Two former Michigan football assistants who were not retained by new head coach Kyle Whittingham are close to landing new jobs.
According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz and ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the New York Giants are expected to hire Grant Newsome as assistant offensive line coach. Zenitz also reports that Notre Dame is working to hire Brian Jean-Mary as linebackers coach.
Jean-Mary, 50, held the same role under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan in 2020 before returning to Ann Arbor under Sherrone Moore for the 2024-25 campaigns.
Newsome, 28, has spent his entire coaching career at Michigan, beginning as a graduate assistant in 2020. The former Wolverines offensive lineman who had his career cut short because of injury was promoted to tight ends coach in 2022 and then took over coaching the offensive line when Moore succeeded Harbaugh as head coach in 2024.
Now he will coach under Harbaugh’s brother, John, who was hired as Giants head coach last month after an 18-year run with the Ravens.
The Wolverines’ offensive line was instrumental during the program’s three-year run as Big Ten champions from 2021-23, but the unit took a step back the past two seasons after losing six players with starting experience following the 2023 national championship season.
However, Newsome had success recruiting elite talent at the position, bringing in two top-50 linemen in the 2025 class and signing two top-250 prospects in the 2026 cycle.
Notre Dame would be Jean-Mary’s sixth coaching stop since 2010. The Irish are searching for a replacement for Al Washington, who left for the Miami Dolphins last week.
Jean-Mary’s two Michigan stints sandwiched a three-year run as Tennessee’s linebackers coach from 2021-23. He was the defensive coordinator at South Florida from 2017-19 and linebackers coach at Texas from 2015-16. From 2010-14, he was the assistant head coach and oversaw the linebackers at Louisville.
Two of Michigan’s starting linebackers in 2025, Jimmy Rolder and Jaishawn Barham, are expected to be drafted in April.