Michigan
Bullough’s back: Ex-linebacker to be Michigan State co-defensive coordinator
A fan-favorite Spartan is coming back as an assistant coach.Max Bullough, a former MSU linebacker who has spent the past two seasons coaching linebackers at Notre Dame, is coming back to East Lansing to be a co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, Bullough confirmed in a biography change on X (formerly Twitter).
The move is a promotion for Bullough, who was a linebackers coach at Notre Dame the past two seasons. Bullough will serve alongside incumbent MSU defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, who The Detroit News confirmed last week is staying on Pat Fitzgerald’s first staff in East Lansing. Fitzgerald replaced Jonathan Smith, who went 5-19, 4-14 Big Ten in two seasons.Bullough, 33, played for Michigan State from 2010 to 2013, under head coach Mark Dantonio and defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi. He played immediately as a freshman and appeared in 53 college games, logging 284 tackles, eight sacks and three interceptions.
He missed his final game — the 100th Rose Bowl against Stanford in 2013 — because of an unspecified violation of team rules. He never spoke publicly on the issue, though he was asked at the NFL Combine.Michigan State went 42-12 in Bullough’s four seasons with the Spartans, and 25-7 in Big Ten play, including the conference title in 2010 and 2013.After a brief NFL career with the Houston Texans and, in 2018, a stint on the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad, Bullough got into coaching. He served as grad assistant for Cincinnati in 2019 under Luke Fickell, Alabama from 2020 to 2022 under Nick Saban (winning the College Football Playoff in his first year) and Notre Dame under Marcus Freeman in 2023. Freeman kept Bullough on as his linebackers coach last year, a season in which the Irish made it to the national championship game before losing to Ohio State.
Earlier this season, Bullough went viral in August for a video of him describing his detail-oriented approach during fall camp, citing knee bend and square tackling “when the s—‘s hard.”
Notre Dame finished the season 10-2, on a 10-game win streak, when it was left just outside the College Football Playoff bracket. Freeman and his team opted out of a bowl game, after terse words on the snub from AD Pete Bevacqua.Bullough coached a number of NFL draft picks in his career, including Dallas Turner (Minnesota Vikings), Christian Harris (Houston Texans), Henry To’oTo’o (Houston), Drew Sanders (Denver Broncos) and Jack Kiser (Jacksonville Jaguars).
Bullough won’t be the first in his family to coach at Michigan State. His grandfather, Hank, was an MSU guard and linebacker who won a national championship in 1952. Hank was also a well-regarded assistant coach on Duffy Daugherty’s staff from 1959 to 1969, including the national title teams in 1965 and 1966. He then went onto a pro coaching career that included stops with seven teams, including a head coaching tenure with the Buffalo Bills from 1985 to 1986.
After a year as the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator in 1993, he finished his coaching career with a homecoming to Michigan State, where he was an assistant on George Perles’ final team. He died in 2019.
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
Michigan
Greg McElroy reveals two coaches for Michigan search if Kalen DeBoer turns down job
With what transpired yesterday regarding Sherrone Moore, the latest opening on the coaching carousel now belongs to Michigan. Now, several names once thought to no longer be candidates elsewhere could be again with this availability as of yesterday in Ann Arbor.
Greg McElroy also discussed possible names who could be hires for the Wolverines in appearing on ‘SportsCenter’ on Thursday morning. That began with him addressing the candidacy of Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, whose name has reportedly come up to an extent this cycle, but certainly so after yesterday in this search specifically, depending on how he may feel about his future with the Crimson Tide.
“I’d start with Kalen DeBoer,” McElroy said. “You gotta wonder, though, is Kalen DeBoer really interested, and what do the optics look like? Kalen DeBoer is the ultimate competitor. Would he leave Alabama? It would look like he was running? I don’t know if he’s truly going to consider it, but it is Michigan. It’s a great job, and you have to listen to what they’re proposing.”
Through two seasons in Tuscaloosa, DeBoer is 19-7 (.731), including being 10-3 this season in making the SEC Championship and returning the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoff. That’s not to mention all the successes he has had elsewhere coaching in college, namely as a head coach at Sioux Falls, Fresno State, and Washington, in which he led the Huskies all the way to an appearance in the national title game against, ironically, Michigan. However, despite some of his successes at ‘Bama, DeBoer did have his name come up to some point in rumors during the search at Penn State, and is seeing it come up even further now in this new one at Michigan.
From there, McElroy named three other possible candidates for the maize & blue. He first said two other college options in Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, who’s 27-12 (.692) the past three seasons with the Cardinals, and Washington’s Jedd Fisch, who’s 14-11 (.560) the past two seasons with the Huskies while also having ties to the program having spent two years on the offensive staff for the Wolverines. He then also named another option with connections to the program in Jesse Minter, who was their defensive coordinator for two seasons under Jim Harbaugh and is still with him now with the Los Angeles Chargers, but with McElroy noting that it may be time for Michigan to move on from those involved in or connected to their past two tenures.
