We all wish Michigan running backs coach Mike Hart the best as he continues to recover from the medical condition that caused him to collapse on the field against Indiana this past weekend.
In the interim, however, the Wolverines need someone to take the reins as running backs coach. On Monday, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh announced Hart’s temporary replacement.
Ahead of Saturday’s game against rival Penn State, Harbaugh announced that offensive analyst and longtime assistant coach Fred Jackson will take over as interim running backs coach.
“Right. So Mike, I think he issued a statement today that he’s back in Ann Arbor, feeling better,” Harbaugh said Monday, via The Michigan Insider. “Hopes to rejoin the team soon. We’ll make Fred Jackson — we’ve got a waiver to allow Fred Jackson to coach until Mike comes back.”
Fred Jackson played quarterback at Jackson State in the 1970s and went into college coaching in his late 20s. The 72-year-old coach spent over a decade as an assistant at Toledo, Wisconsin, Navy, South Carolina and Vanderbilt before being brought on at Michigan in 1992.
Jackson would spend the next 20-plus years at Michigan coaching running backs and rising to the rank of associate head coach under Lloyd Carr. He would survive at Michigan through the firing of both Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke.
Jackson was brought back to Michigan after several years away earlier this season as an offensive analyst. Now he’s back on the sidelines.