With the 2018 campaign now in the books, we turn our attention to Michigan's offseason and the storylines that are likely to dominate headlines out of Ann Arbor.
The news lately has been occupied with the shuffling on Michigan's coaching staff, and will continue to be until all the replacements are named.
We take a closer look below at not only those changes, but the other top storylines to keep an eye on this offseason:
1. Coaching Changes
The coaching carousel is in full force at Michigan, and has been for several weeks.
It began when wide receivers coach Jim McElwain departed to take the Central Michigan job in early December, and subsequently saw Ben McDaniels named as his replacement.
The staff shuffling resumed when 69-year old defensive line coach Greg Mattison left on Monday to become the co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State, and it continued when first-year linebackers coach Al Washington also left for Columbus on Tuesday.
While the departures had fans in an uproar up until Thursday, staff turnover is not as uncommon as one might think.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh has already experienced plenty of shakeups during his time at Michigan, and TheWolverine took a look at all the changes he has undergone during his tenure in Ann Arbor.
Following Harbaugh's debut 2015 campaign, he saw defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin depart for Maryland, and safeties coach Greg Jackson leave for the NFL.
There were even more changes following the 2016 season, when passing game coordinator Jedd Fisch took the offensive coordinator job at UCLA, special teams coach John Baxter returned to USC, and running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley departed for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Once the 2017 campaign ended, strength and conditioning coach Kevin Tolbert's contract wasn't renewed, tackles/tight ends coach Greg Frey left for Florida State, and offensive coordinator Tim Drevno exited to become the running backs coach at USC.
Staff shakeup occurs at every school around the country, so the departures of Mattison, Washington and (especially) McElwain shouldn't be blown out of proportion.
The fact that the former two, though, departed for Ohio State is what has caused so much upheaval. Washington's father played at OSU and he's had Buckeye ties his whole life, which doesn't make his departure for Columbus shocking, but Mattison's, on the other hand, is a bit more eye-opening.
The restlessness and distraught among the fan base immediately turned to pure joy on Thursday, though, when Harbaugh hired Alabama's Josh Gattis to be the Wolverines' new offensive coordinator.
The Athletic's Bruce Feldman also reported that the 34-year old Gattis will call plays in Ann Arbor, after he served as the Co-OC/wide receivers coach for the Crimson Tide's high-powered air attack this past season (No. 6 nationally with 323.6 yards per game).
The momentum continued on Friday when Harbaugh brought in Boston College's Anthony Campanile to replace Washington.
The 36-year old Campanile served as Boston College's co-defensive coordinator this past season, but it is yet to be revealed what his duties will be in Ann Arbor.
Both additions are being tabbed as home run hires by some of the most respected analysts in the business, including Feldman, who called the Gattis hire Michigan's best addition since Harbaugh brought in Don Brown.
The question now becomes whether or not anyone else will depart.
It was revealed that passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton interviewed for the Maryland job in November, and that Alabama was interested in offensive line coach Ed Warinner, but whether or not anything comes to fruition from either of those remains to be seen.
Harbaugh has shown in the past he's not afraid to bring in people he has no ties to if they're elite at what they do (hiring defensive coordinator Don Brown away from Boston College being the best example), and he's displaying that pattern once again.
