New Michigan assistant coach Anthony Campanile loves football.
Since he was a little kid, he was devoted to the sport and even grew up admiring the Michigan football program. That’s why he jumped at the opportunity to work with defensive coordinator Don Brown.
“I was a football maniac when I was a little kid, I come from a football family," Campanile said. "I think everyone grows up pretending they’re playing at Michigan in their backyard when they’re a little kid. I know I did. Everybody in our house did. Certainly very familiar with the things that are important here. The history here.
"And certainly Coach Harbaugh, the opportunity to coach for him and be around him. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that was a huge part of why I wanted to be here.”
Campanile comes to Ann Arbor from Boston College, but he just missed working with Brown in Chestnut Hill. He joined the staff as defensive backs coach just as Brown started at Michigan.
Even though he didn’t work with Brown before, he had always heard good things about Brown.
“He’s an awesome guy to be around, because he’s intense, he’s got a ton of energy, a ton of knowledge,” Campanile said. “Everybody has their input in the room, and at the end of the day when coach Brown makes a decision on what we’re going to do, we’re going to do it a thousand miles an hour.”
Campanile believes his temperament is similar to Brown’s.
“Coach Brown is an aggressive personality,” he said. “I feel that way. I’m an aggressive personality, I coach that way, he coaches that way.”
While Brown has more experience than Campanile, he has wide latitude when working with the SAM and VIPER linebackers. He’s allowed to share what he thinks with Brown.
“The amazing thing about coach Brown is he has no ego,” Campanile said. “He’s really somebody who takes it all in in the room. Takes input, asks guys their opinion and questions. He’s got an awesome mentality, he’s got an awesome personality, and I think that’s why players gravitate to him, and I think that’s why guys like coaching with him. He’s really just a great dude.
“He’s a great human being. He’s awesome to be around because he’s intense, he’s got a ton of energy, a ton of knowledge.”
It’s not just Brown that Campanile likes working with. Campanile joins safeties coach Chris Partridge on the Michigan staff. The two have known each other since they were 13 and both went to Fair Lawn High School. He was also on staff with new wide receivers coach Ben McDaniels at Rutgers
“It’s just fun being with some old friends, meeting some new people, everybody’s been great here,” Campanile said. “Any time you move in coaching it’s hard. I think if it isn’t hard when you leave coaching you’re probably in the wrong business.”
The call from Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh to join the staff wasn’t surprising. Instead, it was a dream come true.
“I was very excited," Campanile said. "Obviously, you hear a ton about Michigan all through your life growing up if you’re a football fan, and then having some friends here, probably had some knowledge of the inner workings of how many great people were here. Excited is really the word I would use more than anything.”
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