ANN ARBOR - When it comes to relating to high school and college football players, Roy Manning already appears to have a grasp on the lexicon.
"I just stopped cheesing about it, a day ago," Michigan's newly-hired outside linebackers coach said Thursday when he was introduced to the media that covers Michigan.
Unless you need to look it up on the Urban Dictionary (hint: go with definition No. 3), Manning definitely isn't disappointed by the chance to return to Michigan.
It's his third stop in a year - Manning coached the tailbacks at Cincinnati, then was hired at Northern Illinois in January before, he said, Michigan coach Brady Hoke called him last month, in the wake of Jerry Montgomery's departure to Oklahoma.
"I couldn't believe it, to tell the truth," said Manning, who played at linebacker at Michigan from 2001-2004, but added that he's had 10 different addresses in 10 years. "I almost dropped the phone."
At Michigan, Manning will also assume recruiting responsibilities, primarily in the Carolinas, Virginia and the mid-Atlantic.
"I'm 31 years old, not married yet and that's a huge thing for me to come here and recruit, and recruit well," Manning said. "I feel like I can connect with those kids a little differently than some coaches can, be it my age or whatever the case may be. I think kids listen to me and that's probably more so because they know that I played, that I played in the NFL."
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Today's news out of Ann Arbor: Michigan announced that Wolverines defensive coordinator Greg Mattison received a three-year contract extension, which will keep him on staff until 2016.
Terms of the new deal were not disclosed, but under his current contract, which was set to expire Dec. 31, Mattison earns a base salary of $250,000, with an additional $500,000 annually for "consulting, promotional activities, sponsorships and other services at the request of the University as part of his duties and responsibilities as the defensive coordinator," per a copy of his contract, obtained through an FOIA request. Additionally, Mattison will receive bonuses of anywhere from $22,500 to $150,000 if Michigan makes or wins a bowl game.
At 63 years old, Mattison has made it clear that he wants Michigan to be the last stop in his career.
Coaching tenures as of late seem to have shorter life spans but Mattison has brought stability to Michigan's defensive corps in his first two years.
Mattison's madness - which isn't so much madness as it is calculation (but "Mattison's Madness" sounds good, right?) - works. A football team needs stability and Mattison immediately implemented it when he came to Michigan from the NFL's Baltimore Ravens at the start of 2011.
In that time, they've been among the top ten in the Big Ten Conference and nationally in several statistical categories - after being 110th in 2010 in total defense under Rich Rodriguez's staff.
And while recruiting is becoming a young man's game (see: Manning, Roy; Montgomery, Jerry), Mattison is recognized for his energy and his intellect, as well as his ability to make the perfect pitch: "I can help you get to the pros." Now what ambitious football recruit doesn't want to hear that?
Also worth noting: Mattison received a contract extension, but offensive coordinator Al Borges did not. Borges' contract expires after the 2014 season - either at its conclusion or on Dec. 31, 2014.
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