What Chris Partridge's return to Michigan means for future staff

What we know is Chris Partridge is returning to Ann Arbor to coach with the Michigan Wolverines.

READ: Maize&BlueReview - Chris Partridge Returning to Michigan (rivals.com)

What we don't know currently is in what capacity. Let's take a look at some different scenarios.

First, it's important to know what Chris Partridge does well. The obvious might be recruiting. His first role at Michigan was as director of player personnel. On the staff at Michigan, he was involved in the recruitment of Rashan Gary, Aubrey Solomon, Daxton Hill, Christopher Hinton, and Cesar Ruiz to name a few. Partridge can recruit any position, so adding him to the staff boosts recruiting regardless of the group he will coach.

After leading high school Paramus Catholic in New Jersey to a top 5 program in the nation, Partridge joined Michigan. His first on-field role was as coaching linebackers for two seasons 2016-17. In his next two seasons, he would coach safeties from 2018-19. He would also coach special teams along with Jay Harbaugh. Partridge left Michigan to coach safeties at Ole Miss 2020-22, eventually becoming a co-defensive coordinator and defensive play caller last season.

We have seen in the past Jim Harbaugh is not afraid to make multiple moves to get a staff setup that he likes. When linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary left Michigan, Harbaugh hired Matt Weiss and named him QB coach. This meant George Helow who was hired to coach safeties moved to linebackers and Ron Bellamy went from wide receivers to safeties.

With multiple coaches on staff who can coach multiple positions, we could see additional moves coming. Of course, the biggest question right now is which coach is leaving. Michigan does not currently have an opening on the staff, so hiring him is obviously in anticipation of another move occurring.

The two most obvious candidates are George Helow and Jay Harbaugh. As we mentioned, Helow is currently the linebackers coach so Partridge stepping into his role would make a lot of sense. Jay Harbaugh is coaching in the exact role Partridge was in before he left, safeties and special teams coordinator.

Helow coached linebackers in his one season at Maryland before coming to Michigan, so that move wasn't outside the box. He had coached safeties in his previous stints at Colorado State and Georgia. So Helow moving seems like an obvious possibility, but it also means he could move to coach another group.

The same is true even more so with Jay Harbaugh. The son of Jim Harbaugh, Jay has buried nepotism narratives ever since arriving in Ann Arbor with his dad in 2015. Jay has coached special teams in some capacity throughout his team with the Wolverines, consistently leading one of the better special teams units in the nation. Position wise he coached tight ends (2015-16), running backs (2017-20), tight ends again (2021), and now safeties (2022-current). Jay has consistently been one of the better recruiters on Michigan's staff throughout his time as well.

Could Jay be moving on to a new role? Proving he can succeed on a staff without his father or uncle? Maybe. His versatility also makes him incredibly valuable if additional staff moves need to occur.

With Matt Weiss no longer with the program, we know one thing, who will replace him. Jim Harbaugh recently announced the promotion of Kirk Campbell from analyst to Quarterbacks Coach. However, Weiss was also the co-offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator for Michigan last season, roles Campbell is not taking on.

The obvious answer here is Sherrone Moore will likely be named full-time offensive coordinator, a move that would be well deserved. That move however would raise another question, if Moore is a full-time OC and likely the play caller, would he continue to coach the offensive line?

Moore's success with the offensive line could be described as perfect. Winning the Joe Moore Award for best OL in the nation in back-to-back seasons, the offensive line has been the lynchpin for the success Michigan has found in the last two seasons. However, trying to take on both of those roles is a lot to ask of a coach, something we saw with former OL coach and OC Tim Drevno.

Harbaugh said as much last season with Moore and Weiss being promoted to co-offensive coordinators to replace Josh Gattis, that they wanted Moore to still be able to focus on the offensive line because his work there was so important.

Would Harbaugh ask Moore to take on both roles or would more dominos fall?

The obvious answer is on staff with current tight end coach Grant Newsome. Newsome is a former offensive lineman for the Wolverines. He spent his first two years on staff assisting Moore with the tight ends before assisting with the offensive line in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. When Moore was moved to OL to replace departing Ed Warinner, Newsome was promoted to tight end coach. If there needed to be a new coach for the offensive line, no one could bring more continuity from Moore than Newsome.

In this scenario, Jay Harbaugh could return to coach tight ends and the defensive staff could be reworked with Partridge taking on a group and possibly Jesse Minter taking on a role with a position group.

Possibly a coach on the offensive side of the ball could pursue a new role where Jay would be moving over to cover that change. Running backs coach Mike Hart received some interest early this offseason, he could potentially pursue a new opportunity with Jay returning to coach running backs.

This is where we start to get deep into the rabbit hole.

What we know is Chris Partridge is back and that's a huge win for Michigan. He is an elite recruiter and a versatile position coach on defense and special teams.

While we do not know the next domino to fall, and where Partridge will go, we know this staff is full of versatile coaches who can move around to give Michigan the best coaching staff possible. Michigan has seen a lot of coaching staff changes since Harbaugh arrived in Michigan, as does any top-tier college football program. What we saw in 2021 was a renewed focus on the coaching staff, including a focus on recruiting with additions like Mike Elston and Steve Clinkscale. The return of Chris Partridge is no different, and whatever dominos fall next will surely fall in line with that strategy.

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