“Ultimately, I think this will come down to either Jeff Brohm at Louisville or Jedd Fisch at Washington. I think those are probably the two best candidates,” said McElroy. “They have an elite quarterback in Bryce Underwood. They want someone that has a history of developing that position. Both Jedd Fisch and, if you look at what Jeff Brohm’s done in (his) career? They’ve done a great job.”
“And Jesse Minter is the other name to keep an eye on, the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers,” McElroy added. “But, like what Paul (Finebaum) just said, I think distancing themselves from the Harbaugh era? That’s what many Michigan people want at this point, given some of the hurdles that they’ve had the last two years in the court of public opinion.”
We’re less than day since this job even came open, although, based on the details, it may have been trending this way for some time, at Michigan. That leaves a lot to still unfold, including more major names like some of these ones, who could become targets in the coming time for the Wolverines.
Michigan
Michigan Senate votes to block pursuit of COVID jobless aid overpayments
Lansing — The Michigan Senate voted unanimously this week in favor of a bill that would prevent the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency from continuing to try to recoup jobless aid overpayments that were made during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting as many as 350,000 people.
Many lawmakers have reported receiving a deluge of calls from constituents, in recent weeks, after the agency began sending out letters, wanting money back from people whom state officials believe received more assistance than they should have during the pandemic. The messages came after the settlement of a three-year court battle over the repayment effort, which allowed the agency to resume collections.
Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, contended that the Unemployment Insurance Agency was demanding money back from low-income and gig workers who were simply trying to access a financial support system that was available to them in 2020.
“Somewhere along the line, in the maze of boxes that they have to check every week to stay compliant, there was one box that was unchecked,” Irwin said. “And now, the UIA comes after them alleging fraud, turning their life upside down, sending them threatening letters.”
The Senate bill, which passed Tuesday in a vote of 35-0, would require the agency to waive the recovery of improperly paid benefits if they were distributed more than three years ago. The first cases of COVID-19 in Michigan were identified in March 2020, five years ago. The pandemic and government efforts to combat the spread of the virus spurred a rush of unemployment claims and a wave of fraud.
The bill still allows the state to seek repayments that were “the result of the claimant’s fraud.”
Both Democratic and Republican senators — Democrats have a majority in the Senate — voted for the measure Tuesday. However, it will have to be approved by the GOP-controlled House and signed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to become law.
Jason Palmer, the Unemployment Insurance Agency’s director, said in a statement on Sept. 8 that his staff was “legally obligated” to seek the repayments from the pandemic if they were improper. Roughly 350,000 workers with claims in collections dating back to March 2020 would be required to return the unemployment benefits they received, the agency has said.
The value of the overpayments, many of which lawmakers believe were made or sought by accident, has been estimated at $2.7 billion. The Unemployment Insurance Agency faced a tidal wave of claims and fraudulent activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the state’s jobless rate reached as high as 22.7% in April 2020.
Palmer has said the overpayments primarily resulted from claimants not providing the requested or required proof of employment or income, starting a job but continuing to certify for benefits as if they were unemployed and not satisfying the required work search activities.
“In these situations, we have a legal and fiduciary duty to recover the funds,” Palmer previously said. “The unemployment trust fund is taxpayer money, and we must be responsible stewards of it.”
Much of the unemployment money in question flowed through the federal government. Many business groups, like the National Federation of Independent Business, have voiced concerns that the U.S. Department of Labor might try to force the state to reimburse the federal government for the overpayments if they’re specifically forgiven by the Legislature.
“We would still like to see a waiver or waiver language because we don’t want to see the state end up with a budget crisis,” said Amanda Fisher, Michigan state director for the National Federation of Independent Business.
Lawmakers attempted to address that concern in the bill by adding a provision that says the new policy doesn’t obligate the Unemployment Trust Fund for any amount of money.
Brian Calley, president and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan, called the new language an improvement. But Calley said he wants to see a specific statement in the bill that makes it clear that employers will not be assessed any additional liability because of the policy.
Forgiving the overpayments isn’t the problem, Calley said. It’s the potential liability to the small businesses that fund the Unemployment Trust Fund, he said.
“You could inadvertently create a massive obligation for small businesses,” said Calley, a former lieutenant governor.
Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, who’s running for governor, was among 16 Republicans who voted for the bill Tuesday. He said it was a shame that lawmakers were still dealing with the “ineptitude” of Whitmer’s administration.
