Jim Harbaugh has added three new names to his extended coaching staff at Michigan, including one former NFL assistant.
Chris White, who spent last season as the tight ends coach for the Detroit Lions, has joined Michigan’s staff of analysts for the 2020 season, team spokesman Dave Ablauf confirmed this week to MLive.
White was one of several assistant coaches and staffers fired by the Lions in December following a 3-12-1 season.
Prior to his two-year stint in Detroit, White spent four seasons as special teams coordinator and running backs coach at Iowa.
White was also an assistant special teams coach for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings from 2009 to 2012, and spent nine seasons at Syracuse, where he went from special teams coordinator and tight ends coach to recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach.
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Harbaugh has a track record in recent years of hiring ex-NFL assistants to his staff as analysts, including ex-Lions offensive line coach Ron Prince in 2018. Prince went on to become the head coach at Howard in 2019, but has since resigned amid allegations of verbal abuse and player intimidation.
Juan Castillo and Brandon Blaney, both with previous NFL experience, were on staff as analysts in 2019 and have since landed jobs elsewhere; Castillo as an analyst with the Buffalo Bills, and Blaney as tight ends coach at Eastern Michigan.
As an analyst, White will precluded from recruiting and on-field instruction in practice.
The hire comes after two additional analysts departed Michigan in the offseason: Devin Bush, Sr. (to Ole Miss) and Nate Woody, who is now the defensive coordinator at Army.
Other staffing notes for the Michigan football team:
— Tenarius “Tank” Wright, a former assistant strength and conditioning coach, has been promoted to an analyst role. Wright was reportedly considered for one of Michigan’s two assistant coaching positions in January, eventually filled by Bob Shoop (safeties) and Brian Jean-Mary (linebackers).
Michigan has hired Ben Rabe, an alum of North Central College (Naperville, Ill.), to fill the vacancy on Michigan’s five-person strength and conditioning staff.
— Michigan has hired Keith Dudzinski, associate head coach and defensive coordinator (in charge of linebackers) at SUNY-Albany, as an analyst.
— Tyler Brown, who was a paid analyst in 2019, is now listed as a graduate assistant coach.
As of now, analysts Dan Bleske (offense), Steve Casula (offense), Aashon Larkins (special teams) and Mike McCray (defense) are all expected to return in 2020.
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