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Alabama coach Nick Saban is set to hire former Michigan assistant coach George Helow for his staff, as per Bruce Feldman of The Athletic on Thursday.
This comes before the Alabama Crimson Tide face the top-ranked Wolverines in a Rose Bowl clash on Jan. 1 at 4 p.m. CT, which is a College Football Playoff semifinal.
The Big Ten suspended Jim Harbaugh for three games after finding 'uncontroverted' evidence that Michigan had been stealing signs for several years, per Big Ten’s formal notice.
“These were not isolated or haphazard incidents. The violations were pervasive, systemic, and occurred over multiple years,” the Big Ten said, according to Yahoo.
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Harbaugh agreed to the suspension, and the university settled the case out of court. The NCAA is also looking into the issue.
Alabama fans reacted hilariously to the news that former Michigan assistant coach George Helow, who worked under coach Harbaugh for two years, is joining the Crimson Tide’s staff.
“You steal signs, we steal a coach,” a fan wrote via Reddit.
“A thief steals. An artist takes what he wants when someone's looking right at him,” another user wrote.
“No doubt OP. Just capitalizing on an opportunity,” another fan wrote.
“apologies for being the jokekiller, but technically we didn’t steal him since he was out of a job this past season,” a fan wrote.
Some X users also had a hilarious reaction to it.
George Helow, 36, worked as a linebackers coach under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan from 2021 to 2022. He coached some of the current Wolverines players, even though he was not on their staff this season.
George Helow underscores boxer's mentality for success in the LB position
George Helow spoke exclusively to The Michigan Insider years ago and shared his philosophy on the linebacker position. He explained that the team has three types of linebackers: SAM (strongside), MIKE (middle), and WILL (weakside).
"Your MIKE's normally the one that's right in the middle of it, and your SAM and your WILL are the guys that are outside the MIKE linebacker," Helow explained.
Helow gave a detailed breakdown of the attributes that he looks for in a potential LB when recruiting.
"All three of those spots that we're looking for, when we're on the recruiting trail, are three-down players. A guy that can play on first, second, and third down. If a guy has limited ability on one of those downs, all right, then you know he doesn't have the type of position flexibility that you need, that you can gain things from."
The coach elaborated on other qualities that he seeks in a linebacker.
"Smart, tough, reliable guys. Guys that are good citizens, good people, guys that go hard. You know, a lot of people make highlight tapes nowadays, you got to put the tape on and go play 1 to play 60, and what does he do in between the whistle? You got to have the size, the speed, the athletic ability, and all that.”
George Helow further emphasized the significance of mental strength in linebackers. He stated the the mindset of the linebacker should be “Like a boxer's mentality,” in order to play the position.
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