The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, January 19, 2011-7A Ravens' Mattison named'D' coordinator By TIM ROHAN players. Daily Sports Editor "Everyone who is going to touch this program and deal with these Michigan Athletic Director kids are going to have a fanatical Dave Brandon wanted a defensive- love for the University of Michi- minded coach to take the reigns gan, or they won't work in the when he was looking for a replace- football office, I can tell you that," ment for Rich Rodriguez. Brandon Hoke said at his introductory press joked he even wanted the ball boys conference. to be defensive minded - so he That shouldn't be an issue for hired Brady Hoke. Mattison, who coached at Michi- Then Michigan's new coach gan for five seasons under Gary needed someone to coordinate his Moeller and Lloyd Carr. Wolverine defense - someonewho The Ravens ran a 3-4 defense could turn around a unit that fin- during Mattison's three seasons ished last season ranked 110th in in Baltimore - he coached the Division-I football. So Hoke hired linebackers during his first season Greg Mattison. there. But Hoke ran a 3-3-5 defense Who, you may ask? during his tenure at San Diego The coach who served as the State, and the Aztecs jumped from Baltimore Ravens defensive coor- a one of the worst defenses in the dinator for the past two seasons, nation pre-Hoke to 43rd in the in which his units finished 3rd and country in 2010. 10th in the NFL in total defense. Former Michigan defensive He coached Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, coordinator Greg Robinson used Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata - a 3-3-5 in 2010 and the Wolver- those Baltimore Ravens. ines struggled to stop opponents Once upon a time, Mattison was all season. On average, opponents Hoke's superior when Hoke first scored 35 points and racked up came to Michigan in 1995. Mat- 450 yards of offense, and the best tison was the Wolverines' defen- of the Big Ten did the most dam- sive coordinator in 1995 and 1996 age against Michigan. Ohio State, seasons while Hoke coached the Wisconsin and Michigan State defensive linemen. beat the Wolverines by an average "Greg loves Michigan, -loves of 22 points. recruiting and is excited about Season-ending injuries to coming back to Ann Arbor and defensive backs Troy Woolfolk the University of Michigan," Hoke and J.T. Floyd forced younger and said on Tuesday. "Greg is one of less experienced players to step in. the top defensive coordinators in Michigan's primary scheme called football, and his defensive units for five of those defensive backs to have always prided themselves on be on the field at one time. stopping the run. He will be a great It's unclear at this point what asset to our program and an excel- scheme Mattison and Hoke will lent addition to our staff." decide to implement for next sea- When Hoke was hired, he son. The new Michigan defensive stressed the need to surround the coordinator brings a reputation players with people and coaches though - he continued the Balti- who were going to "work for" the more tradition of stopping the run (94 yards allowed.per game) and preventing opponents from scor- ing (17 points per game). But throughout the coaching search after the firing of Rodri- guez, who is known as a pioneer of the spread-option offense, Bran- don said it was important that the schemes maximized the players' talents and strengths. The Wolverines return depth on the defensive line with defensive linemen Mike Martin, Ryan Van Bergen and Craig Roh. And the secondary should improve, with younger players taking their lumps in 2010. Hoke answered critics of the 3-3-5 defense during his press conference and sounded a lot like Rodriguez did when the former Michigan coach was questioned about his defensive scheme - they both preached its flexibility. "You can talk about the 3-3-5, you can talk about a 4-3, you can talk about a 3-4, you can go back and play a 6-2," Hoke said last week. "I mean, people need to be educated on what (the 3-3-5) is, because there's multiple ways to play that with depending on the personnel that you want to have on the field. "We played with four guys on the line of scrimmage, five guys on the line of scrimmage, three guys on the line of scrimmage. It just depends. It's flexibility thatit gives you, is something that was good for us." Mattison hasn't had any short- age of high-profile coaching experience. He won a National Championship during a three-year stint as co-defensive coordinator at Florida, he coached for eight seasons in South Bend - serving in various defensive capacities for Notre Dame - and he also spent time at Texas A&M and Navy. Now, with more than 30 years of coaching experience, Matti- son returns to Ann Arbor with a tall task - to help Hoke restore the respectability of Michigan's defense. "We will miss him because he's a great coach, but also an even bet- ter person," said Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh. "The stu- dents there are the lucky ones. Not only will he teach them football to the highest level, he will influ- ence them to be the best persons they canbe. Greg is one of the good people you are fortunate to meet in your life. We are disappointed that he will not be coaching our defense, but we know thathe is fol- lowing a true love by returning to the Wolverines." MEET THE STAFF: Along with Mattison, Michigan announced the hiring of six new staff mem- bers and the re-hiring of another. Fred Jackson, who has coached Michigan's running backs for the past 19 seasons, will be back for his 20th. Hoke brought six members of his San Diego State staff with him to Ann Arbor, including his offen- sive coordinator Al Borges, who will serve that role and work with the quarterbacks. The Aztecs' offense was just seven spots lower than Michigan's as far as offensive yardage output - and they scored more points than the Wolverines. And Borges previously served as Auburn's offensive coordina- tor from 2004-2007, guiding the Tigers to a 13-0 record in 2004 with running backs Cadillac Wil- liams and Ronnie Brown and quarterback Jason Campbell at his Greg Mattison helped the Baltimore Ravens to two playoff victories in as many sea- sons as the team's defensive coordinator. disposal on offense. Additionally, Dan Ferrigno (special teams/tight ends), Darrell Funk (offensive line), Jeff Hecklin- ski (wide receivers), Mark Smith (linebackers) and Aaron Wellman (strength and conditioning) will come to Michigan after spending both seasons at San Diego State with Hoke. "We have hired some great foot- ball coaches who will represent the University and Michigan foot- ball with great pride and respect for the tradition of this program," Hoke said. "They are great teachers and mentors for young men and will work -hard to help our players reach their goals." Hogan's groin recovery wtimetable still uncertain Sen re hl Wit team r shooti day a stood And In t senior was me Yost Ic groin pre-ga Chill a "It Hogan workin Rick ( thing.. differe things to wor "We shape my gr thing lior "60 percent" a really hard workout today for rehab standards. ady after being "It's pretty much me and Rick right now. He's my coach, and urt in Big Chill have to listen to whatever he has to say." warmups Last week, Hogan put on equip- ment for the first time since The By MARK BURNS Big Chill while working on mov- Daily Sports Editor ing from post-to-post and fielding a series of shots from a few Wol- h the Michigan hockey verines. 'unning through a series of "It's week-to-week now," ng and passing drills Tues- Michigan coach Red Berenson fternoon, one individual said last Tuesday of the timetable out from among the rest. for Hogan's return. "We think by he wasn't even on the ice. the end of the month, he'll be skat- the near endzone stands, ing and practicing. Until he starts goaltender Bryan Hogan practicing, there's no chance oving laterally up and down (he'll see game action). And he's :e Arena's steps, testing the going to need about a week of injury he suffered in the practice before we even think me warmups at The Big about putting him ina game." t the Big House. Sporting a Michigan hock- hasn't been fun at all," ey T-shirt and running shorts said on Tuesday. "I'vebeen instead of his usual equipment ag with (athletic trainer) in the Michigan coaches lounge Bancroft) with every little yesterday, a slight look of mod- He comes up with so many erate optimism was apparent on nt techniques to work on, Hogan's face in spite of his cur- I had no idea you could do rent situation. k the groin. The Highland, Mich. native 've been trying to get in said that a return might be pos- now while trying to help sible against Michigan State oin, so that's the biggest on Jan. 29 at Joe Louis Arena, right now ... We just had but considering he hasn't fully practiced yet and is only at "60 percent" according to his assess- ment, the timetable for a return is lengthier than initially expected. "Right now, I'm kind of at a point where - I was progressing so quickly, and now I've kind of flatlined a little bit," he said. Regardless of Hogan's status, Berenson said that he'll leave it up to Hogan and Bancroft to tell him when Hogan is ready to par- ticipate in a full-fledged practice. "Once he gets into practice mode, then we'll start think- ing about even dressing him as a backup or when he mightbe ready to play ina game," Berenson said. NOTES: