COLLEGE FOOTBALL

UM hires Alabama’s Nussmeier

1/10/2014

Doug Nussmeier

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANN ARBOR — A day after the dismissal of one offensive coordinator, the Michigan football program announced the hiring of another.

The Wolverines officially announced the hiring of Doug Nussmeier as its new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Nussmeier will join the Wolverines after two seasons at Alabama and will replace Al Borges, who was terminated Wednesday after three seasons under Brady Hoke.

Michigan will introduce Nussmeier at 11 a.m. today.

“I’m proud of what we accomplished in two seasons at Alabama, and I owe a great deal to Coach Saban for that opportunity,” Nussmeier said Thursday in a statement. “Michigan is a program I’ve always had deep respect for, and I’m looking forward to getting started in Ann Arbor and being a part of the great tradition there.”

Nussmeier, 43, was a quarterback at the University of Idaho from 1990 to 1993, where he passed for 10,824 yards and averaged 309.1 yards a game in total offense. He played in the NFL and Canadian Football League before becoming a coach in 2001 and has coached at college and pro levels.

In a statement, Michigan coach Brady Hoke praised Nussmeier’s mentoring abilities, his work in creating balanced offenses, and having a hand in Alabama’s 2012 BCS national championship.

Nussmeier will take over a pro-style offense that deviated away from its original plans and whose youthful offensive line struggled as the season wore on. While UM quarterback Devin Gardner finished with 2,960 passing yards — second in the Big Ten Conference — and 21 touchdowns in 12 games, he was sacked 23 times in the final month of the season and sat out Michigan’s loss to Kansas State in last month’s Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl with an injury to his left foot.

Alabama had 68 touchdowns and 6,237 yards in 2012, the season it won the BCS championship, and Heisman Trophy finalist A.J. McCarron averaged nearly 3,000 yards passing and averaged 29 touchdowns in two seasons as Alabama’s quarterback under Nussmeier.

“He is a bright coach who works hard and brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to work each and every day,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a statement. “Our production and balance the last two years has been very good, and he also brought a lot to the table in terms of coaching the quarterbacks.”

Initial terms of Nussmeier’s contract have not been disclosed, but NFL.com reported Thursday that he will be the third-highest paid offensive coordinator among FBS programs. Nussmeier was paid $680,000 a year at Alabama, according to the Associated Press.

Contact Rachel Lenzi at: rlenzi@theblade.com, 419-724-6510, or on Twitter @RLenziBlade.