Michigan football turned to a familiar name to rebuild its defensive coaching staff when it hired Brian Jean-Mary, who worked for the Wolverines in 2020 before a three-year stint at Tennessee. Jean-Mary takes over as U-M’s linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator for a program that hopes to continue contending for titles.
Jean-Mary (pronounced ZHAHN-muh-REE) has coached defense at Louisville (2010-13), Texas (2014-16), USF (2017-19), Michigan (2020) and Tennessee (2021-23). He overlapped with Sherrone Moore during his time with the Cardinals and has himself developed a reputation as a strong recruiter and player developer.
This week, Jean-Mary joined Brian Boesch on “In the Trenches,” a Michigan Athletics podcast, to discuss his return to Michigan and to preview a linebacker room that replaces starter Junior Colson and Michael Barrett. Here is what he said:
Brian Jean-Mary on his decision to return to Michigan:
Well, the first thing was obviously, being an admirer from afar of what the program has done the last three years. I tell everybody, even after I left, the fond memories I had from the time here. So just watching as a fan. As a college football coach, sometimes you don’t get a chance to watch other teams because you’re so entrenched in your team. But when Michigan was on the television, I got a chance to watch him and just admire the way the program, the direction it was going and obviously, the end result of what they were able to accomplish last year. So it was a tough decision to leave Tennessee. But I tell everybody: There’s a reason Michigan is Michigan. It’s the best of the best, and I get an opportunity to come back and coach with Coach Moore, who I have so much respect for, and the program as a whole was too good of an opportunity to turn down.
On his memory of Sherrone Moore when they overlapped at Louisville:
The number one thing that Coach Moore brought to the table even as a GA was the professionalism. You saw the hard work, you saw the ability to relate to obviously the kids on the team but also the coaches. … You saw the bright future. And that’s the ability to get the best out of people.
But the biggest thing with Coach Moore: He was the same guy every day. It sounds simple, but in this profession could be a hard task. Always walked in with a smile on his face. Was demanding with the players even as a young coach, and they respected him for that. And he got the most out of his guys. Even when the transition happened, it was such a natural transition, just because the players respected him so much even as a graduate assistant.
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On his to-do list after being hired and before spring football started:
Coaching is coaching. There’s always X’s and O’s; there’s great coaches everywhere you go. The number one thing for myself, and I think for the whole entire defensive staff was just getting to know the players. I know, after they made such a deep run and ended up winning the national championship, there is a brotherhood and camaraderie on this team that’s like no other. We wanted to make sure we could dive headfirst into that and get to know the players and let them know we’re here for them.
Brian Jean-Mary discusses his return to Michigan football, breaks down Wolverines’ linebacker room
