8A — Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Partridge settled 
into new position

New linebackers 
coach rose from 

high school ranks in 

just 15 months

By JAKE LOURIM 

Managing Sports Editor

Before Jan. 1, the last football 

game Chris Partridge coached 
on the field was at MetLife 
Stadium in East Rutherford, 
N.J., on Dec. 5, 2014.

Back then, he was the head 

coach 
at 
Paramus 
Catholic 

(N.J.) 
High 
School, 
alma 

mater of Michigan redshirt 
sophomore Jabrill Peppers. That 
December night was his fourth 
straight appearance in the state 
championship at the home of the 
NFL’s New York Giants and Jets.

His 
Paladins 
lost, 
34-18, 

ending a two-year win streak, 
and it has been a wild ride for 
Partridge since then.

Last season, Jim Harbaugh’s 

first as Michigan’s head football 
coach, Partridge served as the 
director of player personnel. 
When 
former 
defensive 

coordinator 
and 
linebackers 

coach D.J. Durkin took the head 
coaching position at Maryland, 
Partridge was appointed the 
interim linebackers coach for 
the Citrus Bowl against Florida.

Suddenly, Partridge was back 

on the field in a similar-sized 
stadium but on a much bigger 
stage.

“It doesn’t get any better 

for me,” Partridge said. “It’s 
awesome. It’s what I love. I’m 
on the field, I’m coaching, I’m 
getting after it.”

Tuesday night, Partridge came 

out into the Towsley Museum 
at Schembechler Hall, stood 
in front of more than a dozen 
reporters and said, “Whoa.” He’s 
not in New Jersey anymore.

As big of a leap as Partridge 

has made in 15 months, he insists 

that it hasn’t been as difficult a 
transition as people would think. 
During the month coaching 
linebackers in preparation for 
the bowl game, he could lean on 
the leadership of three seniors 
— Joe Bolden, Desmond Morgan 
and James Ross. Now, the focus 
shifts toward next season, when 
he will have to mentor an entirely 
new group of linebackers.

“It’s 
just 
a 
challenge,” 

Partridge said. “We gotta get 
some young guys ready to go, 
and we got some great guys 
that are coming back that have 
played a lot of 
football, too.”

Despite the 

loss of three 
important 
seniors, 
Partridge 
has plenty of 
help. Just like 
the 
players, 

he 
spent 

last 
season 

learning from 
a coaching staff of almost all 
former NFL coaches, including 
departed 
special 
teams 

coordinator John Baxter. Baxter 
went back to take the same 
position at Southern California, 
but Partridge soaked up all of 
the knowledge he could and 
eventually added Baxter’s old 
role to his duties in January.

Michigan’s first-year defensive 

coordinator, Don Brown, is also a 
former linebackers coach who 
can help Partridge.

“It’s 
like 
a 
clinic 
here,” 

Partridge said. “I can carry 
a notebook around and write 
something new that I learn 
every single day.”

Last year, as director of player 

personnel, Partridge observed 
and learned from the coaches 
but also coordinated Michigan’s 
recruiting effort. He watched 
film on prospective players, 
talked to high school coaches 
and families and set up visits for 
recruits. He observed recruits 

with their families, in school 
and on the field. And then he 
prepared to take the next step.

“You attack any role you 

have,” 
Partridge 
said. 
“I 

attacked last year like it was the 
best role I could ever have, and I 
got a new one. Maybe I like this 
one a little better, but I’m just 
going to attack it 110 percent and 
do whatever I can for the team.”

Though Partridge was often 

around the facility, he was 
virtually unknown by redshirt 
junior linebacker Mike McCray.

“I knew who he was, but I wasn’t 

around him a 
lot,” 
McCray 

said. “I didn’t 
think he would 
know 
about 

what we did as 
linebackers. 
I 

knew he was 
a 
great 
high 

school 
coach. 

That’s the only 
thing I knew, 
really.”

By all accounts, the move has 

worked out so far. Harbaugh 
praised Partridge’s work as 
director of player personnel last 
season, and he said in December 
he 
would 
do 
everything 

possible to keep Partridge in 
Ann Arbor, promoting him to a 
full-time assistant position as 
soon as he could.

