John Erik Campbell (born January 21, 1966) is an American

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

coach and former player. He is currently the assistant wide receivers coach for the University of Michigan football team. Campbell played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1984 to 1987. He has held coaching positions at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

(1989–1990),

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

(1991–1993) and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

(1994), Michigan (1995–2007), the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

(2008–2012), and the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(2013–2014). He was the assistant head coach at Michigan under

Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season, replacing Gary Moeller. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolve ...

from 2003 to 2007.

Early years

Campbell is a native of

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

, who played football and ran track at Gary's Theodore Roosevelt High School. He was also an all-state player in football and an All-American in track while in high school. He has been inducted into both the Indiana High School Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame.

University of Michigan

He attended the

where he played for

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the Univers ...

on the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

team from 1984 to 1987. He started five games at

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

as a freshman in 1984. As a sophomore in 1985, Campbell switched to the offensive squad and saw action as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He also returned 14 punts in 1985 for 120 yards, an average of 8.6 yards per return. Campbell moved back to the defensive squad in 1986, starting 11 games at cornerback and two at free safety on a team that won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

championship with a No. 8 ranking in the final AP poll. As a senior in 1987, Campbell started seven games at cornerback and five games at free safety. Campbell totaled 98 tackles, five interceptions and 17 punt returns for 132 yards (7.8 yard average) in four years at Michigan. He graduated in 1988 with a bachelor of arts degree in general studies.

Coaching career

Campbell began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan during the 1988 season. He next accepted a position as an assistant coach at

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, coaching the

Midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afric ...

running backs from 1989 to 1990. He also held coaching positions at

(running backs coach, 1991–1993) and Syracuse (1994). In February 1995, Campbell returned to his alma mater as an assistant football coach at Michigan. He was a member of Michigan's coaching staff for 13 years from 1995 to 2007. At Michigan, Campbell coached wide receivers and punt returners. He was also the team's assistant head coach from 2003 to 2007. He set an NCAA record by coaching a 1,000-yard receiver for eight consecutive years from 1998 to 2005. During his tenure at Michigan, he coached receivers

Braylon Edwards Braylon Jamel Edwards (born February 21, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was a unanimous All-American playing college football for the Michigan Wolver ...

, David Terrell, Marquise Walker,

Amani Toomer Amani Askari Toomer (born September 8, 1974) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a wide receiver and punt returner for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He registered over 1 ...

, Mercury Hayes,

Tai Streets Tai Lamar Streets (born April 20, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected with the second pick of the sixth round of the 1999 NFL draft by the San F ...

, Marcus Knight, Jason Avant,

Mario Manningham Mario Cashmere Manningham (born May 25, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was an All-American college football player at the Michigan Wol ...

, Adrian Arrington,

Steve Breaston Steven William Breaston (born August 20, 1983) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft. ...

, and

Ronald Bellamy Ronald Bellamy (born December 28, 1981) is an American college football coach and former wide receiver. He is the wide receivers coach for the University of Michigan, first joining the staff in 2021. Bellamy played college football for the Michig ...

. He also coached

Charles Woodson Charles Cameron Woodson (born October 7, 1976) is an American former professional football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. He spent his first 14 seasons as ...

as a punt returner, and Steve Breaston set a Big Ten record with 1,599 career punt return yards (12.6 yards per return) with Campbell as his position coach. In December 2007, incoming Michigan head coach

Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American college football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at West Virginia Mountaineers football, West Virginia University, his second sti ...

announced that he had fired all nine assistant coaches, including Campbell. In February 2008, Campbell was hired by the

as its wide receivers and tight ends coach. Upon hiring Campbell, Iowa head coach

Kirk Ferentz Kirk James Ferentz (born August 1, 1955) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since the 1999 season. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the Universi ...

said, "Erik's a student of the game and a great young coach. We're thrilled to have him on our staff." Starting in 2010, his responsibility was limited to wide receivers. In 2010, two Iowa wide receivers ( Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and Marvin McNutt were both selected for All-Big Ten honors. Johnson-Koulianos set Iowa's career record for receiving yards with Campbell as his position coach. In 2011, Marvin McNutt was selected as an All-American receiver, as he compiled 1,315 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. McNutt also broke Johnson-Koulianos' school record with a career total of 2,861 receiving yards. Campell also coached Tony Moeaki during the 2009 season. In February 2012, '' The Daily Iowan'' published a "point/counterpoint" debate on the proposed promotion of Campbell as the team's new

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

. In 2015, Campbell joined the Michigan Wolverines football support staff as a football operations assistant under new head coach

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh ( ; born December 23, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at ...

. Campbell and Harbaugh were teammates at Michigan from 1984 to 1986. On April 20, 2017, Campbell was named to the

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey to its northeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state ...

staff under new head coach

Danny Rocco Daniel Christopher Rocco (born July 16, 1960)''1995 University of Texas Football Media Guide'' p. 94 is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the Virginia Military Institute, a position he has held since the 2023 season. Ro ...

, after having served as the wide receiver coach at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

the previous season.

Personal life

Campbell's wife, Lori, died of a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in an ...

in March 2001, at age 30.

References

External links

Bowling Green profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Erik 1966 births Living people American football safeties American football wide receivers Ball State Cardinals football coaches Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Montreal Alouettes coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Syracuse Orange football coaches UConn Huskies football coaches Sportspeople from Gary, Indiana Players of American football from Gary, Indiana African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen