After several rumors began to emerge on social media, TheWolverine confirmed this afternoon that Michigan had indeed hired Boston College co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Anthony Campanile to replace departed linebackers coach Al Washington (now at Ohio State) on the Maize and Blue staff.
To get a better understanding of what the Wolverines will be getting in the 36-year old, we turned to Riley Overend of EagleAction! to provide a little background on Campanile, beginning with how his tenure got started in Chestnut Hill.
“He came to BC in 2016 and was the defensive backs his first two years," Overend explained. "Campanile wound up having one player drafted his first season, two his second year, and will likely have three taken this time around.
"His player development is outstanding. Campanile coached up two NFL-caliber corners in 2017, and then saw Hamp Cheevers tie for the nation’s lead in interceptions this year.
"Cheevers basically came out of nowhere, even at 5-10, 170. Campanile really coached him into a breakout year, and now he’s entering the draft early — it was a testament to his ability to develop talent.
"Prior to that, though, John Johnson — who is now an all-pro talent for the Rams — was excellent in 2016, and Kamrin Moore and Isaac Yiadom were both great in 2017.
"Boston College wanted to first see how he'd do as defensive backs coach knowing he had his eyes on the next step, so they then promoted him to co-defensive coordinator last spring in an attempt to try and seal him up with a better position title, but that obviously didn’t work.”
