Grant Newsome shares how program has evolved since he was a player
The Michigan Wolverines are coached by plenty of men that once suited up for the Maize and Blue, but its most recent player-to-coach hire to the full-time staff was tight ends coach Grant Newsome.
Newsome is in his second full season as the team’s tight ends coach after serving as a grad assistant and pupil for current offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Sherrone Moore. Newsome had to step into a bit of a larger role ahead of the Week 1 win over East Carolina with Moore suspended.
“Just helped out as I could,” Newsome told the media on Wednesday. “Obviously, we missed him. Both him and coach. [Quarterbacks coach] Kirk [Campbell] did a helluva job calling the game. You work with people long enough you start to develop relationships and all a sudden you get into that rhythm and you’re not there, you definitely notice that absence. It’s good to have him back on the sideline on Saturday.”
Newsome has grown tremendously as a coach with the Wolverines. He makes sure to self-evaluate and that he keeps taking steps towards being the best Michigan assistant he can be.
“I’ve said before but I’m very, very blessed to work with the best head coach in America and under the best staff, coordinators all the way on down in the country,” Newsome said. “It makes my job very easy but, at the same time, you definitely learn by doing. It’s like anything. There’s been things that I look back on last year, that, hey, I didn’t do a good enough job or, hey, I actually really liked that and I want to keep doing that. I’m very, very fortunate to have this opportunity to be able to learn and grow.”
Newsome’s playing career came to an end much too early after suffering a severe knee injury during the 2016 season. Michigan was competing for Big Ten titles then, but it was still figuring out its identity and trajectory under head coach Jim Harbaugh.
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Newsome believes the biggest difference between now and then is a group of players that are self-starters and set the tone for what michigan has become on the field.
I think the player leadership is incredible. Everybody uses the word culture and I think it’s overused at times but I think the ownership of the players has grown since when I was playing, I’ll say that. Not to say we didn’t have good leaders or good culture or anything like that. I think the players have gone to another level of taking ownership of that.
“It’s all of our team, it’s Coach Harbaugh’s program but really, at the end of the day, they’re the ones who have to be out on the field, they’re the ones who have to drive the ship. They’ve taken ownership of it and we’ve got an incredible group of juniors, seniors, all the way down in terms of player leaders.”
What’s next for Michigan?
Michigan hosts Bowling Green on Saturday night at the Big House at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game set for Big Ten Network. Cory Provus, Jake Butt and Brooke Fletcher will be on the call for the game with Michigan set as a 40.5-point favorite.
