![doug-nussmeier[1]](http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Its-Looking-Like-Doug-Nussmeier_130A3/doug-nussmeier1.jpg "doug-nussmeier[1]")
Sam Webb is a connected person, and it appears that the Michigan OC choice is a barely-hidden secret amongst the connected, so when he posts an article titled
Michigan's Ideal Candidate
With a picture of Doug Nussmeier and long discussion of Doug Nussmeier, who you'd think would be untouchable at Alabama, this is… unlikely to be a guess. And since it's followed quickly by Bruce Feldman confirming, it seems to be done. Informative update to follow.
INFORMATIVE UPDATE. So who is this dude? He started his coaching career in the CFL with a couple of years as a QB coach, then moved on to Michigan State in the same capacity for three years (Jeff Smoker as a senior and then two years of Drew Stanton), then the Rams for two years. Marc Bulger was an All-Pro in year 1, which was an 8-8 season, and then the Rams went 3-13 and everyone got fired.
Nussmeier landed at Fresno State as OC for one season, was immediately hired away by Washington, and after three years was hired by Saban. His numbers as an offensive coordinator:
| YEAR | TEAM | RUN% | YPC | YPA | YPP | TOTAL O | FEI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Fresno State | 56% | 5 | 7.2 | 5.9 (28th) | 387 (43rd) | 59th |
| 2009 | Washington | 49% | 4.3 | 7.1 | 5.7 (48th) | 376 (62nd) | 41st |
| 2010 | Washington | 56% | 4.7 | 6.6 | 5.5 (67th) | 362 (76th) | 63rd |
| 2011 | Washington | 53% | 4.4 | 8.2 | 6.2 (24th) | 410 (38th) | 24th |
| 2012 | Alabama | 63% | 5.6 | 9.3 | 7.0 (5th) | 446 (31st) | 5th |
| 2013 | Alabama | 56% | 5.8 | 8.8 | 7.2 (5th) | 454 (33rd) | 9th |
It should be noted that the Washington job was massive reclamation project after Ty Willingham cratered the Huskies to 0-12. The year before Nussmeier showed up the Huskies were 118th of 120 in total yardage at 263, and their other stats were basically the same. With Jake Locker, Nussmeier popped the Huskies up to average and when Keith Price took over in 2011 they were legit. The caveat there is that Steve Sarkisian, an offensive guy, was his head coach.
Then he was hired by Alabama and everything got very shiny indeed. However, it is Alabama, and make no mistake: Nussmeier was not some pirate coup with Alabama desperately defending as Michigan thrusted and parried. Alabama boards have been buzzing for weeks about who their new OC would be. Saban told Nussmeier to look around for a nice landing spot and Michigan provided one. For whatever reason, Nussmeier was just not process-y enough for Dear Robot.
Nussmeier's got a pretty good resume both as an OC and a QB coach, what with Smoker/Stanton/Bulger/Price/Locker/McCarron on his resume, and quickly climbed the ladder. He's got a good rep as a recruiter and at 43 is relatively young for a BCS offensive coordinator; his Washington offenses were spread/pro mish-mash amalgams and then he seemed to do just fine with Alabama's pro-style attack. It's possible Michigan was going to ride with Borges for another year before the rarest commodity of all appeared: a proven college offensive coordinator with pro-style genes.