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January 29, 2015 - Image 6

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The Michigan Daily

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6A — Thursday, January 29, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Harbaugh secures staff

Five assistants come

from NFL jobs

By MAX COHEN

Managing Sports Editor

One month has passed since

Jim Harbaugh was introduced as
Michigan’s head football coach.
In that time, he has been tasked
with hiring a coaching staff
and filling out a recruiting class
that was decimated because of
questions
surrounding
Brady

Hoke’s job status.

Now, the first of those tasks

is complete. You already know
offensive
coordinator
and

offensive line coach Tim Drevno
as well as defensive coordinator
and
linebackers
coach
D.J.

Durkin, but here’s a rundown of
the rest of Harbaugh’s staff.

Jedd Fisch, passing game

coordinator,
quarterbacks

coach, wide receivers coach

Like Harbaugh, Fisch’s most

recent job was in the NFL. He
spent the past two seasons as
the offensive coordinator for the
Jacksonville Jaguars, where he
was charged with developing
an offense stacked with young
players. Throughout his coaching
career,
Fisch
has
bounced

between the college ranks and
the NFL. Before his job with the
Jaguars, Fisch was the offensive
coordinator at the University of
Miami for two seasons, following a
one-year stint as the quarterbacks
coach for the Seattle Seahawks.
Fisch isn’t new to the Big Ten
— he spent the 2009 season as
Minnesota’s offensive coordinator
and quarterbacks coach.

Tyrone Wheatley, running

backs coach

Harbaugh
isn’t
the
only

member of Michigan’s coaching
staff to return to Ann Arbor after
starring for the Wolverines in
college. Wheatley was a three-

time All-Big Ten selection at
running back from 1992 to 1994
and was also an All-American
in track and field in 1995.
Wheatley comes to Michigan
after spending two years as the
running backs coach for the
Buffalo Bills. Wheatley’s son,
Tyrone Wheatley Jr., is a senior
in high school and a top Michigan
target. He was in Ann Arbor for
an official visit this week.

Jay Harbaugh, tight ends

coach, assistant special teams
coach

Yes, Jay is Jim’s son. The

25-year-old
is
the
youngest

member of Michigan’s coaching
staff, coming off of three seasons
working for his uncle John as
an
offensive
quality
control

coach for the Baltimore Ravens.
Many expect Jay’s youth to be
an asset on the recruiting trail,
where relatability can be a key
factor in a prospect’s decision.
Harbaugh’s Twitter profile refers
to Michigan as “The New Tight
End U.” He has wasted little time
setting the bar high.

Greg Mattison, defensive

line coach

Mattison returns to Michigan

under
Harbaugh’s
regime

after spending four years as
the
Wolverines’
defensive

coordinator
under
Hoke.

Though
Mattison
regularly

cited his close friendship with
Hoke as the primary reason
he was at Michigan, Mattison
also has ties to the Harbaugh
family. Under John Harbaugh
in
Baltimore,
Mattison
first

served as the defensive line coach
before moving up to defensive
coordinator.
Mattison
also

worked under Jim and John’s
father, Jack, at Western Michigan
from 1982 to 1986.

Greg Jackson, secondary

coach

Jackson is another member of

Michigan’s coaching staff with
an NFL pedigree. He spent the
last four years as a member of
Harbaugh’s staff with the San
Francisco 49ers, serving as the
team’s assistant secondary coach
for all four of Harbaugh’s years
there. As a player, Jackson spent
12 years in the NFL, recording 32
career interceptions.

Michael Zordich, secondary

coach

The specific roles for Zordich

and Jackson in the secondary
have not yet been defined.
Zordich spent the past two
seasons as the safeties coach and
co-special teams coordinator
at
Youngstown
State.
Prior

to that, he spent four seasons
on the coaching staff of the
Philadelphia Eagles. An All-
American safety at Penn State in
1985, Zordich played 12 seasons
in the NFL.

