Michigan needs to cut ties with Jim Harbaugh for Moore's Success

'Michigan Stadium' Photo Credit: Bill VanderMolen via Flickr

2024 had a magical start to the year for Michigan fans after beating Alabama on New Year's Day, and then went on to win their first national championship in decades.  But what should have led to a positive off-season in talent acquisition instead has left Michigan in limbo waiting to see what is going to play out.  This is in thanks to head coach Jim Harbaugh's yearly flirtation with the NFL.  Even before the clock hit zero in the final game rumors were flying that Harbaugh would not be back to lead his alma mater in 2024.

Michigan fans are left to enjoy what was a great 2023 season but what looks to be a very unknown future moving forward.  Unfortunately, the time has come for the University of Michigan to sit down and evaluate if the best course of action moving forward is to cut ties with the coach who has brought so much success back to the university. 

According to DraftKings Harbaugh is a -300 favorite to end up as the head coach of the LA Chargers,  with that the time is now for Michigan to cut ties and move on to their next head coach.  Hope is not a strategy and hope is all that Michigan has that Jim will be back in 2024.  If fans are truly honest with themselves this yearly tradition of the head coaching uncertainty needs and must come to an end sooner then later. As long as Jim is at Michigan the NFL rumors will never stop hindering Michigan on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal.  Michigan needed to move on now to give their next head coach the most amount of time possible to start building his program. 

Michigan for years has used the motto “The Team, The Team, The Team, no one man is more important than the Team” and this includes Jim Harbaugh. Most Michigan fans need to realize this is not only the right time for Jim to leave but it's something Michigan must do to protect the program moving forward. In what seems to have become a very personal battle between Harbaugh and the NCAA removing Jim could help minimize the future penalties Michigan could be facing. For fans that don’t think it is personal between the two parties ask yourself this question; If a commit said Michigan staff was in contract with him during the season and that was one of the reasons, he committed to Michigan how fast would the NCAA be knocking on the door in Ann Arbor for tampering?

The biggest question now becomes who should become the next football coach at the University of Michigan.  A question that would usually come with a few different names and many debates.  But this is not the case this time, there should be only one name mentioned and that is offensive coordinator Sherron Moore.  Moore has already led the Wolverines as interim head coach; it wasn’t in the most ideal circumstance but what he accomplished in those 4 games should give fans confidence he is the right man to be the next head coach at Michigan.

Sherron Moore although young being only 37 years old has already demonstrated the poise to be able to coach in the biggest moments.  Moore was named interim head coach for the 3rd game of the season along with the last 3 games to end the season.  The 2ed time he was given the head coaching title was less than 24 hours before Michigan's biggest game of the year at the time, a road game against top-ten-ranked Penn State.   As interim head coach Moore could adapt to in-game situations and beat 2 of the top head coaches in the Big Ten.

Sherron checks most of The boxes you would look to check when looking for a head coach at Michigan and in college football.   He’s young and offensive-minded but understands at Michigan you need to build from the trenches out.  He can recruit and many believe that with Moore as head coach, there is a good chance the recruiting will just improve.  Sherron being young helps him to relate with his players, it also helps him to build strong relationships with them and it why his players love to play for him.  Moore is composed when the lights are the brightest, he doesn’t let the moment get too big and has an uncanny ability to change on the spot.  He is a winner and has already shown the ability to beat Michigan’s top rivals.

It's a very small sample size to go by, but Moore has earned the right to be the next head football coach at Michigan.  He will be taking over a team that has won 3 straight Big 10 championships, had 3 straight trips to the college football playoff, and won their first national championships since 1997.  Moore is a rising star in the college football coaching ranks, there is a great chance that if Michigan doesn’t give Moore the job, he won’t be standing on the sideline at Michigan next year.

Harbaugh leaving is a big blow to the University of Michigan no matter how you look at it.  Michigan will need to give their new head coach who should be Sherron Moore every resource necessary to be successful.  President Ono, the board of trustees, and AD Warde Manuel must embrace and push for better NIL and loosen transfer requirements if Michigan is going to compete with the top programs in college football.  Only Michigan leadership can decide if Michigan will move forward and compete or fall back to being irrelevant.