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Jim Harbaugh brings another staffer out west as Michigan adds young recruiting specialists

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Jim Harbaugh brings another staffer out west as Michigan adds young recruiting specialists


Former Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is not quite done purging the staff of his alma mater.

Late Monday evening, Christina DeRuyter, previously the director of football operations at U-M who also held an integral role in the recruiting department, announced she is heading to join Harbaugh as the next director of football logistics in Los Angeles.

Or, as DeRuyter put it on her social media post, “Michigan West.”

“Forever grateful for the last 3 life changing years @UMichFootball,” her post began. “3x BIG10 Champs, 3 Wins vs OSU, Natty Champs, countless relationships & memories made. I’m thrilled to join Coach Harbaugh at the Chargers (Michigan West) as the Director of Football Logistics. BOLT UP⚡️& GO BLUE〽️”

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Current wide receiver I’Marion Stewart responded to the tweet saying “I was looking for you today” before she replied it “hurt my heart” not to be in Ann Arbor any longer.

The move continues what has been a mass exodus from Ann Arbor to Los Angeles for those affiliated with last year’s team.

When Harbaugh left just weeks after helping lead the Wolverines to their first 15-0 season in program history and its first out-right national championship since 1949, he took with him nearly the entire defensive coaching staff.

Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, his father Rick Minter (who served as an analyst much of the past two years before finishing last year as interim linebackers coach), defensive line coach Mike Elston, and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, despite the wide-held belief he would stay on staff at Michigan.

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That is without mentioning edge specialist Dylan Roney or strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert, who Harbaugh called the “x-factor for years” and whose name he was shouting to come join him when confetti rained down at NRG Stadium in Houston.

“People have choices to make, man,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel told the Freep in a sit down earlier this spring. “Jim knows what he wants to do at the Chargers, he made the offers and people had decisions to make. The mark of great success of people is when they come to a program or organization and leave it better than they found it. Jim did that. Those coaches did that. Whomever from the staff wants to go with Jim, I’m not going to have any animosity toward them.

MANUEL 1 ON 1 INTERVIEW: Michigan AD Warde Manuel exclusive interview: The hardest thing he has done in career

“As I told Sherrone (Moore) as we were dealing with it, on the flip side, ‘Look, now you can make it the way you want to make it, whatever that is,’ and he’s done that and I believe has a great staff he’s put together across the board.”

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Manuel said the department was instead focused on adding new, young talent to the mix, which seems to have happened this past week. Over the past few days, the Wolverines announced the addition of a handful of new analysts and recruiting staffers.

Two of the new analysts, Reid Kuhn and Richard Perry, recently studied at Michigan, while the other faces come from some of the top football programs in the country like Preston Sagan (Clemson), Aidan Young (Oregon), Jacob Weber (Indiana) Jack Turner (Wake Forest), and Jacob Sakk (Pittsburgh).

Also as part of the staff movement, Albert Karschnia has taken over as Director of Player Personnel, while Sam Popper, previously the assistant, will fill Karschnia’s previous role as Director of Recruiting. It comes in the same time frame as Michigan nabbed a Michigan State graduate, Kayli Johnson, the older sister of All-American DB Will Johnson, to take over DeRuyter’s role, according to her social media profile.

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Johnson was Rutgers’ assistant director of recruiting operations under Greg Schiano last year and an operations intern with the Detroit Lions the year before that, which comes after a standout track career at Michigan State (undergrad) and Texas Tech (grad school).

There’s hope around the program the influx of young talent can help kick start a month of June that is going to be incredibly important in terms of creating the foundation of U-M’s 2025 high school recruiting class.

Currently, Michigan has just five verbal commits, three of whom were pledged to the previous regime. As a group, Michigan ranks No. 41 in the nation, per 247Sports composite rankings.



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European theater chain buying Emagine Entertainment, including 9 Michigan locations

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European theater chain buying Emagine Entertainment, including 9 Michigan locations


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  • A European theater chain, Kinepolis Group, is acquiring the Troy-based Emagine Entertainment.
  • The deal is valued at $105 million and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

A European theater chain is buying Troy-based Emagine Entertainment.

Kinepolis Group, a Belgian company, announced on Tuesday, Nov. 4, that it plans to acquire 14 Emagine theaters in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin and finalize the $105 million deal by the end of the year.

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The deal is for 100% of Emagine’s business, according to a news release, and the theaters will continue to operated under the Emagine brand name.

Crain’s Detroit reported that Glantz and his family own about 36% of Emagine.

Not all of the 28 theater locations listed on Emagine’s website are included in the deal, as about half are operated by third parties.

The Kinepolis Group previously acquired the MJR Digital Cinemas chain in 2019 and continued to operate those theaters under the MJR brand.