As 
it 
turned 
out, 
that 

chance came in January, and 
Partridge accepted, reaping the 
benefits of sticking around (he 
reportedly had prior offers to 
coach elsewhere).

“I wanted to be a coach, 

and (Harbaugh) knew that,” 
Partridge said. “You work hard 
in your job and you get those 
opportunities, but in your heart, 
this is the place I wanted to be. 
I had to put my trust in him, 
and just knowing that I wanted 
to coach for Jim Harbaugh and 
I wanted to be at Michigan 
and I believe in this place, and 
fortunately it worked out.”

Desperation fuels ‘M’

By KELLY HALL 

Daily Sports Editor

Monday 
night, 
Michigan 

coach John Beilein sat down 
with his team and discussed 
down-on-their-luck teams that 
were able to pull away during 
the 
conference 
tournament 

to 
ultimately 
make 
NCAA 

Tournament runs.

After the Michigan men’s 

basketball team (10-8 Big Ten, 
20-11 overall) lost four of its 
last five Big Ten games to close 
out the regular season, it will 
likely need to win at least two 
games to safely land an NCAA 
Tournament bid. Beilein hopes 
his squad can pull off a similar 
feat, and desperation seems to 
be fueling it.

“When you’re in the NCAA 

Tournament already, it’s hard 
to go down there (to the Big Ten 
Tournament) — we value the 
regular season so big, so much,” 
Beilein said. “And then you don’t 
win it and you know you might 
be in the NCAA Tournament, it 
is tough, you’ve gotta just keep 
your kids focused on trying to 
win it all.”

Now that his team is on the 

other end of the stick, with no 
guarantee at all of making the 
NCAA Tournament, he said that 
he “absolutely” feels that the 
Wolverines will be playing with 
a feeling of desperation. After 
all, if they lose to Northwestern 
in their first Big Ten Tournament 
matchup, their chances of getting 
a bid are close to zero. Even with 
a victory over the Wildcats, they 
will need to take down Indiana, 
the conference champion, the 
following day to feel better about 
their shot of hearing their name 
on Selection Sunday.

Michigan closed out its regular 

season with a loss to No. 16 Iowa. 
To most, it was considered a must-
win game, but the conference 
tournament 
provides 
an 

opportunity to start fresh.

“We were really down after 

that loss,” Beilein said. “We 

didn’t play well, we didn’t play 
smart, we didn’t do a lot of 
things. We’re down. We watched 
the video yesterday, and it even 
made us feel worse. But now 
we’re going onto practice and we 
said, ‘OK, it’s done. Put it away 
and let’s move forward.’ ”

Junior guard Derrick Walton 

echoed his coach’s sentiment 
and added a positive outlook to 
Michigan’s reaction to its loss 
to Iowa.

“Guys on this team really 

care,” Walton said. “To be 
down about the game obviously 
showed that we care. We just 
gotta brush it off now at this 
point. We can’t go back now and 
change anything.”

Though Walton agrees with 

his coach in some aspects, 
he disagrees with others. He 
expects his team to be playing 
with 
a 
different 
mindset 

come 
Thursday 
afternoon 

in 
Indianapolis, 
but 
he 

wouldn’t give the Wolverines a 
“desperation” tag just yet.

“I think desperation is a word 

we probably wouldn’t want to 
use right now,” Walton said. 
“I think that puts too much 
pressure on ourselves. We’ll 
go out and perform as best as 
possible. I feel like if we put it all 
together like we know we can, 
this can be a big stretch for us.”

Whatever 
is 
fueling 
the 

Wolverines, 
whether 
it’s 
a 

different mindset, blind hope 
or desperation, it’s making an 
impression.

In Michigan’s final do-or-die 

situation before the Big Dance, the 
Wolverines seem to be fully aware 
of the Big Ten Tournament’s 
potential repercussions. 

“I’m expecting our guys to 

play a little pissed off, pretty 
much,” Walton said. “We’re just 
not happy. … You can just expect 
this team to play with a bigger 
chip on their shoulder.”

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Derrick Walton Jr. expects a high-energy performance in Indianapolis.

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Chris Partridge has begun his first spring camp as Michigan’s linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.

“I’m on the 

field, I’m 

coaching, I’m 

getting after it.”

