Kyle Whittingham has officially held the Michigan football head coaching job since Friday night and he was introduced as the team’s 22nd person to hold the title on Sunday. Since, he’s been quite busy, meeting with the team as a whole, individually, while also working to make hires to fill out his staff.
On Sunday, he said that he would likely retain two to three extant position coaches while bringing in seven or eight outsiders to fill out the 10 spots. And, according to a report from Maize & Blue Review’s Josh Henschke, the first domino has fallen.
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Atop fans’ wishlist has been for Whittingham (or whoever the coach otherwise could have been) to retain running backs coach Tony Alford. And per Henschke, that is the official decision made by the new head coach.
It appears that new Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham has made his first decision regarding the current coaching staff in Ann Arbor.
Sources have informed Maize & Blue Review that Whittingham will be retaining Tony Alford to resume his responsibilities as running backs coach at Michigan. Alford has spent the previous two seasons in Ann Arbor, where he has seen his running backs have success.
Alford, who coached under Urban Meyer (as had Whittingham at Utah) at Ohio State, has shown both ability in coaching, with Justice Haynes, Jordan Marshall, and Bryson Kuzdzal excelling, but also in recruiting by getting five-star Savion Hiter to choose the Wolverines.
As for other staff, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz has reported that Michigan is expected to hire BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill, while there are some other names, including Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who have been linked to Ann Arbor.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Report: Kyle Whittingham makes first staff move, retains Tony Alford
