Bob Shoop Explains What He Brings To Michigan, Talks Safety Rotation

Michigan's new safety coach is Bob Shoop. Most Michigan fans probably hadn't heard of him until the announcement of his hiring was made public, but he's been around and he's been pretty damn good. Per MGoBlue.com, Shoop is more than qualified to coach just safeties.

Shoop was defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Mississippi State for two seasons (2018-19), where he was a finalist for the 2018 Broyles Award given to college football's top assistant coach in his first year.

He brings more than 30 years of collegiate coaching experience with him to Ann Arbor, and he's coached in 13 bowl games. His defenses and secondaries are aggressive, disciplined, playmaking units that create turnovers and limit big plays.

Shoop spoke with Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast earlier this week and had some really good things to say about what he's done and what led him to taking the job at U-M.

"I’ve had a lot of unique experiences where I’ve changed jobs," Shoop said. "I’ve moved around a fair amount and I’ve been at a lot of great historically traditional programs. I think the first thing you try to do is identify the culture of the program. It’s very clear that Coach [Jim] Harbaugh has set a great culture for this program, as an alumnus, as someone that’s very, very proud of the brand and proud of the Block M.

Amazingly, Shoop played at Yale while Don Brown was coaching there even though the two are only 11 years apart. Still, that gives Shoop an interesting connection to the staff and it doesn't stop there.

"I played for Coach Brown, so I know the culture that Coach Brown’s trying to create on defense," Shoop said. "It’s comfortable to me, a little bit, in that I’ve worked with Coach Brown. I’ve worked with Josh Gattis, I’ve worked with Coach [Ed] Warinner. I’ve worked with some of the analysts, so I knew those guys. I consider this to be a relationship-based industry and trust, honesty and respect are words that mean a lot to me."

As a guy who has been the head of a defense at seven different locations, Shoop brings a ton of experience to U-M. Michigan essentially added another DC who's only going to be coaching safeties.

"[Just] helping on Coach Brown’s side. I do have unique experience as a coordinator," Shoop said. "I could bring some unique perspective and maybe help Coach Brown with any blind spots that he might have, which are very, very few. Then certainly as a teacher, leader and role model to the young men that I have an opportunity to coach and lead on a daily basis."

Shoop is going to have an opportunity to coach some really good players. The starters are likely already set with Brad Hawkins returning as well as potential star Daxton Hill, and ehind those guys there are some players with talent but not much experience, so Shoop is excited.

"There’s only three guys that played a lot at safety last year, and Josh Metellus obviously is gone," Shoop stated. "Brad Hawkins is a guy that played a fair amount. He brings a tremendous amount of experience and obviously missed the end of the year against Indiana, Ohio State and Alabama. We need to get him back and healthy, because I think the expectations are that he’s going to be one of the leaders of this unit.

"Then Dax Hill. I knew Dax a little bit from when I was at Mississippi State, because I had him in the 2019 recruiting class as the top safety in that class. I know he went back and forth between Alabama and Michigan in the recruiting process. To have the opportunity to work with him here, I’m very, very excited about watching his development, and hopefully taking him to the next level. The experience he gained last year was really, really valuable and I thought he did a really solid job in both the Indiana game, where he got an interception, and the Ohio State and Alabama games, where he got thrown into the trenches against some explosive offenses."

"The issue as we head into spring, is finding some depth. I’ve gotten a chance this spring to work with some of the other guys. There are some guys who there are some expectations from. Sammy Faustin, German Green, Caden Kolesar and Tyler Cochran — those guys have played on special teams. We have an early enrollee in Makari Paige. I’m just really, really excited to work with those guys. There are guys who I don’t know enough about, because I haven’t seen them on the field, but I have seen them work with [Coach Ben Herbert] Herb in the weight room. They seem to have a great work ethic. They seem to have great passion and great toughness. They seem to all have a team-first mindset. They encourage one another and have a great deal of pride as a position unit. I think there will be a tremendous amount of competition this spring."

Brown's Breakdown

I'm personally quite excited about the addition of Shoop. I'm really curious to see how it will affect Don Brown's defense overall because he's not your typical safeties coach. Because of Shoop's connection with Brown, could they use a collaborative approach? Could Shoop bring more and different zone schemes to the table? Will he change up how often safeties are locked up on speedy receivers like KJ Hamler and Chris Olave? I actually wondered if that was something Jim Harbaugh looked for when making the hire.

All in all, I think it's a great hire. Shoop hasn't been billed as a dynamic recruiter, but he specifically mentioned getting after it on the trail and, not only competing with other programs, but competing with guys on his own staff to recruit well and get better. He certainly has the chops as a schemer and Xs and Os guy, which only strengthens the staff. Chris Partridge definitely had it as a recruiter, but Shoop is an upgrade in terms of on-field experience and ability. It might be a little tough to quantify how he does in 2020, but hopefully there will be some noticeable progress within the position group.

How do you feel about the Shoop hire? How do you think we will see it on the field in 2020? Comment below!!!