Sherrone Moore's coaching staff so far, tracking the spots left to fill

The Michigan Wolverines coaching staff under Sherrone Moore is slowly but surely coming together, but there are still some spots to fill as he enters his second full week at the helm of the program. He has his offensive and special teams coordinators set, but still has a major hire on the defensive side of the ball to sort out and a few key guys left to retain.

Teams are allowed to have 10 full-time assistant coaches on the field, so there are three more spots to fill. Here is a look at where things stand as of Feb. 5

Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach: Kirk Campbell

Campbell just wrapped his second season with the Michigan football program and first as the team’s quarterbacks coach prior to his promotion to offensive coordinator. He called plays in the 2023 season opener against East Carolina with Moore serving a one-game suspension over alleged recruiting violations. In that contest, McCarthy went 26-for-30 for 280 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-3 victory.

Wide receivers coach: Ron Bellamy

The former West Bloomfield HS coach has found a home at his alma mater, coaching safeties in 2021 and wide receivers the last two years. There have been no indications that his status at Michigan has changed, and he is expected to remain on the staff working with the wideouts.

Tight ends coach: Steve Casula

This hire has not been made official yet, but will be shortly. Casula comes over from UMass, where he served as head coach and former Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown’s offensive coordinator. He was an analyst at Michigan from 2019-21 working with the offensive staff, serving in a variety of roles.

Offensive line coach: Grant Newsome

One of Moore’s mentees over the last few years, Newsome now gets to slide into the role vacated by Michigan’s new head coach. The 2024 season will be his 10th in the program after playing offensive tackle from 2015-16. He was a student assistant with the tight ends from 2018-19, then moved onto grad assistant on the offensive line from 2020-21. He coached U-M’s tight ends in 2022-23.

Defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator: Mike Elston

As of now, Elston is still a member of Moore’s staff at Michigan, but that could change. Reports from our Chris Balas have said that he may weigh his options, which could include a spot with Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers. That said, he has remained on the recruiting trail with the staff since the end of the season. This could change, but the longer without departure news might be better for not just Elston, but other U-M assistants.

Co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs: Steve Clinkscale

Similar to Elston, Clinkscale has remained on the recruiting trail for Michigan as the staff works through the transition from Harbaugh to Moore. Clinkscale has been on the Michigan staff since 2021 working with the defensive backs, and given staffing numbers, might be working more with the safeties next year if he sticks in Ann Arbor.

Special teams coordinator: J.B. Brown

Michigan promoted Brown to special teams coordinator last week after reports of Jay Harbaugh’s departure to the NFL surfaced. Brown served as a special teams analyst under Harbaugh from 2021-23 and coordinated the special teams at Texas Southern from 2019-20. His prior stops included Kansas in 2015-16 and Houston in 2017-18 as a graduate assistant assisting with special teams in both spots.

Michigan coaching staff spots still needed

The biggest piece of the puzzle remaining is the defensive coordinator spot. The latest name to emerge as a possibility there is Joe Cullen, who is currently the defensive line coach with the Kansas City Chiefs and spent five years with the Baltimore Ravens from 2016-20. He has over 30 years of coaching experience, and some memorable stops along the way, but is familiar with the system Michigan wants to run as it attempts continuity with schemes from Mike Macdonald to Jesse Minter to whoever is next.

The status of running backs coach/run game coordinator Mike Hart is currently unknown. He has not been on the recruiting trail with the rest of the Michigan staff and has not been seen publicly since the team’s national title win on Jan. 8. His contract expired at the end of the 2023 season.

The Wolverines will also need to hire a full-time linebackers coach after Chris Partridge’s firing by the university last fall and with Rick Minter unlikely to return after being elevated from analyst to replace him.