Michigan to announce Mike Elston as defensive line coach
Former Michigan football player Mike Elston is set to join head coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff, sources have informed TheWolverine.com. The U-M alum has been at Notre Dame the past 12 years, a big part of the Fighting Irish success under head coach Brian Kelly.
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Elston played outside linebacker at Michigan from 1993-’96. He got his start coaching at U-M in 1997 as a student assistant under Lloyd Carr, remaining on staff until 2000. Kelly made him associate head coach in 2018. While he considered joining Kelly at LSU, he chose to stay at Notre Dame under new coach Marcus Freeman.
Elston served as the Notre Dame recruiting coordinator from 2015-17 and associate head coach from 2017-’20. He coached the Irish linebackers for two seasons (2015-16), but returned to the defensive line in 2017. He also coached the line at Notre Dame from 2010-14.
Many believed Elston would be Freeman’s defensive coordinator, but he was passed up despite calling the defense in the Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State. Now, he’s on his way to Michigan.
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“It’s fun to get back into that and be a part of it,” he said before the game. “It’s a collective effort. Everybody is going to have input. It’s certainly not anything I can do on my own. We have an incredible staff and a very talented defensive staff.”
Sources told TheWolverine.com yesterday Michigan and Elston were negotiating. Today, they reached an agreement.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is finalizing his own contract, one expected to keep him in Ann Arbor for a while. The Las Vegas Raiders and others have been courting him, but the U-M athletic department is committed to keeping him.
Watch for more on this hire in the hours and days to come …
