Jim Harbaugh has appointed his third defensive coordinator in Michigan, and his choice may be his biggest coach move yet.
Sunday afternoon, the Wolverines announced that Baltimore Ravens linebackers coach Mike Macdonald was hired to command Michigan’s defense. Macdonald succeeds Don Brown, who was fired last month and has since taken over as defensive coordinator in Arizona.
Macdonald has no experience as a defensive coordinator and was only a graduate assistant at the university level.
Macdonald has served as the Ravens’ linebacker coach since 2018, and was previously a coach for Baltimore defensive quarterbacks in 2017. Prior to that, he was a defense assistant in 2014-16. In the fall, Macdonald helped the Ravens post the NFL’s seventh best total defense and the league’s second best scoring defense. Baltimore also ranked in the top five in both categories in 2018 and 2019. During his time as a position coach, Macdonald directly trained Pro-Bowl players at Eric Weddle, CJ Mosley and Matthew Judon.
Prior to joining John Harbaugh’s team in Baltimore, Macdonald worked as a graduate assistant in Georgia, his alma mater. Macdonald graduated from Georgia in 2010, and after spending two of his college years training at Cedar Shoals High School, he immediately joined the Bulldog team as a defensive graduate assistant.
While a graduate assistant in Georgia, Macdonald received praise for mentoring the All-SEC linebacker Ramik Wilson was selected as a graduate assistant to recruit during a change of coach.
In Michigan, Macdonald will take on a defense that has talent and is expected to return a number of starters, but was terrible in a shortened 2020 season. The Wolverines were 2-4 in 2020, ranking 54th in yards per game allowed, 84th in yards per game allowed and 94th in points per game allowed. Michigan was particularly unhappy against the pass, ranking 90th in yards per permitted game, 65th in permitted passer rating, allowed 12 touchdown passes compared to two interceptions and ranked 104th in sacks per game.
Still, the Wolverines look set to have a strong core to work with in 2021. Aidan Hutchinson, Brad Hawkins, Daxton Hill, Josh Ross, Michael Barrett, Gemon Green, Vincent Gray and Christopher Hinton give Michigan eight primary matches they should return, while others like Donovan Jeter, Makari Paige, Taylor Upshaw and Julius Welschof are also expected to return. In total, the Wolverines plan to return 19 defensive recruits of four or five stars, add three more in the 2022 recruiting class and are aggressively pursuing the NCAA Transfer Portal.
VIP: Michigan continues to track several defensive attackers on the transfer portal.
At the moment, it is not clear who will join Macdonald on the defensive team. Cornerback coach Michael Zordich and safetie coach Bob Shoop are unlikely to remain with the Wolverines, while lineback coach Brian Jean-Mary and defensive line coach Shaun Nua have uncertain status. A list of potential secondary coaches can be found on here.
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