Warinner Elevated To Offensive Line Coach At Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family head football coach Jim Harbaugh announced today (Thursday, March 8) that Ed Warinner will move to the position of offensive line coach for the Wolverines, replacing Tim Drevno as a member of the offensive coaching staff. Warinner joined the staff in January as a senior analyst with the offense.

Warinner brings to Ann Arbor more than 30 years of college coaching experience, including the last 20 seasons working on the offensive side of the ball. He has worked especially closely with the offensive line, spending 16 of his last 20 seasons mentoring that position group.

Warinner spent the 2017 season as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at the University of Minnesota, where he worked with a rushing attack that saw five backs combine for 2,153 yards, led by Rodney Smith's 977. Three of the backs averaged better than 4.5 yards per carry and more than 60 percent of the team's first downs came on the ground. Minnesota finished third in the Big Ten in rushing offense.

Prior to his season with the Golden Gophers, Warinner coached five years at Ohio State (2012-16). His first three seasons were spent as offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator before he was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2015. Warinner was part of the Buckeye staffs that led the team to the 2014 National Championship, a 2015 Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame and the 2016 College Football Playoffs.

Warinner helped the Ohio State offense set single-season program records in 11 categories during his tenure, including rushing yards, passing yards, passing touchdowns, yards per play and per game, total points scored and touchdowns per game. Several of the single-season marks also rank as Big Ten records, and several others rank second or third-best all-time at OSU.

Warinner's offensive lines at Ohio State, which sent numerous players to the NFL, helped the Buckeyes consistently have one of the most potent rushing attacks in the nation. All five offensive line starters in the 2013 Big Ten Championship Game went on to become day one rookie starters in the NFL.

Before working in Columbus, Warinner spent two seasons at Notre Dame as the offensive line coach (2010) and offensive line coach/run game coordinator (2011), helping the team reach the Hyundai Sun Bowl in his first season and the Champs Sports Bowl in his second year.

Warinner held multiple titles in two separate stints at Kansas (2003-04 and 2007-09), including offensive coordinator in his final three seasons and associate head coach in 2009. He helped lead three record-setting offensive units, including the 2007 Jayhawks squad that averaged 479.8 yards and 42.8 points per game en route to a 12-1 record and a FedEx Orange Bowl victory over Virginia Tech. The program posted three of its seven top-scoring seasons in school history, and the No. 1 season in terms of points per game (2007) and passing yards per game (310.3, 2009).

Warinner had a pair of earlier Big Ten stints when he spent two seasons as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Illinois (2005-06) and two seasons as a linebackers and secondary coach at Michigan State (1985-86). He helped the 2006 Illini average a Big Ten best 188.3 rushing yards per game, the team's best mark since 1973, before returning to Kansas.

Before coaching at Illinois, Warriner spent three seasons at Air Force (2000-02) as the offensive line coach, and helped the Falcons lead the nation in rushing his final season with the program, averaging 307.8 yards per game.

Warinner got his coaching start at Akron in 1984, working with the running backs while earning his master's degree, and spent the next two seasons in East Lansing. His longest coaching stint was at Army, where he spent 13 seasons (1987-99), coaching three different position groups – defensive line, offensive line and quarterbacks – and serving as offensive coordinator during his final two years.

Warinner was a finalist for the American Football Coaches Association's National Assistant Coach of the Year award following the 2009 season at Kansas. He has been recognized by FootballScoop as the offensive line coach of the year on two occasions (2012, 2014). He is the first coach to earn that honor twice as an offensive line coach and joined Mark Helfrich, Kliff Kingsbury and Philip Montgomery as the only four coaches to earn positional coach honors of the year twice. He was also named a finalist in 2011.

His accolades include being named one of the Top 20 'hottest assistant coaches' by Rivals.com in 2012 and one of the Top 25 recruiters by the same site in 2014.

Warinner attended Franklin High School in Strasburg, Ohio, and went on to earn varsity letters in football and baseball at Mount Union (1979-83). He earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education in 1984 and earned a master's in sports management in 1985 from Akron.

Warinner and his wife, Mary Beth, have three children: daughters Madisyn and Merideth, and a son, Edward.

Coaching Experience
Season School/Team Title/Position Coached
1984 Akron Running Backs
1985-86 Michigan State Linebackers / Secondary
1987 Army Centers / Guards
1988-90 Army Executive Asst. / Recruiting
1991 Army Defensive Line
1992-97 Army Offensive Line
1998-99 Army Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
2000-02 Air Force Offensive Line
2003 Kansas Offensive Line
2004 Kansas Offensive Line / Run Game Coordinator
2005-06 Illinois Offensive Line / Run Game Coordinator
2007-08 Kansas Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
2009 Kansas Associate Head Coach / Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
2010 Notre Dame Offensive Line
2011 Notre Dame Offensive Line / Run Game Coordinator
2012-14 Ohio State Co-Offensive Coordinator / Offensive Line
2015 Ohio State Offensive Coordinator / Offensive Line
2016 Ohio State Offensive Coordinator / Tight Ends
2017 Minnesota Offensive Line / Run Game Coordinator
2018 Michigan Offensive Line

THE WARINNER FILE
Wife: Mary Beth
Children: Daughters, Madisyn and Merideth; Son, Edward
Hometown: Strasburg, Ohio
High School: Franklin High School
Alma Mater: Mount Union, 1984 (secondary education); Akron, 1985 (sports management)