Staff overhaul begins at Michigan
1/5/2018ANN ARBOR — A considerable staff overhaul appears to be in the early stages at Michigan.
The Wolverines announced the hiring of strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert, who comes to UM after five seasons at Arkansas under Bret Bielema. Before that, Herbert spent six seasons at Wisconsin.
Herbert replaces Kevin Tolbert, who was at Michigan during all three years of the Jim Harbaugh era. Tolbert also was a strength coach under Lloyd Carr from 2001-07 and worked alongside Harbaugh at Stanford and with the San Francisco 49ers.
During his 11-year career, Herbert has worked with 71 NFL draft picks, including eight first-round selections. He’s also coached two Heisman Trophy finalists, two Outland Trophy winners, two Doak Walker Award winners, 49 first-team All-Big Ten selections, four first-team All-SEC honorees, and 30 All-Americans.
The 38-year-old Herbert was a four-year letterwinner on the Wisconsin defensive line and played in two Rose Bowls.
In 2015, Herbert was honored as the Master Strength and Conditioning Coach, one of the highest honors for college strength and conditioning coaches. He did so at 35, becoming the youngest winner.
Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and Sports Illustrated reported Greg Frey will leave Michigan for his alma mater, Florida State, to coach the offensive line. Feldman also reported former Central Michigan head coach and Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos is joining the Michigan staff. It is unknown what job title Enos will have. In three seasons with the Razorbacks, Enos’ offense went from 29th nationally to 54th to 94th.
There also are multiple reports University of Cincinnati defensive line coach Al Washington will join Michigan’s staff in some capacity. He played at Boston College while Don Brown was on the staff and is highly regarded as an elite recruiter.