Michigan Football: Tony Gibson, Not Rich Rod, Has Toughest Job

Tony Gibson is the defensive backs and special teams coach, and here is what he's looking at in terms of depth this fall—

Cornerback

1. J.T. Floyd
2. Random Freshman
3. Other Freshman

Safety

1. Cam Gordon
2. Walk-on?
3. ?

Kicker

1. Will Hagerup

This is likely the most difficult position Gibson has found himself in as a defensive backs coach in his 10 years as an assistant.  Now throw in that he has to coach a new punter, kicker, and kickoff man, and it becomes perfectly clear that Tony Gibson has the most difficult job of any Michigan football staff member this upcoming season.

The void of experience and talent at the cornerback position is not for lack of trying – losing Donnovan Warren early to the NFL, Boubacar Cissoko, a blue chip recruit, hailed as the next Charles Woodson, now looking at between 19 months and 15 years in prison for armed robbery, Demar Dorsey as the highest rated recruit in the Big Ten failing to qualify academically, and J.T. Turner showing up to camp out of shape and opting to leave rather than work.

So what’s left for Gibson is 13 players, only a handful of whom have seen any game time at the college level, and only one (J.T. Floyd) that has started a college game.  Coaching a strong defensive backfield is going to be a daunting task, but rather than feel sorry for the unfortunate position the DBs have ended up in, Gibson is galvanized, saying “We can’t sit around and feel sorry for ourselves because no one else is going to feel sorry for us.”

A simplified defense has allowed Gibson to focus more on the little things—read steps, coverage technique, etc. than on broad things like schemes.  It may be more difficult coaching everything to everyone—something that would not need to be done if there were veteran players—but the enthusiasm and determination has made the job at least bearable for Gibson.

As of now, it appears true freshman CBs that might expect playing time are Cullen Christian, Courtney Avery, and Terrence Talbott.  Christian is a 4-star recruit, ranked third by Scout for freshman CBs.  Both Avery and Talbott are 3-star recruits.  Christian is an exciting prospect who has great size and tackling ability—he should be an exciting player to watch develop.

At safety we may see Carvin Johnson, Marvin Robinson, Ray Vinopal, and Josh Furman get playing time.  Furman and Robinson are both 4-star prospects ranked seventh and 18^th out of safeties overall.  They definitely are right up there in the depth chart behind Cam Gordon and could make immediate impacts if they can catch on quickly.

True freshman Will Hagerup has talked about hitting the ceiling of the Al Glick field house with his punting, and hopes he earns the respect that Zoltan earned as punter for Michigan.

Ideally, the excitement and determination to do well will close the gap and we will see continued improvement with Michigan’s defense.  It does look like Michigan has done some solid recruiting in the area, so the annual question of “just how bad will the Michigan secondary be?” can be a thing of the past, but for now, it remains, and for Rich Rod’s sake, Gibson better coach up a desirable answer, and quick, because time is ticking on the regime.