From the other side of the aisle, Irwin said the Unemployment Insurance Agency was acting “irresponsibly” in seeking the repayments from the pandemic.
“They bully our residents,” Irwin said. “I’ve had residents … who have paid UIA back money, not because they owed, but because they’re scared. They’re bullied. And they’re harassed by the agency.”
Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, the proposal’s sponsor, called on the House to pass it next week before the holidays.
“They should do the right thing,” Camilleri said Wednesday in an interview.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Michigan
Lumen Christi pulls away to beat Michigan Center
JACKSON — The Lumen Christi girls basketball team opened the coaching tenure of Scott Stine by pulling away in the second half to beat Michigan Center 50-28 on Tuesday.
The Titans led by five early in the third after McKynley Gaddy hit a putback and Mayrese Vieau added a pair of free throws for the Cardinals, but Lumen Christi responded with an 11-1 run, then added a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter.
“We worked all off season and are working right now to get to be able to play against Michigan Center,” Lucy Wrozek said. “They’re a good team who likes to push the ball up the floor, but we stopped that tonight.”
Lumen Christi’s stellar sophomores, Wrozek and Kenna Hunt, combined for 38 points, with Hunt leading the way with 20 and Wrozek adding 18.
In the first half, it was Wrozek coming up with key shots, scoring seven of the Titans’ first eight points of the night with a 3-pointer, a spin move in the lane to get a layup, and a drive down the lane.
“She’s a basketball player,” Stine said. “That’s one of the best compliments I can give her. She can shoot the ball, she can get to the hoop, she plays defense. She’s a tough kid who, one game it might be hitting 3s. The next game it might be getting to the hoop and getting to the foul line. But she’s going to make winning basketball plays.”
Hunt scored six points in the first half, limited by Michigan Center’s use of a box-and-one against her.
“I thought we played great defense,” Cardinals coach Greg Vieau said. “I thought we had a really good game plan to really squeeze in on Kenna. And I thought Mayrese did a really nice job defensively on her that first half. And then they got us into some switches that second half and really caused us some problems. They made some nice adjustments at halftime to get other girls on Kenna, and she was just more effective than that second half.”
But in the second half she scored six points in the third and eight more in the fourth. Hunt had a series of third-quarter layups, one in transition off of a steal, to extend the Titans’ lead to 33-18 after three. She then opened the fourth with another layup before Wrozek drained a 3-pointer off a drive-and-kick from Lily Ganton.
That 3-pointer answered one at the other end moments earlier from Gaddy off of a Mayrese Vieau assist. That bucket, and a Karsyn Smith floater in the lane moments earlier, helped the Cardinals briefly keep pace with Lumen Christi, but the Titan defense clamped down from there, getting defensive stops on the next eight Michigan Center possessions before a transition layup ended that string, that basket coming off a Gaddy steal, with the Michigan Center junior guard then feeding a behind-the-back pass to Mayrese Vieau for the layup.
Mayrese Vieau led the Cardinals with 12 points and Gaddy added eight.
“They’ve played together forever with AAU and now with high school,” Greg Vieau said. “They know each other really well. They missed some shots I think that they would like to get back, but they played really well off each other. They seem to know where the other one is going at all times. So while their shots were off tonight, I expect them to be two of the better guards in the state.”
But the Titans also kept coming up with defensive stops. Michigan Center turned the ball over 20 times in the game and Lumen Christi held the Cardinals to 11 points in the first half.
“I’m really proud of the way we played defense for four quarters,” Stine said. “To hold that team to 11 points at halftime, even with our offensive struggles, it’s impressive.”
Both teams struggled with cold spells shooting the ball at times. Michigan Center, after an Ella Best 3-pointer in the first quarter, did not connect from long range again until Gaddy’s 3-pointer early in the fourth. The Cardinals shot 10-for-41 overall from the field.
“Offensively, we looked like we had three girls with experience and five girls without,” Greg Vieau said.
But Lumen Christi also suffered through shooting woes, going 6-of-32 from the field in the first half before knocking down 12-of-35 in the second half.
Part of that surge came from adjusting to what Michigan Center was doing on defense.
“When they came out in the box-and-one, we had a little issue with it,” Stine said. “At halftime, we drew up some stuff where we could just put our shooter in the corner and put Kenna in a situation where if they were switching the high screen, she could attack the mismatch. And they had to pick their poison at that point.”
Helping limit the Titan shooters was Kara Straub, who swatted away a pair of shots in the paint in the first half.
“Kara has a knack for blocking shots,” Greg Vieau said. “She’s big, she’s long, she’s athletic, so we expect her to block a lot of shots. She’s very active in the post, so defensively she really anchored us. She really makes up for some of those mistakes that we might make on the perimeter.”
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