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It’s been no secret that Michigan football, after Jim Harbaugh signed his contract extension earlier this month, has been revamping the coaching staff in a big way.
The first announcement came in the form of former Wolverines all-time leading rusher Mike Hart returning to Ann Arbor to coach running backs after spending the past four seasons doing so at Indiana. Then, Mike Macdonald was announced as the new defensive coordinator after having spent seven years with the Baltimore Ravens. The rest of the defensive staff was proclaimed this week, with the retention of defensive line coach Shaun Nua and linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary, and the additions of safeties coach George Helow and cornerbacks coach/co-defensive coordinator Maurice Linguist.
Everything appeared to be set, but it turns out the tinkering wasn’t yet over.
Ed Warinner, the three-year Wolverines offensive line coach who had turned around the unit after some moribund years from 2015-17, was seemingly safe. However, in the world of college football — especially after a 2-4 campaign — there were no sacred cows, as Michigan football appears ready to part ways with the longtime offensive line coach. The Wolverines will be hiring former receiver Ron Bellamy, whose West Bloomfield program just won a state championship.
Ron Bellamy, a former Michigan WR who coached West Bloomfield High School to the state Division I title Saturday, is joining UM’s staff in place of departing OL coach Ed Warinner, sources told @Stadium
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 24, 2021
Given the turnaround of the offensive line unit, Warinner had become something of a fan favorite, with many maize and blue fans saying they’d welcome a lifetime contract for the 36-year coaching veteran.
A Mount Union graduate, Warinner spent the bulk of his coaching career at Army, where he coached from 1987-99. He’s also coached at Michigan State, had multiple stints at Kansas, spent one year at Illinois, had two years at Notre Dame, won a national championship at Ohio State, and had one year at Minnesota.
For now, the staff is as mentioned above, with Jay Harbaugh reportedly coaching special teams. There’s no official word as of yet whether or not tight ends coach Sherrone Moore has been retained at this point.
Update: Warinner may still be on staff, but not in his current role. Stay tuned.
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