There’s never been a coaching search quite like what we saw unfold at Michigan with Jim Harbaugh’s departure for the NFL just two weeks after winning a national championship. It’s been almost 30 years since the last national title-winning head coach, Nebraska’s Tom Osborne, chose not to return to his school for the following season.
But back then, the Huskers didn’t have to worry about how the change would impact their roster. True freshman QB Eric Crouch couldn’t transfer. Neither could standout running back Correll Buckhalter or All-American cornerback Ralph Brown.
Those players were stuck.
Twenty-seven years later, the Chargers’ hiring of Harbaugh is a much more fraught situation for Michigan and its roster. Harbaugh’s exit triggered a 30-day window for Michigan players to enter the transfer portal, meaning one of the more attractive rosters in college football is open for business.
But not a single Wolverine has yet entered the transfer portal. The biggest reason why? The man Michigan just named its next head coach: 37-year-old Wolverines offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.
Moore’s ascendance is not a shock. His status as next in line has been among the worst kept college football secrets this season. That’s a good thing, too, because Moore’s presence is a huge reason why sources expect Michigan’s roster to remain largely together with minimal attrition, at least during this 30-day transfer window.
Michigan’s players know Moore. He was the program’s interim head coach for four games this year while Harbaugh served suspensions, including a three-game stretch against Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State to end the regular season.
The victories against the No. 10 Nittany Lions and No. 2 Buckeyes were statement moments during Michigan’s march to a national championship. They weren’t just the most consequential games on the Wolverines’ regular season schedule. They were in charged environments as the Big Ten suddenly suspended Harbaugh because of an alleged cheating scandal.
Moore ably helped the Wolverines through that stretch, rallying the locker room in Harbaugh’s absence. There were moments during that period where those like Michigan offensive tackle LaDarius Henderson looked at Moore with a healthy dose of awe.
“We saw some high-level football thinking from him, from like a chess match standpoint,” Henderson said of a touchdown call in the Penn State game. “Not just the play calling but the acting involved with the play was so deep. I was like, ‘This guy might be the smartest college football coach.’”
That’s the type of reputation Moore carries in the Wolverines locker room.
Said Michigan tight ends coach Grant Newsome, one of the youngest position coaches in college football: “I don’t think there’s a single person in the building who doesn’t enjoy spending time with him.”
Moore’s familiarity with the Michigan roster should help keep the group largely together. There will be departures. But hiring Moore gives Michigan the best chance to keep its foundational pieces and make a run at a fourth-straight Big Ten championship.
That’s the advantage of hiring Moore as opposed to an outsider. The circumstances were far different — the transfer portal was in its infancy at the time — but it’s a move designed to have a similar soothing effect for the program as when Urban Meyer handed off a championship-caliber Ohio State program to Ryan Day.
Day has continued the Buckeyes’ status as a national contender in the years since. Michigan hopes that Moore, long considered a Power Five coaching candidate, will do the same.
Moore can continue the culture Harbaugh established. He can also help Michigan modernize its program a bit in areas like recruiting staffing and name, image and likeness investment. That’s the advantage of hiring someone from the inside. Moore will keep the best parts of what Harbaugh built and identify the areas, even coming off a national title, that need to change.
More than anything, though, Moore is someone the Michigan roster knows. There’s no mystery about his personality, temperament or style. If a team comes poaching for a top player on Michigan’s roster, Moore isn’t selling his vision. He’s reminding an on-the-fence player about what they’ve already helped establish.
Recent internal promotions at blue-blood schools like Oklahoma (Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley), Ohio State (Meyer to Day) and Notre Dame (Brian Kelly to Marcus Freeman) have worked out well. Those athletic directors didn’t panic and shoot for the moon. They hired a well qualified assistant coach already in the building.
That’s what’s happening in Ann Arbor. The move to promote Moore just comes with the massive bonus that it’s far less likely for Michigan’s roster to be poached in the same way we’ve seen happen at Alabama and Washington in recent weeks.
A few things to note with Michigan and the transfer portal
– With Harbaugh leaving Michigan for the Chargers on Jan. 24, Wolverine players have through Feb. 23 to enter the transfer portal. The spring transfer portal window will open April 16.
– The academic calendar is working in Michigan’s favor when it comes to combating attrition. While Michigan players are free to enter the transfer portal at any time between now and Feb. 23, they still have to be able to enroll at another school in order to transfer. That’s problematic for any Michigan players examining their options because most schools have already passed the add-drop deadline for the spring semester. That means, unless a Michigan player is transferring somewhere on the quarters system, they’d have a hard time enrolling at another program before the summer.
– Wondering which players Michigan really can’t afford to lose? Here’s five to know:
1. Donovan Edwards, RB: Edwards had a self-described “frustrating” 2023 season, but the former five-star recruit came up huge when it mattered, running for 104 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries in the national title game. He’ll be the face of Michigan’s offense next season with J.J. McCarthy and Blake Corum headed to the NFL.
2. Colston Loveland, TE: There’s a chance that Loveland is TE1 in the 2025 NFL Draft. An elite athlete for the position with elite production as a sophomore (45 catches, 649 yards, 4 TDs), Loveland is the type of tight end the Wolverines can build the offense around.
3. Mason Graham, DT: Arguably the best NFL prospect on a defense full of them, Graham emerged as a force during his sophomore season, posting 36 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and three sacks while posting a 90 PFF College grade.
4. Kenneth Grant, DT: The other half of what projects to be the best interior D-line duo in college football next season, Grant also had a spectacular sophomore season, posting 29 tackles (five for loss) and 3 1/2 sacks.
5. Will Johnson, CB: A former five-star recruit who spurned Ohio State to come to Michigan, Johnson has lived up to his high school billing and more. He’s shown to be one of the true lockdown corners in college football the last two seasons, while coming up huge when the lights are bright; Johnson had a key interception against both Ohio State and Washington.