Sophomore forward A.J. Treais didn't practice on Tuesday. Berenson said he's cur- rently a little banged up and isn't "100 percent" quite yet after suf- fering a hit in Michigan's 3-2 vic- tory against Ferris State on Friday ... Former Wolverine Tristin LIlewellyn - who was removed from the Michigan program after "violating team expecta- tions" on Jan. 12 - played his first game with the Elmira Jackals of the East Coast Hockey League this past Sunday. He tallied zero points and plus-2 ratingin 16 min- utes of playing time. The Jackals lost to the Toledo Walleye, 6-5. Senior Ben Baldus-Strauss helped Michigan to a national title in 2010. ANNA SCHULTE/Daily Baldus-Strauss perseveres through injuries for Blue By MATT SPELICH For the Daily Ben Baldus-Strauss, as a gym- nast at Michigan, sustained five career-interrupting injuries in the past three years including multi- ple stress fractures - a broken left ankle, a torn MCL and a broken thumb, which he sustained mid- skill at the NCAA Championships last year. But even with the break, he managed to not only finish the routine, but he also won the round. It was later revealed that Bal- dus-Strauss's contribution had put the Wolverines just over the top to win their first NCAA title in 11 years. He celebrated that night with his arm in a sling - some- thing he was all too used to as "the comeback kid." And to think, Baldus-Strauss almost gave it all up after an ankle displacement he suffered at the NCAA Preliminaries his freshman year. "I was seriously questioning whether or not I was going to be able to come back," Baldus-Strauss said. "My parents advised me to consider quitting the team ... but I just couldn't let it go, I couldn't leave my teammates, so I just pushed through it." "Pushing through it," meant surgery a week later, crutches, and a walking boot for 12 weeks before Baldus-Strauss was able to begin physical therapy to prepare for the next season. On top of that, he con- tinued to attend every practice in support of his teammates. His recovery was not devoid of problems though. He ended up dropping out of his spring semes- ter cla tancev tasks - hall, w upstair "It w after m my pe how I Strauss "I( so t At h tion du tragedy Strauss after p His tea not sur future, he bou contrib Ten C place in "Eve career) injury,' was ha win an was a, ence." Seni, Strauss friend, role in asses, and required assis- multiple recoveries. Cote believes with even the most routine that Baldus-Strauss' first injury - moving about the dining ended up helping him through the ralking to class and going rest. s to his room. "Without experiencing that was a very dark time for me first injury he might not have y ankle injury ... it changed pushed through (his champion- rception of the sport and ship routine) like he did," Cote viewed my body," Baldus- said. "Our team title would not said. have happened without Ben. He's one of the most crucial members of the team and yet is not always recognized for it." couldn't leave Assistant coach Geoff Corrigan paints a similar picture of Baldus- y teammates, Strauss. j p h "He's a perfectionist, almost I dust pushed to a fault," Corrigan said. "He's extremely dedicated, consistent, :hrough it." always on time and is always studying hard while other people are taking a break. He has a tre- mendous work ethic that he trans- is first comeback competi- lates well into both school and uring his sophomore year, gym." y struck again. Balduss- Now, Baldus-Strauss is taking partially tore his MCL some time off to rehab his shoul- peeling off the high bar. der, but is looking forward to mak- immates and coaches were ing yet another comeback when re what this meant for his the Wolverines face off against but after five short weeks, Illinois in February. In the mean- nced back and went on to time, he is working hard to get 'ute to ateam tie for the Big back in competing shape. hampionship and second Corrigan is confident that Bal- nthe NCAA Championship. dus-Strauss will be able to come ry major moment (in my back strong and make more strong has revolved around an contributions to the team - poten- Baldus-Strauss said. "I tially to yet another title shot. ppy to give my thumb to "It's going to be more difficult NCAA Championship - it than last year," Corrigan said. once in a lifetime experi- "(Our competition) has more experience and more depth than or Devan Cote, Baldus- last year, but the team thatcan pull 's roommate and best it all together at the right moment on the team, played a large will be the team to beat, so we're helping him through his working toward that every day." Senior goalie Bryan Hogan injured his groin during warmups of The Big Chill at The Big House on Dec.11, 2010.