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