Greg McElroy uses Ryan Day as example for why Michigan should promote Sherrone Moore

Rivals usually want nothing to do with one another besides when it comes to bragging rights. However, with Jim Harbaugh leaving Michigan for the NFL, Greg McElroy thinks it wouldn’t hurt for the Wolverines to take one out of the Buckeyes’ book.

McElroy made the connection during an episode of ‘Always College Football’ on Thursday. While it might irk them to no end in Ann Arbor, he said that they should take a look over in Columbus at the transition from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day as to why they should make the hire of OC Sherrone Moore as Harbaugh’s successor.

“While Michigan fans might hate this idea? Hate this, resent this, and I totally understand why you feel that way? There’s a pretty good example of a guy that was promoted from the offensive coordinator spot – in your division, that might be a rival – that has been really dang good,” said McElroy.

“I know Ohio State fans aren’t super thrilled with what Ryan Day has done on an annual basis,” McElroy admitted. “Losing to Michigan three straight years? That’s a tough pill to swallow – not trying to say that it isn’t. But he has taken Ohio State to the promised land in the playoff. He has gotten them in the position to knock off, at the time, a defending national champion.”

Meyer left Ohio State after 2018 with a record of 83-9 (.909). His tenure featured three Big Ten Championships, two appearances in the College Football Playoff, and a national title in 2014. Then, at that point, Day took over and, over the last five years, has posted a record of 53-8 (.868). In that time, the team has won two Big Ten Championships, earned three playoff berths, and made one appearance in the national championship.

Now, in 2024, Moore may likely be in a similar spot as Day was by potentially following Harbaugh’s footsteps. Over nine years at his alma mater, he went 89-25 (.781), including a 30-3 mark over the past three years with a three-game win streak in The Game, three Big Ten titles and playoff berths, and a national title from this past season as part of that.

The biggest reason that McElroy believes that the Wolverines should go with this route is continuity. Hiring Moore would be a move that the program, players, and fanbase could buy in to. It would also make for a seamless transition with him as a member of the staff, including four opportunities as the interim head coach last season, for the past six years.

“You don’t want to skip a beat from Jim Harbaugh to the next guy. You don’t want to alter the culture, you don’t want to have a lot of turnover within the administrative staff, you don’t want a lot of turnover within the assistant coaches,” McElroy said. “How do you avoid some of that? Promoting from within and keep a good thing going. So I think Sherrone Moore is the most logical choice.”

Dealing with a comparison of any sort to Ohio State will likely drive the blue & maize mad. Still, considering the similarities, McElroy is just making the point that it could be a comparable coaching change for them if they were to hire Moore next week.

“I think, when you look at what has gone at a school that you loathe the most? And the fact that the transition from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day really wasn’t too bad? They haven’t really skipped a beat, frankly, outside of losing to you the last couple years,” said McElroy. “I would think that you’d want to, maybe, apply that same logic.”