Breaking: Michigan’s Risky Coaching Switch to Sherrone Moore – The Unseen Obstacles Exposed
Few programs have had the ups and downs of the last month that Michigan has. The Wolverines won their first national championship since 1997, then saw their coach, Jim Harbaugh, leave for the NFL. Finally, Michigan quickly tapped former Harbaugh assistant Sherrone Moore as Harbaugh’s replacement.
“The swift promotion (just 48 hours) of Moore was well-received by most Michigan fans,” said Zach Shaw with The Michigan Insider. “Harbaugh and Michigan players have endorsed him to be the next head coach, so him being the only candidate the Wolverines interviewed sent a message of a united front. Additionally, Michigan fans were not impressed by the other outside candidates whose names were linked to the job, and Moore is a great culture fit who can bring the benefits of continuity in an era of college football where that matters more than ever.”
Shaw broke down the state of Michigan’s program heading into the 2024 season.
COMING OFF A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, HOW DID MICHIGAN FANS FEEL ABOUT JIM HARBAUGH’S DEPARTURE AND THE ELEVATION OF SHERRONE MOORE TO HEAD COACH?
Shaw: “There’s obviously going to be quite a bit of disappointment from fans when a beloved head coach — and an alumnus who seemed to be a great culture fit with the fanbase — leaves for another job. But I do think most fans were expecting it to some degree. Harbaugh had interviewed for NFL positions each of the prior two years, and coming off a national championship win and set to lose 17 starters from the team, it made all the sense in the world for Harbaugh to make the jump now. Fans were bummed, but not blindsided.
“There remains some angst and chatter that perhaps Michigan could or should have been more amenable and proactive in negotiations of an extension for Harbaugh — Michigan was prepared to make him the highest-paid coach in college football, but was reportedly slower-moving on Harbaugh’s requests for protections from the NCAA and for-cause firings. Still, I think most fans are aware that Harbaugh wanted the one thing Michigan couldn’t offer: A chance to win a Super Bowl.
“The swift promotion (just 48 hours) of Moore was well-received by most Michigan fans. Harbaugh and Michigan players have endorsed him to be the next head coach, so him being the only candidate the Wolverines interviewed sent a message of a united front. Additionally, Michigan fans were not impressed by the other outside candidates whose names were linked to the job, and Moore is a great culture fit who can bring the benefits of continuity in an era of college football where that matters more than ever.
“Still, there’s plenty of sadness among Michigan fans. The Wolverines won a Rose Bowl and national title in January, yet end the month with seemingly every key piece of those wins off to the NFL.”
WHILE MOORE WORKED UNDER HARBAUGH, EACH HEAD COACH BRINGS SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO THE TABLE. HAS THERE BEEN ANY INDICATION WHERE MICHIGAN WILL DIFFER UNDER MOORE?
Shaw: “For the most part, I expect Moore’s Michigan teams to share a lot of similarities with Harbaugh’s Michigan teams. Since he arrived in Ann Arbor, Moore has been known as a high-standards coach who loves physicality. His catchphrase is ‘SMASH,’ and that mantra has been evident in how Michigan’s offensive lines and tight ends blocked under his coaching. That was Michigan’s m.o. under Harbaugh, so the identity of both the offense and the team itself will likely remain consistent.
“Where things may change could be on the recruiting front. Whereas Harbaugh spent one year as an NFL assistant before beginning his head-coaching career, Moore worked his way up the ranks at the college level, learning the ins and outs of recruiting from a GA to a positional coach to now. As a result, Moore has built more of a network of longtime college staffers, high school coaches and camp directors, and understands the nuances of the grind more than Harbaugh did. Moore will likely err on the side of doing what Harbaugh would do, and Michigan can’t change the kind of players that it will recruit, but I do think you could see Michigan hustle a little harder in recruiting, and prioritize it more when it comes to staff hires and resource allocation.
“I also think that, while Harbaugh spent decades being a household name and grew to disdain the media circus that followed him, Moore is more personable, yet has less national coverage that will follow him and the program so closely. I don’t expect Michigan to open up practices to media or vastly increase the press access, but I do wonder if Moore tries to leverage that likability to help the Wolverines’ perception nationally, which can in turn help with recruiting.”
WHAT’S THE EXPECTATION LEVEL FOR THE 2024 WOLVERINES?
Shaw: “Among those inside the program and fans on the outside, making the 12-team college football playoff and competing for the Big Ten championship is the threshold for a ‘successful’ year one under Moore. Michigan lost a lot of talent, but also has likely preseason All-American candidates in Will Johnson, Mason Graham and Colston Loveland, while Rod Moore, Donovan Edwards and Kenneth Grant have all made big plays on big stages over the last two years. Michigan believes it can have the best defense in the country next season, and that that can keep the Wolverines in every game next season. Michigan also doesn’t think the drop-off in the run game will be as stark as outsiders think: Even after losing its top six offensive linemen and Blake Corum, Michigan is still projected to have an offensive line with more than 50 career starts and a running back (Edwards) with more than 2,300 scrimmage yards in his career.
“But from the outside, I do think it’s hard to predict Michigan to go 12-0 again without a little more evidence in the Wolverines’ passing game. Michigan was far from a pass-first offense, but finished 2023 15th in yards per pass attempt and 8th in passer efficiency rating. That ability to be balanced offensively paid dividends throughout the season, and Michigan’s in-house candidates to start at quarterback completed just four passes in 15 games last season.
“As a result, and adding some expected growing pains along the offensive line and at wide receiver as well as a tougher schedule, I would currently pencil Michigan in for a 10-2 type of season, with Texas, Oregon and Ohio State being the three biggest swing games. If the Wolverines make some transfer portal additions in the spring or have a few breakout spring performances, that could improve, but I do think they’re a couple pieces away from being a serious national title contender.”
WITH QUARTERBACK J.J. MCCARTHY OFF TO THE NFL, HOW DO YOU SEE THE QUARTERBACK ROOM PLAYING OUT THIS SEASON?
Shaw: “I’ll have a much better answer to this question at the end of April, as this is simply the biggest wild-card position on Michigan’s roster. The Wolverines still like the potential of rising redshirt sophomores Jayden Denegal and Alex Orji, but Denegal is 4-for-5 passing through two seasons while Orji is 1-for-1 for five yards. Both have strong arms and are plus-athletes (Orji was actually Michigan’s best overall athlete, according to its 15 key performance indicators last offseason), but there simply isn’t nearly enough evidence to set a real expectation for either quarterback right now. We also can’t rule out Jadyn Davis, who was the Wolverines’ top target at quarterback in the 2024 class and had a great high school career. He got a number of practices in as an early enrollee ahead of the Rose Bowl and championship game, and is viewed as a starter of the future, but I don’t know that he would be expected to be Michigan’s starter at this point.
“It’s a somewhat contentious issue, as many fans want to see what the in-house candidates can do, but this definitely feels like a position where the Wolverines would look hard in the transfer portal this spring to add a quarterback with more experience. It was difficult to recruit the position in December, as JJ McCarthy was non-committal about his future and Michigan had bigger tasks at hand, but one of the aforementioned three would really have to impress this spring for Michigan to not look in the portal.”