ANN ARBOR, Michigan: Although there wasn’t much more juice needed for the Michigan football team’s impending Rose Bowl game versus Alabama, it was last week when the Crimson Tide signed George Helow to an undefined role in their staff in advance of the game. Helow has held positions at Georgia, Colorado State, Maryland, and Alabama as a defensive intern in 2012, but he is most renowned for having served as Michigan’s linebackers coach in 2021 and 2022.
Although he was hired by the Crimson Tide less than two weeks after Alabama was chosen to play the Wolverines in the College Football Playoff, he did not serve on the staff this season. Naturally, many saw the action as a ploy to provide the Crimson Tide with additional in-depth information.
“Mike (Barrett) sent it to me, then Ernest (Hausmann). But just different. Just different,” junior linebacker Junior Colson said with a grin. “It’s like, they might be a little scared, you never know. But he’s got a job, I’m happy for him. So, I’m excited for him. I’m happy — I’ll probably say what’s up to him after the game. So you just gotta go out there and play ball.”
While it’s likely Michigan has changed its play-calling signs and communication lingo since Helow was on staff last fall, he certainly is going to know Michigan’s defense better than just about anyone not currently on the Wolverines’ staff or team. He helped Colson earn freshman All-American honors in 2021 and post a 100-tackle season last fall, and helped Barrett transition from a viper to a productive inside linebacker. He remains familiar with the concepts and structures of Michigan’s defense, which ranks first nationally in scoring defense, second in yards per game allowed and fourth in yards per play allowed.
As far as the benefit of that intel, Colson was unconvinced on the impact.
“You can’t really have an advantage in football,” Colson said. “It doesn’t matter if you know somebody’s whole playbook, you’ve still gotta stop it. So you can’t really have an advantage in football. You’ve gotta go out there, play ball, and let the dice roll how it rolls.”
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