'Special homecoming': New DL coach Mike Elston details process of being hired by Michigan
Mike Elston‘s ears perked up when he heard Michigan football had a defensive line coach opening.
The longtime Notre Dame assistant played at Michigan from 1993-96, and worked for the Wolverines for the next four seasons as a student assistant (1997), intern (1998) and graduate assistant (1999-2000). When Shaun Nua left Ann Arbor for USC, Elston’s agent brought up the prospect of coming back to Michigan, and things moved quickly after that.
“The moment it happened … I have an agent. The agent actually called me and asked me, ‘Hey, would you be interested in a Michigan opportunity?’” Elston said on the In The Trenches with Jon Jansen, a former teammate of Elston’s at Michigan. “I don’t want to say the words I used, but it began with an ‘H’ and ended with a ‘yeah.’
“Next thing I know, [Michigan head] Coach [Jim] Harbaugh reached out, and that was it. When I brought it up to my wife, she was just ecstatic. It happened very quickly, and the feeling was mutual — they wanted me here, and I wanted to be here.”
RELATED
• Michigan football players in the 2022 NFL Draft after deadline passes
• Wolverines in the NFL: Twelve former Michigan players still alive in playoffs
Needless to say, he feels right at home.
“My family and I, we’re so excited, and I’ve always had my eye on getting back to Ann Arbor,” he said. “It’s funny, my wife was in the office today, and she looked at me sitting in the office and said, ‘Do you remember dreaming about being here?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’
“It’s great. It’s great to be home. Everybody I’ve met, the people have been great and the players have been great. It’s been a really special homecoming.”
Elston hit the ground running. Just after the ink dried on his contract and before he was officially introduced by the program, he joined his fellow assistant coaches at the Michigan High School Coaches Association clinic, which offered him his first chance to represent the Wolverines once again. He’s on the road recruiting this week, and wearing Michigan gear has him excited.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Johntay Cook
Texas WR, Huskies part ways
- 2
Transfer Portal window
Coaches propose big change
- 3Hot
Sanders addresses rumors
Prime talks Cowboys job
- 4
Fake injuries
New rule under discussion
- 5Trending
Kiffin jabs Saban
Sydney Thomas pic sparks shot
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“It was natural, man,” Elston said of putting on Wolverines’ gear. “It felt great. I didn’t know what it was going to feel like, and then I realized, dang, it doesn’t even feel like I lost any time. I got chills.
“I texted my wife and said it was so nostalgic, being in this building and putting on the block ‘M.’ It’s a little cooler now because it’s got the Jumpman on it, and that’s really neat, but the block ‘M’ is the same, and it felt great.”
Elston is one of four coaches on the Michigan staff who played for the Wolverines, joining Harbaugh, running backs coach Mike Hart and safeties mentor Ron Bellamy. While he didn’t take anything away from the coaches who were imported from elsewhere, he did explain that it gives him a unique advantage.
“I think it’s very valuable, and not that it’s more valuable than anybody else, but at least there’s a perspective,” Elston said. I can tell a kid why I chose Michigan over Notre Dame and over Ohio State. Where, when that conversation came up when I was at Notre Dame — ’hey coach, where’d you go to school?’ ‘Well, I went to Michigan.’ ‘Well, why?’ It’s not great when shining a light on the school that you’re already at.
“Now, I can say with pride and I can let them know exactly why I chose it. It was nothing negative on anybody else or any other school, but I can express the positives of Michigan. I think it’s valuable in recruiting.”
Now, he can tell them why he chose Michigan twice.