John Baxter, special teams

coordinator

Baxter comes to Michigan

after spending four years at
Southern California from 2010 to
2013. He isn’t short on coaching
experience, having taken his
first job at Loras College in 1981.
Baxter’s 2013 special teams unit
at USC thrived, ranking second
in the country with three blocked
punts and fourth in blocked kicks
with six.

Kevin Tolbert, director of

strength and conditioning

Tolbert is the second member

of Harbaugh’s staff in San
Francisco to follow him to
Ann
Arbor.
Tolbert
worked

with Harbaugh for all four of
Harbaugh’s years with the 49ers
as the team’s assistant strength
and conditioning coach. Tolbert
also worked with Harbaugh for
two years at Stanford and was
an assistant strength coach for
Michigan from 2001 to 2007
under Lloyd Carr.

Michigan slows down
game to gut out win

By JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

Last season, the Michigan

men’s basketball team welcomed
Nebraska to Crisler Center as a
heavy favorite. Early in the first
half, the Wolverines took a lead
and smelled blood. Using their
talented lineup complete with
two future NBA draft picks, they
stepped on the gas and ran the
Cornhuskers out of the gym.

They ran the floor to the tune

of 63 possessions and won, 79-50
— and it wasn’t even that close.
They led by as many as 41 in the
second half.

Tuesday, Nebraska made its

return to Ann Arbor, but this
time, Nik Stauskas and Glenn
Robinson III were gone, junior
guard Caris LeVert was out with
a foot injury and sophomore
guard Derrick Walton Jr. tested
his foot in warmups but sat out.

Michigan
didn’t
have
the

luxury of running up the score
on the Cornhuskers, so it slowed
things down and slogged out a
57-possession, 58-44 win. It was
just as impressive, but not as flashy
— as Nebraska coach Tim Miles
said, “At the end of the day, I just
thought that they out-competed
us, they out-executed us and we
didn’t show much heart.”

Facing an uphill but doable

battle to get to the NCAA
Tournament with nine games
left, the Wolverines may have
to use that strategy more and
more. With LeVert out for the
season and Walton on the shelf
for an undetermined length of
time, they sent a combination of
unheralded recruits, walk-ons
and freshmen at the Cornhuskers.

And it worked.
“We gotta bring that effort

every night,” said sophomore
forward Zak Irvin, who had
the first double-double by any
Michigan player this season
with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

“I think we had a big chip on
our shoulder after that tough
loss we took to Wisconsin. We
just brought it out on Nebraska
tonight.”

The Wolverines clung to a five-

point lead at halftime but kept
their lights-out defense going
in the second half. After a quick
13-0 run, they led by 18 and had
the Cornhuskers on their heels
just like last year.

This time, they slowed the

tempo
enough
to
frustrate

Nebraska. Instead of starting the
fast break after rebounds, they
settled into their offense, led
by junior guard Spike Albrecht.
They mixed up their defense and
held Nebraska’s Terran Petteway
to 1-for-11 shooting.

“In the second half, we made a

little run against their 2-3 zone,”
Miles said, “and never saw it
again.”

Without its two best players,

Michigan knew it couldn’t shoot
13-for-31 from 3-point range like
it did last year. So the Wolverines
took just 14 triples and connected
on
six,
getting
help
from

freshman guard Muhammad-
Ali
Abdur-Rahkman’s
strong

dribble penetration to make up
the difference.

“You don’t want to take too

many
crazy
shots,”
Abdur-

Rahkman said. “Sometimes it’s a

good shot, sometimes it’s not, so
you just want to control the game.”

Added Michigan coach John

Beilein: “We were going to
take what was open to us, but
certainly when we got ahead by
that, we weren’t going to keep
shooting so quickly. We wanted
to value the clock and make sure
they had to work really hard
against every defense we threw
at them.”

After
Tuesday’s
win,
the

Wolverines are no healthier than
they were before it. And a brutal
month of February still beckons:
Michigan will play six of its seven
games against teams in the top
half of the Big Ten with trips to
Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois
and Maryland.

