Jim Harbaugh's departure to the NFL will make the hole very difficult to fill, but Jay Harbaugh's departure will also not be easy for Sherone Moore to replace. During his time at Michigan, Jay coached tight ends, running backs, safeties and special teams. Most recently, he was the safeties coach as well as the special teams coordinator for 2023. Under the younger Harbaugh, Michigan's special teams were among the best in the country the past few seasons.
JB Brown appears.
Brown has worked as a special teams analyst for the past few years. Previously, he was a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas and the University of Houston, and was the special teams coordinator at Texas Southern University. A native of Alvin, Texas, Brown graduated from Pacific University, where he was a standout baseball player and was selected in the 14th round by the New York Mets in the 2010 MLB Draft.
At Michigan, Brown will inherit a group of young, talented specialists. Tommy Dorman has secured the punter position and showed a good, albeit somewhat shaky, foot last season, but got stronger as the year went on. His best punts came in late November against Maryland and Ohio State. Dorman was named All-Big Ten third team last fall and will be a redshirt junior in 2024.
The kicker position is not as simple. Adam Samaha was expected to be the successor to Jake Moody last season, but Michigan showed they didn't trust a true freshman kicker by recruiting James Turner through the transfer portal over him. This worked out pretty well. Now that Turner has departed for the NFL, Samaha was expected to be the successor again as a more experienced redshirt freshman. But Michigan again recruited a player over him, this time Dominik Zvada from Arkansas State.
Zuvada came to Ann Arbor as a very reliable player at Arkansas State. He had some slumps early in his career, but college kickers are prone to transfer. You have to assume Zuvada transferred to Michigan with the intention of starting. With Samaha missing a field goal in the spring game and Sherrone Moore and company targeting transfers at the end of the spring, it seems like a foregone conclusion that Zuvada will be the starter, at least on opening day.
The kick returner and punt returner positions will likely remain open during fall camp, and Michigan has historically split playing time evenly for the first 60 percent of the regular season before eventually narrowing it down later in the season, but that could be different in Year 1 of the Moore regime.
Semaj Morgan has been great, but the limited depth at wide receiver means he'll likely be scaled back. Personally, I'd love to see Cole Cabana and Kendrick Bell return kicks. Neither have been in dire need at their primary positions this season, but they've been great with the ball in their hands.
All in all, the team's fixtures aren't nearly as empty for JB Brown, in his first year as special teams coordinator in Ann Arbor, but Michigan fans have been spoiled with some of the best special teams play in the country over the past few years, and that's a high standard to maintain, so while the name may change, expectations won't be lowered.
