. I do think we upgraded, though. Not hard considering we didn't actually have a qb coach or S&C coach.
Posted on 3/8/17 at 5:11 am to TRUERockyTop
Jones had no choice but to make staff changes.
I hate that the changes were a year late. All that experience and talent...
However, let's move forward and hope for the best. This is our team and our staff. We'll all still support them and continue to talk each other off the ledge occasionally.
I hate that the changes were a year late. All that experience and talent...
However, let's move forward and hope for the best. This is our team and our staff. We'll all still support them and continue to talk each other off the ledge occasionally.

Posted on 3/8/17 at 2:12 pm to TRUERockyTop
Pretty spot on. Have heard people questioning Hoke (which I would too if he was our DC) but he's a proven recruiter/developer on the dline. And spot on about Canales, I do not expect him to be what was needed for QB development but hopefully I'm wrong. Other than that, I really like this staff and think Defense makes some major improvements, hopefully offense can improve as well.
Posted on 3/8/17 at 2:40 pm to BigOrangeVols
quote:
Have heard people questioning Hoke (which I would too if he was our DC) but he's a proven recruiter/developer on the dline.
I think hiring Hoke as DL Coach was as good a hire as anybody made all offseason. That guy is an elite DL coach and recruiter.
Posted on 3/8/17 at 3:08 pm to TRUERockyTop
Thanks for putting up this detailed note. 

Posted on 3/8/17 at 7:32 pm to WhiskeyPapa
No problem. Just trying to pass some time.
Summer of George, Thone are my thoughts as well. I think we are lucky to have him
Summer of George, Thone are my thoughts as well. I think we are lucky to have him
Posted on 3/9/17 at 8:24 am to TRUERockyTop
I actually give Jones more credit for Malone. Year before last Jones started working with the WRs more hands on when it was clear they weren't doing well. The next game they improved dramatically (UGA game) and I think he stayed on Azzanni the rest of the way. If you'll notice, last season the rotation was finally slowed down to a more normal speed that kept playmakers on the field and the extreme crouch stance that Z taught was dropped.
Coach Z is not exactly a lovable guy when it comes to how he coaches. I think his coaching style (he was too much of a hardass) drove a few away and just didn't quite get through to some of his players. When they responded to a different coaching style, Coach Z to his credit eased up a bit.
It'll be interesting to see how he coaches in the pros and if he returns to his old style and methods.
Coach Z is not exactly a lovable guy when it comes to how he coaches. I think his coaching style (he was too much of a hardass) drove a few away and just didn't quite get through to some of his players. When they responded to a different coaching style, Coach Z to his credit eased up a bit.
It'll be interesting to see how he coaches in the pros and if he returns to his old style and methods.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 7:02 pm to Serraneaux
Definite upgrades but at the end of the day that midget bastard is still the coach. The best staff in America was a joke and this red faced clown tried to feed us this line of shite when we knew his staff was shite.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 7:14 pm to RFM
I'm a smart a big of butch hater as anyone but what else is he supposed to say?
"Yea this staff is prettt average, maybe even mediocre, but we will get it done!"
Sure he didn't have to say "best staff in America" but if he had said "one of the top staffs in the country" I bet ppl would still be bitching
"Yea this staff is prettt average, maybe even mediocre, but we will get it done!"
Sure he didn't have to say "best staff in America" but if he had said "one of the top staffs in the country" I bet ppl would still be bitching
Posted on 3/9/17 at 11:11 pm to Wishnitwas1998
Posted on 3/20/17 at 2:09 pm to TRUERockyTop
Another staff addition was announced today:
Another strong get imo
quote:
New Tennessee has hired former NFL assistant Ryan Slowik as their new defensive analyst. He has worked with linebackers in Arizona, NYJ and Cleveland.
Another strong get imo
Posted on 3/20/17 at 3:32 pm to TRUERockyTop
Canales is easily the biggest question mark. With some of the other names that were reported as potentials at QB coach, this hire seems underwhelming. However, as some have mentioned, getting any coach in the position is an upgrade from a GA.
Nevertheless, I'm really curious about the reasoning behind hiring Canales. Why? What is it about Canales that Jones wanted? Is it just the link to Larry Scott? Was there no better option?
When you look at some of the other guys, they all seem to have strengths. Gullickson and Warren are proven successes. Hoke is well known for his upside in recruiting. Wells has similar recruiting upside. I think Beard has a lot of potential despite being a newer coach and brings energy to the position. I'm excited about all these guys.
Canales has been around and doesn't seem to have a lot of success on his resume from what I have seen. Am I missing something?
Nevertheless, I'm really curious about the reasoning behind hiring Canales. Why? What is it about Canales that Jones wanted? Is it just the link to Larry Scott? Was there no better option?
When you look at some of the other guys, they all seem to have strengths. Gullickson and Warren are proven successes. Hoke is well known for his upside in recruiting. Wells has similar recruiting upside. I think Beard has a lot of potential despite being a newer coach and brings energy to the position. I'm excited about all these guys.
Canales has been around and doesn't seem to have a lot of success on his resume from what I have seen. Am I missing something?
Posted on 3/20/17 at 7:06 pm to Torch
Good question that only Jones knows the answer to. I think all of us feel that way regarding Canales to some degree.
Posted on 3/20/17 at 10:17 pm to TRUERockyTop
I think he upgraded the staff. Getting rid of Azzani, Mahoney, and Martinez is great. However, I don't like the Canales hire at all. I also wonder about Scott at OC and worry that Butch will try to control the offense too much.
I don't think these hires will help a ton in the long run. I see a pretty mediocre season upcoming.
I don't think these hires will help a ton in the long run. I see a pretty mediocre season upcoming.
Posted on 3/20/17 at 11:43 pm to Robert Goulet
Overall I'm less than thrilled about Scott and Canalas but surely going from no
QB coach to a QB coach can't hurt
Overall I'd say it's an upgrade In staff for
Sure
QB coach to a QB coach can't hurt
Overall I'd say it's an upgrade In staff for
Sure
Posted on 3/21/17 at 2:16 pm to Wishnitwas1998
Scott is an unknown for sure but I prefer him over DeBord, that said my opinion of Debord was pretty low so that doesn't say much. But from what I can gather I think everyone, even those outside of the program, have a very high opinion of Scott. ]
I think the only hire I hate is Canales.
I think we made major upgrades on D and I think we made upgrades for the most part on O although I am skeptical of the improvement on Oline with Wells.
I think the only hire I hate is Canales.
I think we made major upgrades on D and I think we made upgrades for the most part on O although I am skeptical of the improvement on Oline with Wells.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 12:15 am to Robert Goulet
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