Roy Manning Hired to Coach Outside Linebackers

Former Michigan player Roy Manning has been hired to replace Jerry Montgomery...

Sort of.

Kyle Meinke from MLive.com is reporting that Manning will return to Ann Arbor to coach the outside linebackers:

Michigan confirmed Monday afternoon that Manning has been hired as the team's outside linebackers coach. He fills the opening created by former defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery taking a job at Oklahoma.

"I'm excited to come back home to the University of Michigan," Manning said in a statement released by the school. "I played and went to school here, and there is no place like it, anywhere.

"I want to thank Coach (Brady) Hoke and the rest of the staff for giving me this opportunity. I understand the significance of saying, 'I am a Michigan Man,' and I will work every day to make our kids better players, students and, most importantly, people. It is a tremendous honor to be here, and now it is time to go to work."

So this is sort of related to Jerry Montgomery, who left for the defensive line position job at Oklahoma roughly a week ago, except that it's not really related to Jerry Montgomery at all. Hoke and Mattison will be sharing the d-line coaching duties. Via Meinke:

Michigan did not replace Montgomery with a defensive line coach because it feels confident in the expertise of defensive coordinator Greg Mattison and Hoke. Mattison will add defensive line coach to his official title, while Hoke will work with the tackles without a title change.

Mark Smith's title will change from linebackers coach to inside linebackers coach, while Manning works with the outside linebackers.

So Michigan essentially has two coaches sharing the defensive line position (Hoke and Mattison, who are the head coach and defensive coordinator, respectively) and two coaches sharing the linebacker position (Mark Smith and Roy Manning).

Roy Manning was a well-known defensive player for Lloyd Carr and achieved a lot of attention in 2004. He spent three seasons in the NFL with five different teams. Last year he had been hired by Butch Jones at Cincinnati to coach the defensive line, and the hire reportedly brought a standing ovation from fans and players.