Who replaces Al Washington?

For the second straight day, a Michigan defensive assistant has crossed the Toledo border to coach for Ohio State.

Defensive assistant and key recruiter Al Washington is now on Ryan Day’s staff, as he returns to his hometown Columbus. He also previously served with Day at Boston College.

This leaves Jim Harbaugh currently with two spots to fill on his defensive staff. We touched on Greg Mattison’s potential replacements yesterday.

Now, we move on to filling Washington’s role both as coach and recruiter.

Devin Bush, Sr., Michigan defensive analyst

This moves seems the most natural.

He already has a spot on Don Brown’s staff as an analyst, and he just watched his son form into a future NFL linebacker the last three years.

Before Michigan, the former first-round safety out of Florida State coached Flanagan High School to the 2015 Florida state championship. This factors for two reasons.

One, Bush, Sr. could tap into the Florida high school network and help offset the loss of Washington’s prowess on the recruiting trail. Two, he showed he can develop talent, helping four players from his final team receive FBS scholarships (his son, Devin Gil, Josh Metellus and current FSU cornerback Stanford Samuels).

He’s in Ann Arbor already. Might as well give him a pay bump.

Bill Sheridan, Boston College linebackers coach

Sheridan would fit in Ann Arbor for two main reasons.

First, Brown loves himself coaches from New England. Since he arrived in 2016, he handpicked Brian Smith — who played for him at UMass — and Al Washington — who worked with him at BC — for his staff.

Two, he mentored Wolverine linebackers for Lloyd Carr back in 2002. Specifically, he helped Victor Hobson earn all-Big Ten honors and reach the NFL with the Jets.

He also served two seasons as recruiting coordinator, reeling in five-star gems such as Lamarr Woodley and Prescott Burgess.

Prior to Boston College, he spent 13 years as a position coach in the pros, which also possibly appeals to Harbaugh.

Pipe dream choice: Tim Tibesar, Oregon State DC

Unless Harbaugh throws a Brinks truck of gold at him, it’s doubtful Tibesar would leave a coordinator gig for a Power Five school.

But here’s why Harbaugh should.

T.J. Watt. Vince Biegel. Garrett Dooley. Leon Jacobs. Joe Schobert.

These are the Wisconsin linebackers he tutored over his three seasons as an assistant in Madison. All at least made all-conference, while Watt, Biegel and Schobert were drafted.

These players formed the backbone of three top-10 Badger defenses. Tibesar turned Wisconsin into a linebacker factory in just three seasons.

It would require staff shuffling, as Brown runs the linebackers at the moment. However, Tibesar proved you don’t need elite recruits to thrive at linebacker in the Big Ten.