Two ideal targets for Michigan football D-line coach

As it turns out, Sherrone Moore isn’t done building his Michigan football coaching staff after the resignation of Greg Scruggs on Thursday.

Scruggs, the former NFL veteran, who was hired as the defensive line coach, following stints with the Jets and Wisconsin Badgers, was arrested on Saturday night for operating a motor vehicle while impaired. It was reported on Thursday that his blood-alcohol level was two times the legal limit.

Michigan football had to move on and if Scruggs didn’t resign, he likely would have been terminated. The timing is less than ideal for the Wolverines. However, Michigan lost Maurice Linguist in the spring a couple of years back and replaced him with Steve Clinkscale.

Sherrone Moore needs to act quickly

That worked out just fine and this can too. But Sherrone Moore does need to act quickly, especially with the spring transfer window looming. The good news is that there are a couple of quality candidates for the job. I don’t know who Michigan is considering but there are at least two ideal candidates for D-line coach.

The first call Moore should make is to Illinois D-line coach/co-defensive coordinator Terrance Jamison. He’s the brother of former Michigan football player Tim Jamison and according to Josh Henschke of Rivals, he was “arguably the No. 2 behind Greg Scruggs.”

Terrance Jamison from Illinois should be contacted ASAP by Sherrone Moore. Arguably finished number two behind Scruggs. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the guy. We’ll see.

— Josh Henschke (@JoshHenschke) March 21, 2024

Frankly, if I had a choice between Scruggs and Jamison, I would take Jamison. Illinois has had one of the best defenses in the Big Ten the past few seasons and Jamison has been a big part of that. Jer’Zhan Newton, one of his charges on the Illinois D-line, was a two-time All-American in addition to being named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after the 2023 season.

Jamison has 10 years of D-line coaching experience at five different schools. Two of those were from the Big Ten. He also coached D-line at Purdue, as well as Air Force, Texas Tech, and Florida Atlantic.

This is a no-brainer and Michigan football might be upgrading. That’s what happened in 2021 when things worked out with Clink. He wasn’t the first choice but probably should have been. The same can be said for Jamison.

Another D-line candidate for Michigan

Another name Michigan football should consider is Ryan Osborn. The former analyst for the Wolverines spent last season as a defensive assistant in Baltimore before taking the DC job at Charlotte with Biff Poggi.

Poggi was the right-hand man of Jim Harbaugh. Osborn was a valuable assistant too and was an asset on the recruiting trail for Michigan. It’s hard to say if he would leave Charlotte and Poggi. But Moore should make the call and if he could hire Osborn or Jamison, it would be a great way to salvage the best of a bad situation.

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