Michigan Wolverines

Ohio State already had started paying more competitive salaries for assistant coaches before Urban Meyer arrived in November 2011.

But when Meyer and athletic director Gene Smith sat down to discuss staff pay, Smith soon realized he needed to do more.

"I think Michigan had stepped up with their coordinators," Smith recalled last week during Big Ten spring meetings in Chicago. "So we were already going to that before Urban Meyer came, but we bumped it up a little more. Any time there's change, you have that opportunity."

"Everyone's always focused on head coaches' salaries," Smith continued. "That's always the thing. But really when you look at the changes, it's really been assistants' salaries across the country -- not just in the SEC, but the Big 12, Pac-12, all across the country."

The Big Ten is part of the change, too, as the league is allocating more money toward football assistants than ever before. The Detroit Free Press has an excellent look at Big Ten assistants' salaries, complete with a database that includes 10 of the 12 current members (Northwestern doesn't submit salaries as a private institution, and Penn State doesn't have to because of state laws).

The Free Press found that eight of the 10 schools are paying more for assistants in 2013 than they did in 2012 (only Indiana and Illinois are not). There are some significant total increases, such as Wisconsin (up $558,000), Nebraska (up $518,500), Purdue ($400,000) and Minnesota ($355,000). Staff pay had been an issue at Wisconsin, which lost six assistant coaches following the 2012 Rose Bowl, and at Purdue, which paid less for its staff during the Danny Hope era than any Big Ten school.

The total trend among the 10 schools is an increase of $1,720,852.24 for 2013.

Ohio State and Michigan remain No. 1 and No. 2 in Big Ten staff salary, as the Buckeyes allocate $3.416 million and the Wolverines allocate $2.805 million. Nebraska and Wisconsin make the biggest moves in the league for 2013, as the Huskers rise from sixth to third and the Badgers rise from seventh to fourth.

Illinois, which replaced five assistants from the 2012 team, including co-offensive coordinators Chris Beatty and Billy Gonzales, dropped from third in staff pay ($2.314 million) to eighth ($2.065 million).

The database shows that nearly every Big Ten assistant with "coordinator" in his title -- whether he's the sole coordinator or a co-coordinator -- will earn north of $300,000 for 2013. Only 18 assistants listed will make less than $200,000 in 2013 -- 15 work for Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana.


Some notes:

• Although Wisconsin paid former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst good coin, the school has increased its commitment for Gary Andersen's staff, not only with the coordinators but with some coveted position coaches like running backs coach Thomas Hammock ($300,000).
• All of Nebraska's assistants are earning $200,000 or more for 2013, but there's a huge drop-off between Beck and the next highest-paid assistant (defensive coordinator John Papuchis at $310,000).
• Michigan State has a similar drop off between Narduzzi and co-offensive coordinators Dave Warner ($270,000) and Jim Bollman ($260,000). Warner will be the primary offensive play-caller and has been on Mark Dantonio's staff since 2006, while Bollman is a newcomer.
• Although Michigan is paying top dollar for its coordinators, the school gets its assistants for a relative bargain. Receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Jeff Hecklinski will earn $225,000 in 2013, while the others all will earn $205,000. Ohio State, meanwhile, pays all but one of its assistants $286,000 or more.
• The Big Ten's three lowest-paid assistants all are in their first years: Illinois wide receivers coach Mike Bellamy ($125,000) and Purdue linebackers coach Marcus Freeman and running backs coach Jafar Williams (both at $120,000).
• Although schools like Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa ($325,000) pay their coordinators the exact same amount, others have slight differences in salary. Purdue's Shoop makes $5,000 more than defensive coordinator Greg Hudson. Minnesota defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys ($340,000) makes $5,000 more than offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover. Wonder if that leads to any underlying jealousy?
• Most Big Ten schools have assistant salaries in round numbers, but there are some interesting totals from Indiana, which pays co-offensive coordinators Seth Littrell and Kevin Johns $255,500.04 and new recruiting coordinator/assistant defensive line coach James Patton $173,740.08. Never know when that change can come in handy.

The Big Ten still lacks some of the OMG totals seen in the SEC -- LSU is paying new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron $3.4 million in the next three years -- but the overall trend puts the league more on par with what we're seeing nationally.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Devin Gardner has spent some time over the past few weeks working with a private quarterbacks coach, George Whitfield Jr.

As long as he doesn’t come back with any poor habits, Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges is fine with that.

“I don’t really encourage it or discourage it,” Borges said. “I don’t want too much of it. Once they are here, we want them coached by the guys who are going to coach them.

“But guys are using that in the offseason because we can’t coach them.”

Borges knows Whitfield -- although he has not talked to him about Gardner -- and that has made him more comfortable with his starting quarterback staying fresh by working with an off-site guru.

Part of why Borges is fine with Gardner working with someone else comes from the fact that Borges can’t work with him at all right now because of NCAA rules. Meanwhile, Gardner wants to stay sharp as he enters his first full season as a starter.

