The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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52 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MAY 2024 BY ANTHONY BROOME M ichigan offensive line coach Grant Newsome is entering his third season as a full-time assistant at his alma mater, and his first season coaching the same position group he was recruited to play at U-M. Groomed by former head coach Jim Harbaugh and current head man Sherrone Moore, Newsome continues his rise through the ranks as a two-time U-M graduate. The 2024 campaign will be his 10th overall season at Michigan after joining as a player in 2015. His playing career came to an unfortunate end in 2016 due to a serious knee injury. Now, Newsome gets to shape a position group that is key to the program's identity as it transi- tions into a new era under Moore. "I've been blessed with some incred- ible opportunities here," Newsome said. "It's something Coach [Harbaugh] and I had talked about if Coach Moore were to get a head coaching opportunity here or somewhere else, if offensive line coach was something I would be interested in. We had those discussions, and I'm very happy with how it worked out. Obvi- ously, very excited and fortunate to have the opportunity that I do here. "Even though you're moving a couple offices down the hall, I built a great re- lationship with those guys in the tight end room. Love the opportunity to see them practice and still be around them, still be a little bit involved in coach- ing them on the periphery now. I'm in- credibly fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity, especially to be able to coach the position that I played. It's an awesome opportunity." There could be some natural tweaks that come with new leadership un- der Moore and offensive coordinator/ quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell, but Michigan wants to control the line of scrimmage and dictate how games are played. It is a core value sewn into the fabric of the program. This year, Newsome will be in charge of developing a line that has five new starters up front. It could go a long way toward determining the trajectory of the 2024 campaign. "I think offensive line is a focal point no matter what. Whether it's a positive or a negative is what changes," New- some said. "We firmly believe, and Coach Moore has said this since he was the offensive line coach and it has not changed, in my opinion, has not changed. On offense and defense, it starts up front. I think Coach Harbaugh had a great quote about it where he said offensive line is the only position that every position group on offense counts on, but the offensive line doesn't neces- sarily rely on anyone else. "It's incredibly true. If you can't pro- tect, if you can't run the football, if you can't account for the front seven, you can't win football games. It's a point of pride for us as an offensive line unit, for me as a coach, that we have to be able to maintain that standard that has been set here regardless of who we are putting on the field." Newsome thinks that his move to offensive line coaching comes at the perfect time given that both he and his group of players are relatively inexperi- enced and can start on the same page. It may have not been the case had a move been made last year. "I think in some ways it's kind of nice to be a first-time offensive line coach, to get a group that's a little bit younger and has not played as much as those six guys we just graduated," he said. "You can kind of simplify things and say, ❱ WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Grant Newsome Serving In New Role, Now In 10th Season In Ann Arbor Newsome will coach Michigan's vaunted offensive line unit in 2024 — a group he was once part of as a player — after spending the previous two sea- sons as the Wolverines' tight ends coach. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL