As part of their new coaching staff, Michigan appears to be considering hiring a Tennessee assistant coach, John Brice of FootballScoop reported on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Brice’s article, Brian-Jean Mary, the coach of the Tennessee linebackers, has become a target and contender “for a similar role on the Wolverines defensive staff.
The past relationship between Jean-Mary and the Michigan Football team adds to the report’s curiosity. Jean-Mary worked for one season as the linebackers coach for the Wolverines in 2020 before joining Josh Heupel’s Tennessee staff in the early months of 2021. After serving as UCF’s linebackers coach, defensive coordinator, and associate head coach for the previous three seasons, Jean-Mary left to join Michigan. Josh Heupel was Jean-Mary’s head coach during his final two years at Central Florida in 2018 and 2019.
After the Wolverines won the National Championship over Washington this past season, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh left the program to take over the vacant head coaching position with the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers. Michigan elevated offensive coordinator and longtime assistant Sherrone Moore to the head coaching position in replacement of Harbaugh.
Sherrone was the Wolverines’ tight ends coach when Jean-Mary was also on the Michigan staff during the 2020 season.
Jean-Mary has been one of the top defensive assistants on Tennessee’s staff despite needing to build up the depth and the talent of the linebacker room over his three years on Rocky Top. What was once a shallow room in terms of depth, Jean-Mary helped sign elite linebacker Arion Carter and brought in veteran Keenan Pili from the transfer portal. While Carter was just a freshman during the 2023 season and Pili suffered an early season-ending injury, both players project to be two of the most important players on Tennessee’s defense in 2024.
Jean-Mary spent the first three years of his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Louisville (2000) and South Carolina (2001-2002) before joining the North Alabama staff as the secondary coach. The 48-year-old Tennessee assistant has been an assistant coach/assistant head coach in the college football landscape ever since joining the North Alabama staff in 2003.
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