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It did not take Michigan long to announce Sherrone Moore as the new head football coach. Moore becomes the 21st head coach in school history and the first African American to be named to that position. Sherrone being named head coach comes as no surprise to all Michigan fans considering he was the odds-on favorite to land the job after Jim Harbaugh announced he was heading back to the NFL. Moore signed a 5-year deal where he is set to make $5.5 million in the first year according to Ralph D Russo of the Associated Press.
Sherrone has spent the past six years as an offensive coach for the Wolverines. He was first hired to be the tight ends coach, then in 2021, he became the offensive line coach. Moore was then named co-offensive coordinator in 2021 and sole offensive coordinator in 2023. He maintained his duties as OL coach and helped the Wolverines to their first National Championship since 1997. After Harbaugh was suspended twice in 2023, Moore filled in as interim head coach for four of the games. In those 4four games, the Wolverines went a perfect 4-0 and beat two top 10 teams in Penn State and Ohio State.
Sherrone Moore Joins a very small group of minority FBS head coaches. He is only the 15th minority head coach out of 133 FBS schools, or 11.3%.
Questions Sherrone Moore will need to answer:
Building a Staff
Jim Harbaugh did not favor Moore with the timing of taking the Chargers job. You can read more on that here. Moore will need to move fast to fill the openings on his staff. Moore’s top priority will be to try to keep Jesse Minter at Michigan. If Minter leaves, he is expected to join Harbaugh in LA, Moore will be filling both the offensive and defensive coordinator positions very late in the coaching cycle. Being a first-time head coach it is unknown what pull Moore will have to fill these positions. Harbaugh used NFL ties to bring in some top young innovative coordinators. Can Moore bring in his own young and innovative coordinators?
Game Plan
During the four games that Moore served as head coach in 2023, the suspension for Jim Harbaugh prevented him from coaching on game day but allowed Harbaugh to coach during the week leading up to the games. Harbaugh spent the week setting up the game plan he wanted implemented. Moore will not have the luxury of having an experienced team that made very few mistakes. Moore will need to show he can install a game plan that will put young players in the right position to succeed. As the full-time head coach, his every move and call will be scrutinized with a fine-tooth comb., Jim Harbaugh took the shots before, does Moore have the ability to deal with that same scrutiny?
Spotlight/Media
Michigan is one of the biggest college football programs in America, and they just handed the keys to the program off to a first-time head coach. Moore will now be the CEO of the program and all decisions, whether success or failure, will be his. Will Sherrone Moore be able to deal with the criticism that comes with every move a head coach makes? Moore has had limited time dealing with the media and fans following a loss, will he be able to control his emotions during these tough times?
Recruiting
Michigan has had a lot of success over the past three seasons on the field. However, that success has not translated to better recruiting classes. Moore will need to revamp the entire recruiting process if he hopes to compete with the top programs in college football regularly. Moore will also need to rework how Michigan uses the transfer portal. With the importance of the portal, Moore will need to convince Michigan’s administration to loosen up their transfer rules if he is going to get the top portal talent. Moore’s biggest hurdle will be with NIL, if he is unable to get Michigan’s NIL collective increased, it will be nearly impossible to get any top talent to Ann Arbor. The good news for Michigan fans is over the last five years Moore has been ranked in the top 25 of recruiters according to 247Sports.
NCAA investigations and penalties
The biggest question of the NCAA investigation is did the NCAA want Michigan or did they want Jim Harbaugh? A battle that looked to have become very personal has just lost one of its key participants with Harbaugh leaving for the NFL. Harbaugh’s departure leaves Moore to deal with any penalties that the NCAA gives to the program. Michigan fans need to hope with the Harbaugh exit and the damage already done regarding Michigan’s reputation, that the NCAA decides to issue less severe penalties to the program.
The success of Moore at Michigan will ultimately come down to how much the university is willing to adapt to this new college football world. It will also come down to time, Moore will not get the same amount of leeway as Harbaugh did to get it right. The University of Michigan, alumni and fans will need to be patient and give Sherrone Moore time to build his program. Despite winning the National Championship earlier this month, Jim Harbaugh did not leave the program in the best shape when he took the LA Chargers job.
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