Hence the trip to work with Whitfield.

“I don’t blame him,” Borges said. “His ambition is exciting.”

Borges has much to be excited about these days. He gets his second healthy scholarship quarterback on campus next week in freshman Shane Morris. The Warren, Mich., native has had the playbook for a while and has been to many Michigan practices since his commitment almost two years ago.

He has also worked with Borges at various camps over the past two seasons, which has given Morris a sliver of an idea of how he’ll be coached at Michigan.

“He’s not a complete neophyte,” Borges said. “But by the same token, he has not played college football and there will be some growing pains with that.”

But will Michigan find a third scholarship quarterback? The Wolverines are still looking but it appears to be less likely than before.

Borges, speaking after an hour-long stint on the Mott Hospital Takeover on WTKA-AM in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Friday, had a laundry list of things any sort of quarterback transfer would have to do to even reach Michigan. Graduation. Fitting in chemistry-wise. Having played in a similar system -- even if verbiage is different -- is also paramount.

There aren't many quarterbacks who can fit that description, especially ones who must understand the chances of them starting is minimal.

“At the end of the day,” Borges said, “that likelihood isn’t that great.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The first real look at Michigan's kind of new return to its pro style run-the-ball roots on offense went about as expected Saturday during its controlled scrimmage.

Michigan didn’t give much away. It rotated fairly liberally. And any potential wrinkles or research put together by offensive coordinator Al Borges will remain a public secret until the fall.

The Wolverines’ scrimmage, which was going to be deemed controlled at the start, had more of a feel of a situational practice. No official, public statistics were taken. There was no score kept.

Almost everything Michigan ran was pretty rudimentary when it comes to its offensive plan.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Brian Cleary, Michigan’s current backup quarterback, was extremely close to not being in Ann Arbor at all.

How close? He was admitted -- and planned on attending -- another school when Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges called then-University of Detroit Jesuit coach Jeff Putnam in the late spring and early summer of 2012 inquiring about Cleary’s availability.

Putnam said Cleary was going to Notre Dame. Not to play or walk on, but as a regular college student.

Maybe he’d quarterback the football team at Dillon Hall since they play tackle football as dorms at the school. Now the redshirt freshman is potentially one snap away from being the starting quarterback at Michigan.

Borges called Putnam and explained the Wolverines were lacking quarterback depth and could be in the position through 2014. Plus, Michigan liked Cleary’s film.

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Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges talks about quarterback Devin Gardner and the unit's progress this spring.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The official start to the Devin Gardner era at Michigan began with a long pass down the field to Amara Darboh.

As with much of the final month of last season for Gardner, the result was unsurprising. The pass was complete.

Gardner insisted even after he took over the starting quarterback’s role after Denard Robinson’s injury last season it was still Robinson’s team, that he was a placeholder of sorts, a capable fill-in until the record-setting Michigan quarterback could return. Except, as everyone now knows, Robinson never returned as a full-time quarterback, giving Gardner and Michigan a quick jump start on this spring and a conversion to the pro style offense two-plus seasons in the making.

The 6-foot-4 quarterback has begun to take advantage now that it is his team, his position to lose and an offense that fits his skills. He watches a copy of every spring practice at least twice. He has spent time watching cutups of NFL quarterbacks Jason Campbell, whom offensive coordinator Al Borges coached at Auburn, and other NFL teams in an effort to learn a little bit of everything.

“I took it upon myself to watch those guys and see how well they are doing in a pro-style setting,” Gardner said. “It would be sinister for me not to watch those guys.”

All of the preparation for watching other quarterbacks is in part to help accelerate the learning curve. A redshirt junior with only five career starts, Gardner showed potential over those final five games, completing 75 of 126 passes for 1,219 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. But for him to really thrive and reach his goal of being a quarterback in the NFL, he has to improve.

It is why he’ll sometimes send a text message to Borges looking to add something to the expanding Michigan playbook -- waggle passes are a personal favorite -- or go over something with him he saw during his own private film study.

“He has done a nice job,” Hoke said. “Wrapping his arms around his responsibilities.”

Part of that responsibility has been understanding the need to fill in for where Robinson left off as a leader. Teams naturally look to their quarterbacks anyway as an almost de facto offensive leader and Gardner’s personality helps that along.

His style is the opposite of most coaches and even other players. He will rarely call out a player in practice -- trash talking is something else; he’ll gladly do a lot of that -- but will often explain something to a player off to the side.

It comes from his own personal preference. He would prefer not to be called out by a teammate in front of everyone, so why should he do it to others.

“He’s done a great job using his personality and his humor to lead this team and help, especially with the receivers, the younger guys Amara Darboh and Jehu [Chesson],” senior offensive tackle Taylor Lewan said. “Those guys have really learned a lot from him.

“He’s your starting quarterback now.”