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Former U-M running back Mike Hart follows heart, takes 'grunt' job with Eastern
Angelique S. Chengelis/ The Detroit News
Mike Hart's new title might take some getting used to.
Hart, Michigan's career leading rusher and a former tri-captain, has moved on from a three-year NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts and now is a quality control coach on Ron English's staff at Eastern Michigan.
Being a college head football coach has always been Hart's goal.
"'Coach Hart! Coach Hart!'" Hart said, chuckling. "Every time the players say that, I just laugh to myself. It's weird."
Less than two weeks into the job, Hart said he feels at home, and not just because he's a few miles away from Ann Arbor, where he spent his college years.
"I love it, and I have a lot more fun coaching in camp than playing in camp," Hart said, laughing. "Camp is camp. It's a grind for the coaches, it's a grind on the players, but my body isn't taking a beating. I just love working with young men and having an impact on them. I'm definitely having a lot of fun."
A few weeks ago when Hart realized his phone wasn't ringing with offers from NFL teams, he called English.
"I'm definitely moving on to the next chapter of my life," said Hart, now married and a father. "Everyone stops playing. I'm done. I know what I want to do. I know where I want to be in the next 10-15 years. I'm happy now. I'm committed to Eastern, I'm committed to helping them, I'm committed to coach E."
English, who was Michigan's defensive coordinator when Hart (5,040 yards, 2004-07) was a player, had an opening when his full-time recruiting coordinator, the ninth coach on the staff, left last month.
English offered Hart a job as a quality control coach, essentially a graduate assistant, who would have an opportunity for on-field coaching since English's staff was down a coach.
"Even though he's a quality control coach, technically, legally he's been out coaching with assistant coach Doug Downing with the running backs," said English, in his third year at Eastern. "He's been working with our special teams and coaching all the scout teams. So he's had a great impact."
But even after their initial conversation, English wasn't certain Hart knew what he was getting into. A coach's hours are long, particularly during preseason camp and the season.
Could he hack it?
English knew all about Hart, and considers him one of the smartest players he's been around, but did he really know how time-consuming and overwhelming the job could be? English gave him an offer he couldn't refuse.
"I said, 'I would love to have you and I have a spot for you. I want you to come in for a couple days, you don't have to commit, and see if you like it,'" English said. "I told him, 'I'll be patient. If you like it, it's yours.' It's not like I had never seen him. I knew what Mike could do as a player, and at Michigan, he was coaching players even when he was playing."
What English didn't know was just how serious Hart was about launching his coaching career at Eastern. He already had living accommodations arranged near the Ypsilanti campus, and his wife and son were planning on making the move before the end of August.
Hart gets to the office by 7:15 a.m. and leaves around 10:30 p.m. Once the season kicks off, he expects those hours to expand. He will then add more jobs to his day, like breaking down opponent film and making cut-ups for the coaches.
"At first it was more or less, 'Why is Mike Hart here?'" Hart said. "The players would ask, 'Are you coaching? Why are you here? Aren't you in the NFL?' I had to explain to people why I'm not in the NFL.
"But the job is what I expected. When the season starts, there will be a little more of a change, more work that I have to do. They're slowly easing me in and giving me some responsibilities, not throwing me into the fire, so that's cool."
He's also not getting any special treatment.
"Mike is a hard-working guy," English said. "We don't have the support staff other places have, so he and the other GA's (graduate assistants) throw away garbage and do a lot of grunt work. I love having him here. He's smart, and he has a great way with players, and he's done a great job so far."
While Hart is getting used to being called "coach," three weeks into the season he also will have to move past the oddness of returning to Michigan Stadium with the Eagles.
"I will be in the visitors' locker room and on the visitors' sideline," Hart said, laughing. "It's definitely going to be weird, but this stuff happens in coaching. I'm going to go in there with the mind-set to win."
And now he sounds like a coach.
