BREAKING: Michigan Making Big Hire

Michigan didn't waste much time filling one of its coaching vacancies.

A little over a week ago, Shaun Nua left Michigan to become the defensive line coach at USC under Lincoln Riley. Today, Michigan has found his replacement.

Per a source, Michigan is set to hire Mike Elston away from Notre Dame. Elston played outside linebacker at Michigan from 1993-96 and then immediately joined the U-M staff as a student assistant in 1997. He remained at Michigan until 2001 when he then moved on to coach defensive ends at Eastern Michigan. He then followed Brian Kelly from Central Michigan to Cincinnati and then finally to Notre Dame where he's been since 2010. Elston was most recently in South Bend as the defensive line coach and associate head coach. Elston also has a background as a recruiting coordinator, which is certainly a nice thing on his resumé and could provide value at U-M.

This hire seems to indicate that Jim Harbaugh will be back in Ann Arbor next fall. Obviously he hasn't signed an extension yet, but making a big hire like this seems to be a pretty telling sign.