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“Kinepolis has a reputation for operating exceptionally well-run cinemas both in Europe and in North America,” Glantz said in the news release. “Their commitment to providing guests with an unforgettable movie experience makes them the ideal suitor to continue the stewardship of Emagine into the future.”

Glantz was not available for additional comment Tuesday morning.

“With the acquisition of Emagine Entertainment, we are back on track with the execution of our expansion strategy since the pandemic,” Eddy Duquenne, CEO of Kinepolis Group, said in a statement. “We do this with a high-quality asset in a market where we have had positive experiences with our Kinepolis concepts. The location and size of the cinemas make them a valuable addition to the Group’s portfolio, allowing us to expand our presence in the US market and strengthen our national structure.”

The news release says Emagine’s theaters have about 6 million visitors a year and do nearly $129 million in revenue.

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Michigan theaters not included in the deal are The Riviera Cinema in Farmington Hills and Emagine Woodhaven, which operate under the Emagine brand but are managed by third parties through a brand licensing agreement, the news release says.

The theaters that are in the deal are:

Michigan

  • Emagine Canton
  • Emagine Royal Oak
  • Emagine Hartland
  • Emagine Birch Run
  • Emagine Saline
  • Emagine Novi
  • Emagine Macomb
  • Emagine Rochester Hills
  • Quality 10 Powered by Emagine (Saginaw)

Illinois:

  • Emagine Frankfort
  • Emagine Batavia

Indiana:

  • Emagine Noblesville
  • Emagine Portage

Wisconsin:

Check back to Freep.com for more on this developing story.



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Michigan defenseman Henry Mews suffers season-ending injury

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Michigan defenseman Henry Mews suffers season-ending injury


Michigan hockey freshman defenseman Henry Mews suffered a season-ending injury, the team announced Monday. 

“University of Michigan defenseman Henry Mews has suffered a season-ending injury, prematurely ending his freshman season with the Wolverines,” a team spokesperson wrote in an email. 

Early in the first period Saturday against Notre Dame, Mews took a knee-on-knee hit from Fighting Irish forward Sutter Muzzatti behind Michigan’s net. Mews laid on the ice for several seconds before he was able to get to the bench under his own power, unable to put much weight on his left leg. Mews immediately went down the tunnel and did not return to the game. 

“Obviously you don’t want to lose a guy like that,” junior forward Nick Moldenhauer said Saturday postgame. “He’s an unbelievable player. But I think it just made us want to win that game even more for him. They injure one of your better D-men and power-play guys, you want to go out there and win it for him. That was just a little bit of extra fire for us to move forward.”

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Mews’ loss is enormous for the Wolverines. The Calgary Flames draft pick was central to Michigan’s early success this year. A dynamic offensive defenseman, Mews was a key puck-mover for the Wolverines and played the point on Michigan’s first-ranked power play. Through 10 games, he had nine points. The Wolverines’ depth will be tested to replace him and his production. 



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Michigan star RB Justice Haynes to undergo surgery for foot injury

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Michigan star RB Justice Haynes to undergo surgery for foot injury


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If Michigan football is going to stay within striking distance of Ohio State going into its regular-season finale, it will have to do so without star running back Justice Haynes, it appears.

The junior is set to undergo surgery on his right foot this week, two sources familiar with the situation but granted anonymity since they’re not permitted to speak on the situation publicly, confirmed to the Free Press on Sunday, Nov. 2.

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The expectation around the program is that Haynes will use U-M’s bye week to rest, and sit against both Northwestern and Maryland, but he could be back in action against the Buckeyes on Nov. 29.

Haynes, who joined the program as an offseason transfer from Alabama, injured his foot late in the Wolverines’ 31-20 victory over Michigan State in East Lansing on Oct. 25. Against the Spartans, he ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Haynes was sidelined for U-M’s 21-16 victory over Purdue on Nov. 1 and was seen on the field wearing a boot on his right foot while riding a scooter.

Haynes has been a star for U-M in his first season in Ann Arbor, setting new career marks in carries (121), rushing yards (857), yards per carry (7.1) and touchdowns (10). In the six games he has finished, he has amassed at least 100 yards rushing and a touchdown.

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Haynes’ only other appearance for Michigan, against USC in October, featured 10 rushes for 51 yards before he left in the second quarter with an injury to his midsection. That kept him out of the following week’s win over Washington.

Without Haynes, the Wolverines will turn to Jordan Marshall, the redshirt freshman who has shined in Haynes’s absence.

Marshall has run 124 times for 729 yards (5.9 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns. That includes three straight games with more than 100 yards – vs. Washington (133), Michigan State (110) and a career-high against Purdue (185) when he also scored all three touchdowns for the Wolverines.

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Michigan is off this week before hitting the road to face Northwestern on Nov. 15 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.





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