Michigan football may have lost all of its defensive staff, with defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, defensive line coach Mike Elston, and secondary coach Steve Clinkscale following Jim Harbaugh to the Los Angeles Chargers, while safeties coach Jay Harbaugh reuniting with Mike Macdonald as the latter takes over the Seattle Seahawks. But the Wolverines made a major coup managing to convince Wink Martindale, the former Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants defensive coordinator to come back to college for the first time since 2003 to be their new defensive coordinator.
Still, new head coach Sherrone Moore has to fill out the rest of the defensive staff, and it appears he’s got one major candidate set to take over the defensive line in Wisconsin DL coach Greg Scruggs.
No deal has officially been signed yet but Michigan and Wisconsin DL coach Greg Scruggs are heading towards finalizing a deal in the next 24-48 hours, I’m told. Wisconsin staff and players have been informed.
Hint here from DL Curtis Neal tonight. pic.twitter.com/aCUZT6te4z
— Josh Henschke (@JoshHenschke) February 12, 2024
Moore was an assistant coach at Louisville at the same time Scruggs was both a player and an assistant. Since then, Scruggs was the director of player personnel at Luke Fickell’s Cincinnati before becoming the defensive line coach there, including the year UC was in the College Football Playoff. He then was a defensive assistant with the New York Jets before reuniting with Fickell for one year in Madison. He also won two super bowls with the Patriots, though he was not active for the first one.
While this would fill one vacancy, the Wolverines still will need a linebackers coach and at least one coach in the secondary. Meanwhile, the offensive staff appears to be set, assuming that running backs coach Mike Hart and wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy remain with the team — though no announcement has been made about either’s retention as of yet.