Notebook: UM, MSU make key coordinator decisions, Taylor's contract extended after MAC title
There have been some key staffing changes and one key contract extension signed in the last few days in The Mitten.
Fresh off winning a MAC title over the weekend, Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor inked a contract extension with Western Michigan that pays him near the top of the MAC head coaches.
Taylor will make just over $1.25 million annually, with a beefed-up bonus structure and more salary pool to hire and retain assistant coaches, Tony Paul of The Detroit News reported.
The contract extension is for five years, keeping Taylor in Kalamazoo through the end of the current decade. He was finishing up Year 3 of a five year deal prior to agreeing to a new contract.
"Western Michigan University is a truly special place, and the culture we're building here is rooted in effort, attitude, and toughness," Taylor said in a release announcing the news. "I'm incredibly proud of our staff, our players, and everyone in this program who shows up every day committed to those standards. I want to thank Athletic Director Dan Bartholomae and President Russ Kavalhuna for their trust and support," he said. "My family and I have fully embraced the Kalamazoo community—this place feels like home. I'm excited for what's ahead and committed to bringing more championships to Bronco Nation."
With the Broncos reigning men’s hockey national champions and now MAC champions in football, women’s soccer and conference champions in men’s soccer (which competes in the Missouri Valley Conference), it’s been a great year to be a Bronco.
And evidently Bartholomae and university leadership wants to keep the good times rolling in Kalamazoo.
Kerry Coombs replaces JB Brown to coordinate Michigan’s special teams
Head coach Sherrone Moore didn’t hesitate in hiring a new special teams coordinator in Coombs, a former Ohio State defensive coordinator and then special teams coordinator at Cincinnati from 2022-24, among a handful of other roles.
It comes on the heels of Moore firing special teams coordinator JB Brown after the regular season concluded. Moore said earlier this week that Coombs would coach the bowl game.
And while Michigan needs special teams improvement, it’s fair to wonder if Coombs is the guy to deliver it.
The 2022 special teams were solid for Cincinnati, finishing 5th nationally in punting average, 43rd in kick return average and 20th in punt return average. But things tailed off after that.
In 2023, the Bearcats finished 45th in punting average, 120th in kick return average and 122nd in punt return average. Things didn’t improve much in 2024, as Cincinnati finished 62nd nationally in both punting average and kick return average, and 113th in punt return average.
Moore also spoke to Coombs’ recruiting acumen. The Ohio native and long-time Buckeye assistant will no doubt be an asset for the Wolverines in continuing to mine the state for talent and going toe-to-toe with the Buckeyes.
But just looking at the 2023 and 2024 signing classes at Cincinnati, there’s not a ton of high-level talent from Ohio coming in.
Michigan probably carries a bit more heft to attract high-level talent than Cincinnati does, and Coombs could certainly come in and start producing results closer to what he got at Ohio State for a long time as an assistant for Urban Meyer and Ryan Day.
But the recent track record isn’t a sterling run of success.
MSU DC Joe Rossi staying on staff
Michigan State and head coach Pat Fitzgerald are keeping Joe Rossi on staff for the 2026 season, after the defensive coordinator signed a contract extension prior to the season, as reported by Connor Earegood in the News.
With Rossi owed a decent chunk of change if the Spartans fired him, and given his defensive unit’s late-season improvement was one of a few bright spots for MSU, it’s a natural decision to make.
Plus, Rossi is one of the coaches from Jonathan Smith’s staff with a Midwest background and coaching history. Rossi is from western Pennsylvania and his previous stop as a defensive coordinator was Minnesota. And it’s hard to estimate the value of keeping a well-liked assistant on staff in terms of roster retention, but Rossi’s presence probably makes it more likely than before that Fitzgerald and whatever new staff can avoid a crippling roster exodus.
Fitzgerald said during his introduction that signing a recruiting class came before staff hires, and now that the Spartans have turned from signing day to the December sprint into transfer season and winter and spring football, with Rossi helping new faces hit the ground running.
Fitzgerald and Co. are also keeping safeties coach James Adams on staff. Adams joined MSU ahead of the 2025 season from Wake Forest.
Transfer tracker
Given the plethora of outlets that make it their game to cover the portal and do the insiderism hustle, Mitten Football will generally not be breaking portal news (not opposed, just not a major priority as meatier reporting projects take precedence).
Thus, this is one area this outlet will be unapologetically doing some aggregation, because it’s useful in this case.
So, introducing the Mitten Football transfer tracker, the place to figure who is even on your team anymore!
It will basically just keep up on which players entered the portal, if they’ve signed elsewhere, who signed with any of the FBS teams in Michigan, and other relevant tidbits of information. If things get particularly unruly, it’s possible one or more schools get a dedicated tracker — for example, Michigan State could see some big-time roster turnover — but for now it will be housed in one place.
So if you are wondering if someone is the portal, who has signed, or how many players a team has lost or added, this is the place to start.
