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.”