Why Michigan is already in favor of promoting Sherrone Moore to head coach

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is officially parting ways with the program following nine seasons with the team, heading back to the NFL to coach the Los Angeles Chargers after bringing the Wolverines three straight Big Ten titles and a national championship to cap off his final season in Ann Arbor.

The focus has already shifted towards who will be Michigan’s next head coach, with players and many across the college football landscape championing for offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore to be hired from within as the Wolverines’ next head man.

The Wolverine‘s Chris Balas discussed Harbaugh’s exit from the program with On3’s Andy Staples and Jesse Simonton, revealing that the program is already on board with Moore taking over at the helm.

“Yeah and they know, basically the votes have been taken, everybody’s on board with it and everybody loves Sherrone Moore. What’s not to love about a guy who came in and won three huge games down the stretch including Penn State on the road, Ohio State at home fellas?” Balas asked.

Moore worked his way up in the Michigan program after being hired as the team’s tight ends coach in 2018, becoming the Wolverines’ offensive line coach along with being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023 after the offensive line took home back-to-back Joe Moore Award trophies.

In 2023 he served as Michigan’s interim head coach on four separate occasions in the wake of Harbaugh’s various suspensions, boasting an undefeated record in the role with three straight notable wins versus Big Ten opponents to close out the regular season.

Moore is beloved at Michigan and qualified to be the Wolverines’ next head coach, but recent trends in the transfer portal following head coach departures may be one of the most critical reasons for hiring him.

“This guy’s a rising star. But at the same time he’s not Jim Harbaugh and there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him,” Balas said. “Not just to keep the players here that are gonna be getting NIL offers from other places. I talked to somebody directly involved tonight Jared Wangler with Michigan’s NIL, the Champions Circle, and he said we are going to have to re-recruit these kids all over again and agents have already told him before they’ve even hit the portal that they’re gonna be shopping their kids around a little bit.”

Michigan already has notable players who have declared for the NFL Draft. But with programs like Alabama having 29 players enter the transfer portal this offseason, Washington with 25 players, and Arizona with 22 after their head coaches parted ways with the program, some continuity in Ann Arbor could potentially help Michigan break that current trend in college football.

“Fortunately the culture is strong, they all love Sherrone Moore. To me this makes the most sense fellas, it’s most logical, this is your best chance to keep your best players here and there’s still a lot of them here at Michigan. It’s not the depth that there was last year and they still need a quarterback, but still a lot of talent here that they have to keep here,” Balas concluded.