Michigan linebackers coach Anthony Campanile leaving for Miami Dolphins

Angelique S. Chengelis
The Detroit News

Anthony Campanile, whose name has been linked in recent weeks to defensive coordinator positions at Boston College and his alma mater Rutgers, is leaving Michigan after one season as linebackers coach.

But he isn’t headed for another college job. According to multiple reports Wednesday night, Campanile is joining the Miami Dolphins defensive staff.

Anthony Campanile

He is the second defensive assistant to leave Jim Harbaugh’s staff since the Citrus Bowl. Chris Partridge, Michigan’s safeties coach and special teams coordinator, left to join head coach Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. Partridge had been an important piece of Michigan’s recruiting, and Campanile had quickly made a name as a top recruiter for the Wolverines.

Campanile, a high-energy coach and recruiter from New Jersey and part of a football-coaching family, spent four seasons at Rutgers, and that seemed like a logical landing spot. He then worked at Boston College from 2016-18 as defensive backs coach and was co-defensive coordinator in 2018 before moving to Ann Arbor. His name was linked to the defensive coordinator’s opening at BC in recent weeks.

More: Michigan trails three teams in 2020 Big Ten football title odds

He signed a two-year contract with Michigan and made $415,000 this past season. His contract indicates Campanile will owe Michigan 25% of his salary because he left for another assistant coaching position.

Michigan players said Campanile brought a new energy to practices. Linebacker Josh Uche had called him “one of the most intense guys I’ve ever been coached by.”

“I thought (defensive coordinator Don) Brown was intense,” Uche had said earlier this season on the "Inside Michigan Football" radio show. “He came here and I’m like, ‘Man, who is this guy?’ Coach (Campanile) makes coach Brown seem mellow. Picture that in your head. Just the intensity that he brings, the detail that he brings and just the passion. He’s taken my love for football to the next level ever since he’s stepped foot on campus.”

angelique.chengelis@detroitnews.com

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