Judd Lattimore out at Michigan

Apologies for the lack of content lately. Slow season and heavy obligations for the things that pay my bills have combined to lead to not a lot in this space. Hopefully it’ll pick back up, and soon.

Now-former Michigan assistant Judd Lattimore, in his Bucknell days

A source indicated to me a while back that staff changes could be coming at Michigan, but after the Wolverines finished the year on a relatively successful note (in that they were competitive with some teams that they probably shouldn’t have been able to stick with) and nothing had happened to this point, I thought they’d made it out of the woods without any changes.

However, that’s not the case, as Judd Lattimore is no longer listed on the staff page of the official Michigan site, and I’ve heard indications that’s he’s not only gone, he’s already primed to take a position at Penn. That costs the Wolverines their only coach with D-1 coaching experience, and one of only two (volunteer assistant Keith Euker was an All-American at Loyola) with D-1 playing experience. In the end, it sounds like a lack of chemistry ended Lattimore’s tenure prematurely. A lack of results on the field certainly didn’t boost the confidence among the staff members, to say the least.

It will be very interesting to see where Michigan goes from here. Lattimore has obviously been a successful offensive coordinator at just about every stop, and even if Michigan’s offense finished just No. 55 in the nation in 2012, he could be tough to replace. What I’m nervous about (and perhaps without justification, to be fair) is that Michigan will look to the club ranks to fill the assistant position, instead of looking for established D-1 or D-3 coaches to elevate the level of play among the staff. It has the same feel of the Michigan football team firing a good defensive coordinator (Scott Shafer) after 2008, only to replace him with a host of Rich Rodriguez’s buddies, rather than the best fit for success. Again, I have no indication they’ll do that, but it should be interesting to see where John Paul goes with his next move.

The recruiting perspective will also be a factor to watch, since Lattimore served as the team’s recruiting coordinator. Will the Wolverines hold on to all their underclassman verbal commitments? Will they continue to be successful recruiting? I have full confidence that John Paul – who has recruited successfully as a club coach in the past – will continue to recruit well going forward.

Stay tuned to see the latest developments in Michigan’s coaching staff.