Michigan Hires Biff Poggi As Associate Head Coach
After much speculation over the past few months, The Baltimore Sun has reported that Michigan has indeed hired former Baltimore (M.D.) Gilman School head coach Biff Poggi as the associate head coach of Michigan football/special adviser to head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Poggi was head coach at Gilman for 19 years and said he's not sure how long he will stay with the Wolverines, as he plans to stay one year then reassess. He's spent some time learning about what he can and can't do now at the college level.
"I had to hire a lot of lawyers and go through the complete compliance check to where I have to follow and obey exactly the rules," he told The Baltimore Sun. "For example, I just can't go watch a high school football game which I've done for 30 years. I can't call a kid on the phone. I know all these kids, the Gilman kids and other kids, too. I just can't go, 'Hey, how you doing?' I can't text them. I have to be careful how I reply to a text from them. My life is completely different than how I lived it over the last 30 years."
Poggi had been rumored to be headed to Ann Arbor for a while but hadn't made up his mind until recently. He talked to The Sun about what the Michigan program is and why he enjoys what they had to offer to him to be part of the program.
"I'm sure it has a lot to do with money, but I also think it has a lot to do with culture," Poggi said. "I think they understand the value of football not only for the kids that are playing and the opportunity it gives kids from all over the country to change the trajectory of their lives, but I know Michigan understands this: If you take the football program out of that university, it's a fundamentally different experience for every student who's ever gone there and I want to find out what that DNA is and that culture because I'm afraid that around here, we're losing it."
Poggi's son, Henry, is a fullback for the team so he had some familiarity with the program prior, and now will be coaching his son again.
His job will consist of mainly recruiting -- analysis, on-campus visits, etc.
Poggi led the Greyhounds to 13 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championships. Last fall, the Greyhounds were No. 1 in The Baltimore Sun rankings and ranked as high as No. 13 nationally.
Poggi heads to Ann Arbor Wednesday to sign a contract, and will likely be full-time by Monday, August 8 for fall camp.
Read the full story from the Baltimore Sun here.
Talk about the hire inside The Fort.