Michigan's New, Young Assistants Are 'More Relatable,' A 'Joy' To Play For

Michigan football is just over a week into spring practices, and there's a different vibe around Schembechler Hall and the practice fields, the Wolverines' players say.

Fifth-year senior safety Brad Hawkins, who notched 39 tackles and two pass breakups in 2020, is one of the many defensive players with a new position coach this year, with Ron Bellamy now leading the safeties.

"He’s a great coach, a guy that we all can relate to — he played here, young coach," Hawkins said. "He just got the safeties job, so he’s also learning as well. He’s a great coach, teaching me a lot of great things. Great person."

While Bellamy played wide receiver in at Michigan and the NFL before becoming the head coach at West Bloomfield and ending up back in Ann Arbor, he is settling in nicely as a defensive backs coach, and Hawkins has no concerns about his ability to lead the group.

"He’s a great coach. He knows football," Hawkins said. "If you know football, then it doesn’t really matter offense or defense. He’s a coach that knows football.

"He was [redshirt freshman safety Makari [Paige's] high school coach, so they have a great relationship, but we’re all building that relationship."

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The defense is now being led by coordinator Mike Macdonald, who joined the staff from the Baltimore Ravens and co-coordinator Maurice Linguist, who came over from the Dallas Cowboys. Hawkins has been impressed with both in the early going.

"Mike Macdonald is a great coach, great guy, great person," Hawkins said. "His personality is outstanding — he’s very energetic. He’s a great coach, and I’m happy that he’s here. I can’t wait to continue to learn from him.

"[Lingust is] very knowledgeable. This is my fifth year, I had a lot of great coaches in high school, a lot of great coaches in college, of course, but he’s very, very knowledgeable.

"He’s taught me a lot of things, offensive tendencies. He breaks the game down in a different way that a lot of people don’t. He’s very, very knowledgeable, very smart, a very smart coach. I love him and his energy, and just him as a person is great. Looking forward to still learning from him."

Head coach Jim Harbaugh brought in six new assistant coaches onto his staff this offseason, meaning the group has a new look. One of the noticeable differences is age, with every assistant coaching being under the age of 40.

While Hawkins pointed out that former defensive coordinator Don Brown and others who are no longer in Ann Arbor were "great coaches," he explained what has him so excited about the new batch of assistants.

"[They're] definitely more relatable," Hawkins said. "Every single day you come out to practice, it’s just joy, you know? Fun. Everybody’s laughing together, having a good time. They bring a lot of energy to the practices, to the meeting rooms — things like that.

"Everybody’s willing to learn, everybody’s willing to teach. Just learning different things from NFL guys, from guys that came from different programs, just learning different things. It definitely brings a lot of enthusiasm to the program and to practice."

Hawkins said he returned for his fifth-year senior season "to be great," and to earn accolades such as first-team All-Big Ten and All-American, . He wanted to return to play for Harbaugh, and he's glad his head coach got his contract extension.

"You know how Coach is — he’s gonna keep the train rolling," Hawkins said of Harbaugh's mentality heading into the 2021 campaign. "Great coach.

"Of course we’re all excited that he got his extension. We want him to be here, we want to play for him. That’s our coach, we love him.

"And all the guys and all the players, we’re just gonna keep getting better every single day."

Michigan finished with a 2-4 record in 2020, after having won 10 or more games the previous five seasons. Expectations were not met, and thus the significant changes made by Harbaugh. While Hawkins and the team will never forget the struggle that was last season, they've put it in the back of their heads and tried to move forward.

"Of course you have to embrace the tough times, but you also have to move on from them," Hawkins said. "So that’s kinda where we are — we’re just trying to get better and focus on the next day, what’s important now. What’s important now and what’s going on right now. That’s how we’re leading and that’s where our heads are.

"It wasn’t hard [to move onto the 2021 season]. New year came, new opportunities came.

"As a football player, you gotta have short-term memory. You can’t keep dwelling on it. So for all of us, for me, just short-term memory and just moving on from what happened. Of course, last year wasn’t good all-around. We’re just trying to better ourselves as a team and just continue to get better — one percent every single day."

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