Michigan has hired Milan (Mimi) Bolden-Morris, who recently finished her basketball career at Georgetown, to serve as a graduate assistant working with the Wolverines quarterbacks.
Bolden-Morris, the sister of Michigan senior defensive end Mike Morris, will begin her new job June 1.
She is the first woman to be a graduate assistant in the Big Ten.
“I have always believed in providing opportunities for individuals who are passionate about football and Mimi is someone who has shown that drive to become a football coach,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said in a statement. “Mimi reached out and expressed an interest in our graduate assistant positions when we had multiple openings this spring. We had some great conversations and I came away extremely impressed with her desire and ideas for coaching, and for making us better as a team. Mimi is a very bright, intelligent and competitive young woman who will be a great addition to our program and offensive coaching staff. We look forward to having Mimi transition into this role working with our quarterbacks. We can’t wait to see the new perspective she brings to our team.”
Bolden-Morris will earn her master’s degree in sports management in May and is considering Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy or the School of Social Work. She transferred from Boston College to Georgetown as a graduate student midway through the 2020-21 season and was a starting guard for the Hoyas this past season.
Michigan said Bolden-Morris is the first woman to be a graduate assistant coach at a Power 5 program. The Associated Press, however, reported later Tuesday that Carol White worked with the kickers at Georgia Tech in the 1980s.
“It speaks volumes to the efforts that Coach Harbaugh has made to create an environment of inclusion,” Bolden-Morris, a native of Belle Glade, Florida, said in the release. “These opportunities have been an anomaly for a black woman until recently. Growing up watching my dad coach my brother, it has always been my dream to be a part of a football team in some form, so this opportunity is allowing me to live out a dream of mine, especially working with quarterbacks. Coming from the basketball world, guards and quarterbacks are one in the same. Both have the ability to make decisions under duress, read defenses, take care of the ball, and execute with precision and accuracy.”
Bolden-Morris started all 29 games for the Hoyas this season, averaging a team-high 35 minutes. She led the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game, with 83 of her 123 baskets coming from beyond the 3-point line. Her 83 3-pointers led the Big East. After joining the team in January 2021, Bolden-Morris appeared in 15 games and started 13. She was the Hoyas’ second-leading scorer with 9.5 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per contest, and knocked down a team-best 24 3-pointers.
Before joining Georgetown, Bolden-Morris averaged 7.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in three seasons at Boston College. She appeared in 85 games with 31 starts and scored in double figures in 29 of those games.
“I know that Coach Harbaugh and his staff will prepare me with the tools and knowledge to be the best because that’s who they are and all they know,” Bolden-Morris added. “They bleed blue! Having the ability to work in such a prestigious and winning environment will mold me to create other opportunities for women who are seeking a similar career path. I may be the first woman to do this, at this level, but I know my purpose is greater and that I can use this blessing to assist others.”
