Major shakeups for CMU football

It's been a domino effect for personnel leaving the Central Michigan coaching staff for other opportunities this offseason. It started with Nick Sheridan being hired as a running backs coach in January, only to leave weeks later for the quarterbacks job in Indiana.

Then, former CMU quarterback Dan LeFevour left his role as quality control coach for the Canadian Football League this month with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

But now, in a rather surprising and unexpected announcement, newly promoted offensive coordinator Gino Guidugli has returned to his alma mater in Cincinnati to be its running backs coach.

The move was first reported by Brian Fox of Bearcats Radio. Guidugli started at quarterback at Cincinnati from 2001-2004 and led the team to three bowl berths. He earned MVP honors at the 2004 Fort Worth Bowl.

Guidugli left holding the record for most pass attempts (1,556), completions (880), passing yards (11,453), touchdown passes (78), and total offense (11,661) as a Bearcat.

Guidugli was Central Michigan's running backs coach and recruiting coordinator prior to the retirement of former offensive coordinator Morris Watts at the end of the season.

That now leaves the Chippewas without an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and running backs coach, two months before the start of the Spring Game on April 22.

Guidugli, who was also going to coach the quarterbacks, would have had one less player on the depth chart, as sophomore Jake Johnson announced his retirement Friday on Instagram.

Johnson wrote he could no longer play football due to the amount of concussions suffered in his career. He saw playing time last season against UNLV and Presbyterian but left with a concussion in the latter game.

“This is honestly the hardest thing I have ever gone through in my life,” Johnson said in the post. His account is currently private.

Johnson, the 6-foot-1, 185 pounder, verbally committed to CMU the summer prior to national signing day of 2015. He received two offers during his recruitment, including Akron.

The former three-star recruit was ranked the No. 26 player in the state of Michigan and No. 59 overall pro-style quarterback by 247Sports.

Johnson was expected to compete for the starting quarterback job this upcoming season following the departure of long-time starter Cooper Rush.

Michigan transfer Shane Morris, freshman Tony Poljan, sophomore Austin Hergott and JUCO transfer Tommy Lazzaro now comprise the quarterback spot for CMU.