The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, January 10, 2016 — 7
Hamilton to reportedly join coaching staff
According
to
several
reports,
current
Cleveland
Browns assistant head coach
and quarterbacks coach Pep
Hamilton
is
joining
Jim
Harbaugh and the rest of the
Michigan coaching staff as the
new assistant head coach and
passing game coordinator.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com first
reported Saturday that Hamilton
was “weighing a departure”
from the Browns to join the
Wolverines.
One
day
later,
Rapoport tweeted that Harbaugh
had been “telling recruits for a
few days” that Hamilton would
be coming to Michigan.
Steve Lorenz of Wolverine 247
also told The Daily on Sunday that
he was expecting Hamilton to join
the staff before Adam Schefter of
ESPN tweeted Monday night that
Hamilton accepted Michigan’s
coaching offer. Mary Kay Cabot
of Cleveland.com confirmed that
Hamilton had taken the offer as
well.
Meanwhile,
Hue
Jackson,
head coach of the Browns,
told reporters on a conference
call Sunday that he “felt very
comfortable that Pep is staying.”
“I have known about the Jim
Harbaugh situation from a week
and a half ago,” Jackson said,
according to the Browns’ official
website.
“...
Anything
can
happen. We want him to stay.
We hope he stays. Like I said, a
young man is entitled to do what
they feel is best for them, but
I’d think we’ve created a good
environment and I hope things
are still good. As far as I know,
things are.”
This would not be the first
time Hamilton has coached with
Harbaugh — he was a part of
Harbaugh’s staff at Stanford in
2010, where he served as the wide
receivers coach.
Hamilton’s arrival in Ann
Arbor would help to fill the staff
vacancy created by Jedd Fisch’s
departure from the program,
as
he
recently
accepted
a
position as the
new
offensive
coordinator for
UCLA.
It
appears
Hamilton would
be a perfect fit
to replace Fisch,
who
served
as
Michigan’s
quarterbacks
coach,
wide
receivers coach
and passing game coordinator.
Hamilton
has
significant
experience
coaching
both
positions, as he has served as
an
offensive
coordinator
at
numerous stops throughout his
career. Like Fisch, Hamilton
would bring a unique blend of
experience at both the collegiate
and professional level.
Hamilton began his career
at Howard University, where
he served as the
quarterbacks
coach and later
as the offensive
coordinator
before
moving
on
to
the
professional
level — coaching
with the New
York Jets, San
Francisco
49ers
and
Chicago Bears. He returned to
college football in 2010 to join
Harbaugh’s staff at Stanford.
Under
Hamilton,
Cardinal
receivers combined for 129 catches
for 2,026 yards and were part of an
offense that scored 40.3 points per
game that year, making Stanford
the ninth-ranked offense in the
nation.
After Harbaugh’s departure
from
the
program
following
the 2010 season, Hamilton took
over as the Cardinals’ offensive
coordinator for the next two years.
With Hamilton in that position,
Stanford’s
offense
averaged
43.2 and 27.9 points per game,
respectively, in 2011 and 2012,
before he left for the NFL once
again.
Before his current stint with
the Browns, Hamilton was the
offensive coordinator for the
Indianapolis Colts, calling plays
for former Stanford players
Andrew Luck and Coby Fleener.
He joined the Browns after
being fired by the Colts in 2015.
This is a developing story. Stay
tuned with The Daily for updates.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will reportedly be reunited with his former wide receivers coach in Pep Hamilton.
Notebook: Michigan missing pieces before Minnesota
The Michigan hockey team
has yet to play a game with its full
roster at its disposal.
For the entire fall semester,
sophomore
forward
Cooper
Marody
was
academically
ineligible, leaving the Wolverines
without
one
of
their
best
returning players. When Marody
finally returned at the Great Lakes
Invitational on Dec. 29, sophomore
defenseman
Joseph
Cecconi
departed for Canada to play in the
World Junior Championships.
This weekend, when Michigan
travels to face No. 9 Minnesota, it
will again be left shorthanded.
This time, though, a new
batch of injuries are plaguing the
Wolverines. Freshman forward
Will
Lockwood
re-aggravated
a shoulder injury in Michigan’s
game against Michigan State at
the GLI and has not practiced
since.
Lockwood is currently leading
the team in points this season,
and is perhaps the Wolverines’
most dangerous offensive threat.
And given that the Golden
Gophers’ home rink is Olympic-
sized — 15 feet wider than
the typical NHL-sized rink —
Michigan will miss Lockwood’s
speed and quickness even more
than
it
usually
would.
“He’s
one
of
our best players,
so definitely we’re
going to miss him,”
said
Michigan
coach
Red
Berenson.
“Now
Cooper (Marody)
is back, and we’ve
got to get him
going and get that
line going, but, yeah, we’ve got to
get Will Lockwood back. And the
sooner, the better.”
