Kirk Campbell talks vision for Michigan offense, message for players who consider leaving

Michigan Wolverines football head coach Sherrone Moore has a lot of work to do in hiring a defensive staff, but the offensive side of the ball is mostly solidified, highlighted by the promotion of quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell to coordinator.

Campbell has risen quite quickly in the profession. After being an analyst at Penn State from 2017-19, he coordinated the Old Dominion offense in 2020-21. He was an offensive analyst for Michigan in 2022, before being elevated to quarterbacks coach, where he helped mentor J.J. McCarthy, a potential first-round pick this spring, and others.

“It was amazing,” Campbell said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with Jon Jansen about his promotion. “I love this place. I’m so close to my family, as far as being originally from Pittsburgh. The opportunity to work at the all-time winningest program in college football history and being the coordinator is just something that you don’t take lightly. It’s a great opportunity, great experience for me. Just extremely proud to be able to represent the block ‘M.’

“Life comes at you fast. You gotta take advantage of opportunities when they’re presented to you. Especially my time at Michigan has come really fast, being off the field, then getting on the field as the quarterbacks coach to rising to coordinator. I truly believe you prepare yourself for the opportunities that are presented to you, and then when they are there, you strike. I prepared myself my entire coaching career to be offensive coordinator at Michigan.”

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Campbell helped Moore, formerly Michigan’s offensive coordinator and line coach, design the Wolverines’ scheme last season. The two worked closely together the year prior while Campbell was an analyst, too. That system, Campbell noted, will be tailored to their players’ strengths.

“I’m a firm believer of, when you ask, ‘What kind of offense are you going to run? What are you going to look like?’ Your offense, any great offensive coordinator needs to, one, assess the roster, find out who your best players are — which I have a good grasp of — and then put them in the best position that suit their abilities,” the Michigan assistant explained.

“Going back to last year, let’s just talk about [wide receiver] Roman [Wilson] a little bit. Roman was a really fast guy, you couldn’t get your hands on him, so we had to find ways to let him, pre-snap, not get touched.

“This year, who the starting quarterback is going to be, let’s make sure we put his assets out there to be able to shine so he can produce the best.

“[Senior running back] Donovan [Edwards], really good receiver, as well, out of the backfield, lining up out there … how can we put him in situations to make it advantageous for us. I can go down the list.

“[Junior tight end] Colston Loveland — really, really good at catching the football. Let’s make sure to build our offense around our key pieces so then we can thrive come Saturdays.”

Under former head coach Jim Harbaugh, who’s now with the Los Angeles Chargers, Michigan coaches often talked about a “collaborative effort” with the offense, and that won’t change under Moore and Campbell. Neither will the system, Campbell revealed.

“The offense is not going to change, as far as schematics. We’re still going to be similar, as far as presentation of formations,” the Michigan coach said. “Listen, I know I’m a quarterbacks coach, but nobody loves running the football more than a quarterbacks coach, because that helps with play-action passes and getting the quarterback some candy store completions as we talk about it.

“But there will be a collaborative effort. Sherrone’s the head coach. What he wants done is what I’m going to apply on the field and make sure that we’re able to execute that. But we just gotta continue to make sure that whatever plays on that call sheet, we are in the best situations to succeed on it.

“Whether it’s a run play, pass play, however it’s formatted, there are going to be a lot of people in that room, [offensive line coach] Grant Newsome, other coaches that we have, [wide receivers coach] Ron Bellamy, to make sure we put the best plays on the call sheet. So, it will be collaborative through everybody on that room.”

Kirk Campbell’s message to Michigan players on the fence

Once Harbaugh departed for the Chargers, Michigan players had 30 days to enter the NCAA transfer portal, a period that will conclude Feb. 23. The spring portal window will also occur April 15-30.

With a lot of staff turnover, players may have questions about the future. But in his message to them during those conversations, Campbell said he points out the greatness of the Michigan program and that there are concerns elsewhere, too.

“The grass is not always greener, when you look in the portal and you want to look somewhere else,” Campbell said. “And maybe you want to look for something specific — I don’t know. I don’t know what their case may be [since] they’re case-by-case situations, but it doesn’t mean that another place may offer you a better opportunity.

“We play at the University of Michigan, the all-time winningest program in college football history, the defending national champs. We got a loaded roster coming back with tons of talent all over the board. There’s no better place to be than here right now.

“So, just sit back, take a deep breath, let it all process, know that you’ve got great people leading you, you’ve got great leaders of men, it’s a great culture and just enjoy the ride.”

The Wolverines have seen just one player — reserve defensive tackle Reece Atteberry — enter the portal since Harbaugh’s departure.