6/17/2021 football Edit

Michigan Football's Steve Clinkscale Is Proving To Be A Great Fit

Chris Balas • Maize&BlueReview

Senior Editor

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh poached Steve Clinkscale from Kentucky, and the defensive backs coach seems to have gotten off to a great start. He’d been approached before, but this year turned out to be the right time for the move.

It’s been non-stop since he’s been on campus, Clinkscale told Jon Jansen today on the former Michigan All-American’s In The Trenches Podcast, including recruiting and getting to know his players.

“I fall in love with this place more and more every day,” he said. “The decision for me has always been what’s the best for my family. A lot of people say that, but that’s what I make my decisions on … not financial decisions, positioning decisions, but what do we feel as a family; where are we at in our lives?

“I give it all to God, pray on it … God will show you the way and make it clear for you. It doesn’t make it a hard decision for you, at all.”

Harbaugh spoke to his family, as well, to convince them the move was right, and it turned out to be great for both sides. The hardest thing, Clinkscale admitted, was leaving the players and coaches at Kentucky behind. Assistant Vince Marrow is his cousin, and the players he recruited became like family to him.

All encouraged him to do what was best for him, he said, which made it easier.

“You become family,” he continued. “The thing is with me, the way I was raised, my father is a retired police officer; my mom always worked with kids, juveniles at adolescent treatment facilities and stuff. One thing they always taught us is to treat people how you want to be treated. Be transparent and honest with people as much as you honestly can. I’ve always done that.”

So the players and coaches at Kentucky understood, telling him they’d miss him but were happy for him. They supported him just like he supported them, and that made it easier.

The hard part starts now, including catching up on the defense and learning his players’ tendencies. He had to hit the road immediately in June to go to camps, etc., but before he did, he asked his new players to send them three to four goals they wanted to accomplish in their lives beyond just football.

He made it clear to all of them he was interested in them more than just football players.

“I don’t do this [job] for football; I do it for relationships with players,” he said. “… I played my hardest when I loved the guy I played for, wanted him to be successful. I believe players do that all the time.

"As a coach you can’t just walk in the door, throw Xs and Os on the board, talking all this stuff and what you’re going to do, what you did where you were, all that stuff. You need to know them as a human, build a relationship with them that they can come talk to you about anything. Then they’ll give you their best effort on the field. My job is to coach them on life and teach them football.”

The same applies when he recruits. Recruiting is checking boxes, he noted — call a kid, text his coach — but he makes it a point to have meaningful conversations and make it clear he’s not just bringing in another number.

“That’s building a relationship. Are you finding out more about that young man than the other coaches?” he said. “Are you talking about life and not just football, and are you building relationships with coaches, the principal? At some point in time, they’ll be in position to help you get over the edge and help them come play for you.”

He wants to be a person they can relate to, have heart to heart discussions with, he noted. That’s what he likes most about the job.

When it comes time for tough conversations with his players, though, he’s all about that, too.

“If they’re not making plays, we’ll talk about it as a group … what you do on the field affects everyone on this team,” he said. “It’s not, ‘Oh, he got beat but that’s just him.’ No.

"You’re out there, you put that jersey and helmet on every day; you’re one of mine, one of coach Harbaugh’s. Everything you do is important. I don’t care if you’re a walk-on, a scholarship guy, senior to freshman. You’ll all be held to that standard.”

In that sense, he seems like a perfect fit for the Michigan Harbaugh grew up with and wants to restore. Though he’s just getting started, he’s excited to get to the point where he can work with them in hands-on fashion and mold them into men like many of those he’s coached before them.

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