Could Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Football Make History?
Michigan football has a job opening after the termination of co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss. The 39-year old assistant had been with Michigan for the last two seasons before being fired in the midst of an investigation due to computer crimes. Now, it's up to Jim Harbaugh to find Weiss' replacement and SHE may already be on staff.
Back in March, Harbaugh announced the hiring of Milan (Mimi) Bolden-Morris as the program's graduate assistant coach working with the quarterbacks. Bolden-Morris is the first female graduate assistant coach at a Big Ten school and the first at a Power 5 FBS program.
Harbaugh broke down a barrier back then and he could break down another one in a huge way if he were to hire Bolden-Morris as a full-time, on-field assistant. Her name has been at least mentioned as a possible replacement for Weiss, and when you consider how Harbaugh has spoken about her, it's not surprising.
"She's smart and very much a go-getter," Harbaugh said of Bolden-Morris back in November. "She's somebody that really wanted the position. Not everybody’s signing up to want to be a coach, want to be a graduate assistant, or get into coaching. I’m trying to talk people into coaching all the time.
"So that was the thing that stood out the most was that she really wanted to do it and that she was really smart. And since then, there have been a lot of great qualities to work with. I mean, there’s enthusiasm, which she brings daily. When I say go-getter, I had hired her and without me knowing that she was voluntarily working at Georgetown University at the football program to prepare herself for this job. I thought that spoke volumes. She was so good at it that the Georgetown University football program wanted to hire her in a full-time position there."
Harbaugh loves people who love football and Bolden-Morris is one of those people. She grew up around the sport as the daughter of a former Florida State offensive lineman, and she has remained around it even while she was playing basketball at Boston College and Georgetown as the sister of former U-M defensive lineman Mike Morris.
When Bolden-Morris was hired at U-M, she hit the ground running. And even while she was extremely busy trying to do right by everyone inside Schembechler Hall, she was able to look at what the hire meant in the big picture as a female who was literally blazing a trail int he male-dominate world of college football.
"The opportunity to be the first female GA in the Power 5, especially the Big Ten, is an absolute honor," Bolden-Morris said. "It speaks volumes to the efforts that Coach Harbaugh has made to create an environment of inclusion. These opportunities have been an anomaly for a black woman until recently. Growing up watching my dad coach my brother, it has always been my dream to be a part of a football team in some form, so this opportunity is allowing me to live out a dream of mine, especially working with quarterbacks. Coming from the basketball world, guards and quarterbacks are one in the same. Both have the ability to make decisions under duress, read defenses, take care of the ball, and execute with precision and accuracy."
"I know that Coach Harbaugh and his staff will prepare me with the tools and knowledge to be the best because that's who they are and all they know. They bleed blue! Having the ability to work in such a prestigious and winning environment will mold me to create other opportunities for women who are seeking a similar career path. I may be the first woman to do this, at this level, but I know my purpose is greater and that I can use this blessing to assist others."
Bolden-Morris is obviously not the only candidate for the job and she's not the most experienced either. But she's been around the program and brings a unique perspective as a young former basketball player. If Harbaugh does hire her as a quarterbacks coach, he'll get a ton of deserved credit for thinking outside of the box yet again. He's done it in the past with other position coaches and coordinators, so why not try again? If you listen to what Harbaugh has said about Bolden-Morris, it sounds like a very real possibility.
"She has a ton of qualities," Harbaugh said. "Lucky for us to be able to hire her for the position as a graduate assistant."
Harbaugh might just be saying a very similar sentence in the coming weeks if he decides to make Coach Mimi the first full-time female assistant coach in college football history.