Despite the depleted lineup,

the Wolverines may just have
found a way to steal a few wins
without their injured players.

“These are things we can

control right now,” Beilein said.
“We can control the type of rest
we’re getting in between and
when we’re going to bed, how
we’re eating. We can control
our effort. We can control our
attitude. We can control how fast
we run. … There’s nothing more
important than getting your guys
to understand that concept, and
the rest of the stuff sort of comes
together.”

‘M’ to host No. 5 Maryland

By MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Writer

With
Maryland
coming

to town just 72 hours later, it
wouldn’t have been inexcusable
for
the

Michigan
women’s
basketball
team to look
past an Illinois
team ranked in
the bottom half
of the Big Ten.

But it wasn’t

until
after

40
minutes

against
the

Fighting Illini
and
a
hard-

fought
70-57

win that the Terrapins first
crossed Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico’s mind.

“I’m not really looking two

games ahead,” Barnes Arico said.
“I really wasn’t preparing for
Maryland before Illinois because
if you do that, especially our team,
you lose focus of your opponent,
and you’re going to lose.”

Barnes
Arico
and
the

Wolverines (5-3 Big Ten, 13-6
overall) will have their hands full
Thursday night when they take
on No. 5 Maryland (8-0, 17-2).

But one advantage Michigan

will have is its home crowd. The

Wolverines have lost only once
at home and have already posted
key victories over Michigan State
and Ohio State at Crisler Center.

“Our home crowd has just

been tremendous,” Barnes Arico
said Tuesday on WTKA radio.
“And it’s getting better and better
every game. I think there’s a buzz
in the community and around
campus about the way the team
is playing.”

If there’s one player who will

need to play well against the
Terrapins, it’s senior forward
Cyesha Goree, who has averaged
20.5 points over her last five
games.

“Cyesha
has
just
been

incredible,” Barnes Arico said.
“She’s kind of been unstoppable
against every opponent we’ve
played so far, and I think a lot of it
is due to her effort. She keeps on
working and continues to go, go
and go. She chases after rebounds
on the other side of the court that
I think nine other people can’t
get. She’ll come up with them.”

Behind the arc, freshman

guard Katelynn Flaherty has
found her shot again of late,
posting double-digit point totals
the past two games.

On the other side of the court,

Maryland coach Brenda Frese’s
squad has been on fire. After
losing to No. 4 Notre Dame on
Dec. 3, the Terrapins have won

11 straight games, including
eight in the Big Ten, which puts
them at the top of the conference
standings.

Boasting the No. 6 scoring

offense in the country with 82.8
points per game, Maryland is
led by guard Shatori Walker-
Kimbrough,
who
leads
the

Terrapins with 13.9 points per
game.

Much
like
Michigan,
the

Terrapins have a dominant post
presence. They boast two centers
in 6-foot-3 Brionna Jones and
6-foot-4 Malina Howard and are
shooting 48.5 percent from the
floor, good for fourth in the nation.

“I would say their biggest thing

is they have such a great inside-
outside presence, and they’re
big, strong and physical,” Barnes
Arico said. “They’re playing
extremely well right now.”

But as formidable of a task as

it seems to take down the fifth-
ranked team in the country, there
won’t be a lack of motivation for
the Wolverines.

“It’s always nice to play

one of the best teams in the
country,” Goree said. “When we
played Notre Dame, we had an
experience to see where we were,
how we were at our game. Now
that we have a few more games
under our belt, it’s always great
to play a top-five team in the
country.”

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored nine points in his second career start.

Maryland at
Michigan

Matchup:
Maryland 17-2;
Michigan 13-6

When: Thurs-
day 7 P.M.

Where: Crisler
Center

TV/Radio:
BTN Plus

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Senior forward Cyesha Goree has averaged 20.5 points over her past five games heading into Thursday’s showdown.

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