Notebook: EMU defensive coordinator change, Fitzgerald’s MSU staff takes shape, UM a ‘malfunctioning organization' seeking new coach

Eastern Michigan announced a change at defensive coordinator on Monday, elevating a pair of assistant coaches into a co-defensive coordinator role. 

The two coaches earning a promotion are Tate Omli and Kasey Teegardin. Omli served as the defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach in 2025, and Teegardin coached special teams and defensive ends.

"In searching for the next leader of our defense, I knew I had to find the absolute best," said head coach Chris Creighton in a release announcing the news. "I challenged Coach Omli and Coach Teegardin to work together on what they thought would be the perfect solution for our defense. After talking with people about our opportunity and after Coach Omli and Teegardin presented their philosophy and plan, I knew we already had the absolute best on our staff.”

Eastern Michigan finished the 2025 regular season ranked in the bottom 30, nationally, in total defense. In particular, the Eagles struggled to defend the run and to stymy missed tackles that persisted deep into the season.

Both Omli and Teegardin have been college defensive coordinators before, though at lower levels. 

Omli served as the defensive coordinator at Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College for three seasons prior to joining the EMU staff. And Teegardin coordinated the defense at DII University of Charleston, in Charleston, West Virginia. 

“They accentuate each other's strengths and know our personnel,” Creighton said in the release. “They believe deeply in our program and are the kind of people we want and have here. I am so excited for them to lead our defense. It will have a different look and a different feel. January can't get here soon enough." 

Omli and Teegardin replace Ben Needham, who finished his eighth season on staff for the Eagles this November. Needham originally came to Ypsilanti ahead of the 2018 season, working up from being a defensive line coach to his role as defensive coordinator. He also coached linebackers in 2025. 

Defensive assistant Sean Dugan will take on the role of coaching the linebackers in 2026. 

Michigan State staff coming into shape

It’s been a busy time on the hiring circuit for new head coach Pat Fitzgerald, with several hires announced and two more reportedly on the way. 

While he’s yet to be announced by the school, former Michigan quarterback and Alabama co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan is reportedly going to be MSU’s offensive coordinator in Fitzgerald’s first season leading the Spartans. 

With Alabama set to play in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, there’s been no official word or announcement about the Sheridan hiring. 

Either way, it could be a coup for Fitzgerald and Co.

Sheridan has overseen the development of quarterback Ty Simpson for the Crimson Tide, and had his hand in shaping the passing offense that head coach Kalen DeBoer and co-OC Ryan Grubb, understandably, get lots of credit for. Plus, as a former Wolverine and Saline High School graduate, Sheridan won’t need any introduction to life in the Big Ten or what the annual game for Paul Bunyan means. 

A certain coup for Fitzgerald came from the plains, as Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods is set to take the same role in East Lansing. 

Iowa’s special teams have, for years, been an elite unit. They’ve contributed points and massive plays to swing games where Iowa’s otherwise putrid offense couldn’t get the job done. They create a winning edge every time out, and don’t make mistakes to cost their team. It’s everything one wants in a special teams coordinator, with a run of high-level success, and at his alma mater, no less. So prying him from Iowa City to mid-Michigan is a major win for Fitzgerald in assembling his staff. 

Beyond Woods, Fitzgerald is bringing a beloved recent Spartan back into the fold in the form of Max Bullough as linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator. Bullough most recently coached linebackers at Notre Dame. 

“Max Bullough embodies Spartan toughness,” Fitzgerald said in a release announcing some of the new staff. “I coached against him when he led some of the best defenses in school history at Michigan State under Mark Dantonio, and he has continued to showcase his football knowledge by coaching at some of the best programs in the country after his NFL playing career. He will undoubtedly inspire our players to play with maximum effort.”

The other outside addition, so far, is tabbing Central Michigan’s Joel Welsh to be the director of strength and conditioning for football. 

Fitzgerald is also keeping some key holdovers from the prior staff: defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins and safeties coach James Adams. 

“I’ve always had respect for Coach Rossi’s defenses,” Fitzgerald said in a release. “We used to study them when he was at Minnesota and we went against him every year. After talking with the players here at Michigan State, they also hold him in high regard. I’m looking forward to him leading our defense."

READ MORE: Central Michigan bowl trip to Detroit means a holiday homecoming for many Chippewas

Taking stock of coaching tides in Ann Arbor

The attention around Michigan, understandably, hasn’t really shifted away from the messy, public downfall of former head coach Sherrone Moore and the subsequent coaching search. 

Players and remaining coaches are doing their best to keep their heads down and prep for a Citrus Bowl matchup against Texas at 3 p.m. on Dec. 31, but that game has become an afterthought from afar as the Wolverines navigate the fallout of Moore’s messy ending as head coach. 

And as much as the scandal itself has grabbed attention, it’s also raised the spectre of a coaching hire at Michigan, one of the most attractive head coaching seats in the country. 

So far, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham appear to be non-starters, with the former still coaching in the CFP and the latter having just signed a hefty extension to stay at his alma mater. Interim head coach Biff Poggi said he’s sat for multiple interviews already and appears to be angling for the full-time gig, though he seems like an unlikely candidate. Plus, there are still the likes of Washington’s Jedd Fisch, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, Los Angeles Chargers’ Jesse Minter and likely some wildcard candidates in the mix. 

And, this is all occurring over the backdrop of a law firm investigating the culture and practices of the football program and athletic department. 

Poggi, who has worked for the last two Michigan head football coaches — Moore and Jim Harbaugh — didn’t beat around the bush in this regard. And he seemingly threw a life preserver to embattled athletic director Warde Manuel, who has come under scrutiny amidst Michigan’s cascading scandals. 

"It's been five years of a malfunctioning organization," Poggi said Monday. "Let's call it what it is. It’s happened every year. The athletic director doesn't want any more of that."

Michigan reportedly hopes to have a new head coach in place before the transfer portal opens on Jan. 2, 2026.