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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — This offseason, Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh drew a lot of skepticism about how he retooled his coaching staff. While that may have come from the fan base and the media, it’s certainly not coming from the players, which, after a week of spring ball, tells you all you need to know about the wholesale changes.
Harbaugh, himself, got a vote of confidence from some of his players on Tuesday, but the new-look staff is also garnering praise from one of the Wolverines’ veteran leaders.
Though senior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson has only had a handful of coaches while in Ann Arbor — one defensive coordinator in Don Brown and two defensive line coaches in Greg Mattison and Shaun Nua (still his position coach) — the new faces have made quite an impression on the legacy standout and team captain.
“In terms of staffs I’ve been around since I’ve been at Michigan, this is probably the smartest staff I’ve been around,” Hutchinson said. “Just in these few weeks that I’ve been around this staff, I have learned more about the game of football — much more about defenses. All that different stuff, just because of the coaches we brought in.
“(New defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald) came in here with a lot of energy. It’s kind of a different kind of focus,” Hutchinson said. “You can tell he’s been in the league for the last eight years. He’s kinda got that way about him. I like what we’re doing with the defense, I like the culture he’s instilling in us. I think he’s doing a really good job. I’m just really fired up to have him as my coach.”
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Questions loom about Macdonald, given that this is his first role leading a defense, considering he comes to Ann Arbor after coaching linebackers for the Baltimore Ravens the past three seasons. Having been in that organization for eight years total, while he might not have the pedigree that his predecessor, Don Brown, had coming in, Hutchinson insists that Macdonald knows his stuff, noting that age is just a number.
As far as what’s impressed him the most, he says that what he imparts just screams NFL pedigree. So, what does that mean? What makes him so smart?
“I would say it’s mostly demeanor — when I talk about the focus of the NFL,” Hutchinson said. “I remember when I first met him, he’s very precise with his words and he’s just very articulate. The guy just sounds like he knows what he’s doing. He’s very focused and you can just tell that about him.”
As far as his role in the new, presumed 3-4 defense, Hutchinson says that you’ll see him lined up up front as well as back as an outside linebacker, at times. With Macdonald bringing in multiple schemes, opposing offenses shouldn’t get used to a singular look from the Wolverines defense.
“Coach Mac has brought in a multitude of different schemes, so I’m gonna be doing everything this year,” Hutchinson said. “Standing up, hand in the dirt — you name it.
“You just look at any of the EDGE guys from the Ravens and that’s what I should look like.”
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