The university made the announcement on Friday morning without providing any reason for his firing. Longtime college and NFL coach Rick Minter, the father of defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, will replace Partridge as Michigan’s linebackers coach for the rest of the season.
While it is unclear what exactly prompted Partridge’s firing, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson reported in October that Connor Stalions – the staffer who led the sign-stealing scheme that the NCAA is now investigating – had described Partridge as one of his “closest friends” and credited Partridge with giving him his initial inroad at Michigan by allowing him to help out with the Wolverines during spring break while he was still a student at the Naval Academy.
Partridge’s dismissal was almost certainly not related to on-field performance, considering Michigan’s defense leads the nation in both points and yards allowed per game this season.
Partridge is the first member of Michigan’s full-time coaching staff to be dismissed from the staff since the NCAA launched its investigation into the Wolverines last month. Stalions, who was an analyst for the Wolverines, resigned from his position on Nov. 3 after he was initially suspended with pay by the university on Oct. 20.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten from coaching in games for the remainder of the regular season, a suspension he officially accepted Thursday after initially planning to fight the suspension in court. Both Michigan and the Big Ten, however, say they have not found any evidence directly linking Harbaugh to the sign-stealing scheme.
While sign stealing is not an NCAA violation by itself, NCAA rules prohibit teams from scouting opponents off-campus and from filming opponents for the purpose of stealing signs. In the Big Ten’s official disciplinary notice to Michigan last week, the Big Ten said it was informed by the NCAA on Nov. 2 that it “knew and could prove” that Stalions “coordinated a vast off-campus, in-person advance scouting scheme involving a network of individuals” that included videoing opponents’ signals from seats strategically located in other stadiums.