New Michigan offensive coordinator set to replace Sherrone Moore is promoted from within the organization
The reigning national champion Michigan Wolverines have found their new offensive coordinator to replace (now head coach) Sherrone Moore. Kirk Campbell, Michigan's quarterbacks coach in 2023, has been chosen to lead the way on offense for the 2024 season. The Wolverines will be replacing starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, star running back Blake Corum, key receivers […]
The reigning national champion Michigan Wolverines have found their new offensive coordinator to replace (now head coach) Sherrone Moore.
Kirk Campbell, Michigan's quarterbacks coach in 2023, has been chosen to lead the way on offense for the 2024 season.
The Wolverines will be replacing starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, star running back Blake Corum, key receivers Roman Wilson & Cornelius Johnson, tight end AJ Barner, and a handful experienced offense lineman this season. Campbell will have his hands full getting a brand new set of offensive players to gel together if they want to have any hope in returning to the College Football Playoff to defend their championship title.
But who is Kirk Campbell? What can Michigan fans expect from Campbell as their new offensive coordinator? And what makes him the perfect fit to help Michigan maintain its Big Ten Conference dominance moving forward? Let's take a look at the journey that led Michigan to this decision.
Quick Ascension Through Coaching Ranks
Kirk Campbell got his college football coaching start back in 2009 at West Virginia Wesleyan as a graduate assistant. He moved to Tiffin University in 2011 coaching wide receivers and tight ends. Then quickly earned his first offensive coordinator job in 2012 for Alderson Broaddus, a small Baptist university in West Virginia.
His immediate and sustained success there at Alderson Broaddus (36 team wins in five years) earned him an offensive assistant position at Penn State in 2017. From there he followed Ricky Rahne (Penn State offensive coordinator at the time) to Old Dominion where Campbell earned his first shot at an FBS offensive coordinator position.
Unfortunately, the pandemic of 2020 led Old Dominion to cancel their entire football season, postponing his FBS offensive coordinator debut. But when the time came to prove his worth, Campbell and the Old Dominion Monarchs were ready in 2021.
Old Dominion was coming off a 1-11 season in 2019 where their offense ranked 127th out of 130 FBS teams in points per game. But under Campbell's offensive leadership, the Monarchs scored nearly 12 more points and 100 more total yards per game in 2021 than they did in 2019. Without having even played a game of football together the previous season the Monarchs were immediately competitors.
As one might logically assume, Campbell quickly became a hot commodity and was snatched up by Michigan as an offensive assistant in 2022. He was promoted to quarterbacks coach ahead of the 2023 season, and now lands one of the most coveted offensive coordinator positions in all of football.
How Campbell Fits With Michigan
A huge part of what gave Campbell success at Old Dominion was establishing a strong run game. Between the two lead running backs for the Monarchs in 2021, they carried the ball over 320 times, and the team averaged nearly 40 carries per contest. Michigan has made their dominant run game the identity of the team, and it doesn't seem like that will change under Campbell's leadership.
But beyond just the running game, Campbell liked to utilize offensive route concepts at Old Dominion that would place his team's leading wide receiver and tight end working off of each other strategically to create difficult decisions for opposing defenses. This would create mismatch problems, wide open crossers, and smash concepts that would almost always leave one of the top receiving options (Ali Jennings or Zack Kuntz) free to make a play.
That also fits perfectly as Michigan loves to lean heavily on their tight ends (Colston Loveland & AJ Barner last year) in tandem with a strong difference-making lead wide receiver (like Roman Wilson).
Everything Campbell stands for with his offensive philosophy and his recent experience developing J.J. McCarthy into a potential first round quarterback makes him the perfect fit at offensive coordinator for Michigan in 2024 and beyond.
