Bruce Feldman pushes Lance Leipold, Sherrone Moore as replacements if Jim Harbaugh leaves Michigan

If Jim Harbaugh ends up leaving Michigan for the NFL, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman likes Sherrone Moore or Lance Leipold to take over the Wolverines.

Moore filled in for Harbaugh five times this season, going 5-0 as acting head coach amid Harbaugh’s separate suspensions. Leipold meanwhile, said he wanted to end his career in Lawrence and built quite a steady program out there.

But could he be tempted by an opening in Ann Arbor if Michigan passes over the internal candidate Moore?

“Sherrone’s done (as good of a job) as you could have hoped,” Feldman said on The Rich Eisen Show. “He led them to a bunch of wins against big teams. And the kids play hard for him and he can really grow into the job … (But) to me, the biggest winner of the coaching carousel this year is Kansas, Lance Leipold is still in Kansas. If that job comes open, if I’m Michigan do I look and say well if we’re not really ready to give it to Sherrone because we just not sure if he’s ready to take over full go, then try to get the guy from Kansas.”

After a 2-10 debut season at Kansas in 2021, rebuilding from the ground up, Leipold led Kansas to a 6-7 record the following year and Liberty Bowl appearance.

This season, he’s 8-4 and the Jayhawks will play in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against UNLV.

“That guy works miracles and that guy knows what it takes to develop a culture and build and because he keeps proving it,” Feldman said. I think Michigan can put the biggest offer in front of Jim as they want but I just think the one thing they can’t can’t do for him is to get him a Super Bowl championship.”

Who could replace Jim Harbaugh if he bolts for the NFL?

Harbaugh’s desire to win a Super Bowl could be great enough where he eventually goes back to the NFL and goes after a title. That could be more tempting if Michigan wins the national title this season and Harbuagh doesn’t sign a reported massive contract extension beforehand.

Harbaugh is reportedly in line to get $11 million per year for the next five years, according to reporting from Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson. The lone hang-up, Johnson reports, is Michigan wanting “a commitment in writing from Harbaugh that he will not pursue an NFL job this cycle.”

Harbaugh was the San Francisco 49ers’ head coach from 2010-14. While there, he led the organization to Super Bowl XLVII, where he lost to his brother John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens. Jim Harbaugh left the NFL for Michigan after the 2014 campaign.