In
addition
to
Lockwood,
Michigan will also be without
freshman defenseman Christian
Meike, who injured his knee prior
to the GLI. While Meike hasn’t
played nearly as large of a role
as Lockwood — only appearing
in three games this season —
his
absence
certainly
won’t
help.
Cecconi
returns
Michigan
does get some
good
news
in
terms
of
personnel.
Cecconi
will
make
his
return
to
the
Wolverines after winning the
World Junior Championship with
the United States team.
While Cecconi is only in his
sophomore season, he has proven
to be one of the most consistent
players on the team. And with
him gone, Michigan was forced to
play freshmen defensemen Griffin
Luce and Luke Martin. Though
the two have played often for the
Wolverines this season, bringing
Cecconi back will be a welcome
sight, because of his consistency.
“He’s one of our steadiest
defenseman,”
Berenson
said.
“I’d say he’s a solid, defensive
defenseman. He stays at home,
blocks shots, kills penalties,
he’s got a smart stick, he’s hard
to play against and he’s just one
of those elements that you can’t
just replace him with another
player.
“He’s only a sophomore, but he’s
taken big strides in his freshman
year and then into his sophomore
year. So he’s a key guy. (Associate
Head Coach) Billy Powers runs
the defense, and he really trusts
Joseph to do the right thing at the
right time, and he puts him in key
situations.”
Cecconi isn’t necessarily a big
offensive producer for Michigan,
but with him back the defense will
be getting an upgrade, along with
a bit of depth, which is especially
pertinent with the loss of Meike.
Goaltending
battle
gets
interesting again
When Michigan traveled to
Penn State earlier this season,
it
did
so
without
freshman
goaltender Hayden Lavigne, who
was sidelined with an illness. At
that time, Lavigne was ranked
first nationally in goals-against
average, and had begun solidifying
himself as the best goaltender on
the Wolverines’ roster.
Since
then,
Lavigne
has
returned. And in that time, he
hasn’t been quite as stout as he
was before the illness. In his first
game back, he was shelled by
Wisconsin, allowing six goals in
just two periods. He then gave
up two goals to Michigan Tech
in the semifinals
of the GLI before
being
replaced
by senior Zach
Nagelvoort
the
next game against
the Spartans.
“I’d
hate
to
say
anyone’s
in
the
lead,”
Berenson said of
the
goaltending
competition.
“I
think we still have confidence in
all three of them. I think any one
of them can go out and win us a
game. I don’t know if anyone has
been as consistent as we’d like,
but they’ve all shown that they
can help our team.”
While
goaltenders
haven’t
been the issue this season for
Michigan, it will be interesting
to see if Berenson and his staff
choose to stick with Lavigne in
the future.
Sanchez
gets
first-line
opportunity again
When the Wolverines took on
Michigan State in their second
game of the GLI, they were coming
off of a shutout loss. As a result,
Michigan’s lines were changed
somewhat drastically.
One of the beneficiaries of
that shift was freshman forward
James Sanchez. Prior to the
game
against
the
Spartans,
Sanchez had spent most of the
year playing on the third and
fourth lines for the Wolverines.
But the changes yielded success,
as Michigan tallied five goals
with the first line of Sanchez,
Marody and senior forward Alex
Kile being responsible for two of
them.
Sanchez finished the game with
only one assist, but the overall
offensive success was enough for
Berenson to give him another
chance. He says that Sanchez will
once again be playing with Marody
and Kile against Minnesota.
“I think he’s got the offensive
instincts,”
Berenson
said.
“Hockey’s a game of, it’s not X’s
and O’s, it’s a game of anticipating.
It’s
like
they
used to say about
Gretzky.
‘He
knows
what
you’re going to do
with puck before
you
know.’
He
would go there
and he would get
there before the
puck got there,
and then he would
get it.
“I think James, he’s not Gretzky,
but James has an awareness. Like
he anticipates well, and then he
has decent hands with puck. He
can make a good play, he can play
with good players, and I think he’s
going to become a good player.”
Freshman forward Will Lockwood, the Wolverines’ leading scorer, will be sidelined against the Golden Gophers after
re-aggravating a shoulder injury at the Great Lakes Invitational in a matchup against Michigan State on Dec. 29
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
Freshman forward Will Lockwood has had an impressive start to his career, scoring seven goals in 18 games to lead the Wolverines in points.
He’s one of our
best players, so
definitely we’re
going to miss him
I think James,
he’s not Gretzky,
but James has an
awareness
MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
Anything can
happen. We
want him to
stay
Multiple reports in the past few days indicated that Pep Hamilton could become
the new assistant head coach and passing game coordinator of the Wolverines
CLEMSON
ALABAMA
Passing (yards)
Rushing (yards)
Receiving (yards)
Fumbles
Kick returns (yards)
Punt returns (yards)
Kicking (yards)
Punting (yards)
420
91
420
0
130
3
0
345
155
Final
35
31
221
155
0
57
9
27
483