Washington background

This isn't quite official yet but Sam Webb says Cincinnati DL coach Al Washington is telling Cincinnati recruits that he's leaving, Brandon Justice tweeted about it, and Chris Vannini is confirming Justice's report, so it seems good enough for bloggin' work.

So: Washington was a three-year starter on the DL at Boston College from 2004 to 2006 and then went into coaching. He's been a DL coach for the duration of his career with the exception of one year as a LB coach at Elon and a stint from 2013 to 2015 when he was BC's running backs coach; BC RB Andre Williams won the Doak Walker and was a fourth-round pick in 2013. FWIW, he also gained "special teams coordinator" titles at his last two stops.

There's conflicting information about where Washington will end up; Justice reports that he'll be the RB spot but there's other chatter that he'll slot in at linebackers as Partridge moves to safeties. If it is RB that's a bit odd since this is more of a Don Brown hookup than a Harbaugh one. OTOH, RB is a spot that's generally regarded as a recruiting-heavy one. Washington's young, has a good reputation...

Tough loss for Luke Fickell and Cincinnati if it comes to fruition, very good recruiter for the Bearcats. https://t.co/dSA29qQebK — Jeremy Birmingham (@Birm) January 4, 2018

...and is well-known to Brown, so that seems like a good bet to work out. BC folks weren't happy at his departure:

This is... pretty bad. Al Washington is one of BC football’s most important coaches, in particular with his ability to sell the school and bring in some of the Eagles’ best recruits. And as @BearcatJournal pointed out, Washington was the DL coach for Harold Landry, who tallied 15 sacks and may be an NFL first round pick this season.

We'll see how the rest of the coaching staff changes shake out. Michigan has at least one more guy to add since a tenth coach has just become official, and probably a few more since there are rumors of a wholesale overhaul on the offensive side of the ball.