Jim Harbaugh did every little thing Michigan followers may’ve hoped the former Wolverines star quarterback would do when he returned to Ann Arbor to take over his alma mater’s soccer program. He ended hated arch-rival Ohio State’s dominance of their collection and flipped it round; he turned Michigan into the bully of the Big Ten; after which he led Michigan to its first nationwide title in nearly 30 years.
And now, not surprisingly, after three years of flirting with returning to the NFL, Harbaugh is again assembly with NFL groups. He is starting by assembly with the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday, opening up the very actual chance that he will now go away behind a storied program and one in all the finest jobs in faculty sports activities. If he leaves, who may Michigan flip to subsequent?
The apparent path
That can be selling Wolverines offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.
Moore has emerged as a powerful candidate, particularly after the final month of the common season. The 37-year-old is nonetheless younger, however he proved greater than able to the job when he stepped in and coached Michigan late in the 2023 season after the Big Ten suspended Harbaugh throughout the hardest stretch of the Wolverines’ schedule. Moore led the workforce to a win over top-10 Penn State in a really hostile atmosphere, managed the street entice recreation towards Maryland after which continued Michigan’s dominance over the Buckeyes. The workforce loves Moore; spend a while round the program and also you see that his affect is important.
“I was pretty close to leaving,” offensive lineman Trevor Keegan, one in all the workforce leaders, informed me about an hour after Michigan gained the nationwide title. “The recruiting process is a dangerous thing. Everybody tells you how good you are. That you’ll start as a freshman. As an 18-year-old kid, I wasn’t the most mature guy. I wasn’t playing. I kinda stopped loving football. Coming into Schembechler Hall was kind of a drag for me. Coach Moore came in and changed my whole outlook on life and football. He made me fall in love with football again. I can’t thank him enough. He’s just a guy who puts his head down and works as well. He started here as a tight ends coach and now he’s an OC getting head coaching offers.”
Moore, a Kansas native who performed at Oklahoma, is beloved by his gamers and his teaching friends. I’d be stunned if he doesn’t get the job. There have been some comparatively comparable conditions to level to — most notably Ryan Day taking up at Ohio State after Urban Meyer left for the NFL and Marcus Freeman taking up at Notre Dame after Brian Kelly left for LSU. Day is 56-8, though Buckeye followers will not be completely happy about the shedding streak with Michigan lately. Freeman is 19-8 and it’s nonetheless slightly too quickly to get an actual sense of whether or not this was the proper transfer for the Irish. Continuity and the way the gamers felt about the transfer had been massive elements, however each have needed to develop into the jobs.
The total outcomes of huge jobs selling from inside after the head coach strikes on are principally optimistic, although.
Florida State promoted Jimbo Fisher after Bobby Bowden retired, and that labored out very properly for the Seminoles — Fisher led them to a nationwide title. Stanford promoted David Shaw after Harbaugh left for the NFL a decade in the past. That additionally labored out properly, though the program backslid afterward below Shaw. Bret Bielema took over for Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin and that went properly. Lincoln Riley took over for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma and the Sooners stored profitable at a really excessive degree.
Chip Kelly took Oregon to a different degree after Mike Bellotti stepped down, after which Mark Helfrich bought the Ducks to the nationwide title recreation, though the Ducks tailed off shortly thereafter. Conversely, Bob Davie taking up for Lou Holtz at Notre Dame a era in the past didn’t go so nice (one top-20 season in 5 years). Neither did Jimmy Lake getting promoted after Chris Petersen retired at Washington a number of years in the past.
The solely factor that will give Michigan brass some pause is if Moore is tied to the ongoing NCAA investigation into the sign-stealing scandal. If the investigation finds that Moore — who has not been tied to the scheme — was someway concerned, Michigan may need to begin over with a clear slate.
Lance Leipold led Kansas to its first Top 25 end since 2007. (Joe Camporeale / USA Today)
External candidates
Kansas’ Lance Leipold has labored miracles in Lawrence. He gained six Division III nationwide titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater, led Buffalo — one in all the hardest FBS jobs — into the Top 25 after which resurrected Kansas, the worst Power 5 program. The Jayhawks went from 2-10 to 6-7 to 9-4 over three seasons. They ranked No. 23 in the closing AP ballot of the 2023 season and beat Oklahoma for the first time in a era. The 59-year-old has Midwestern roots, having grown up in Wisconsin. He is aware of learn how to construct a tradition, play bodily soccer and do rather more with much less. Kansas hadn’t gained greater than three video games in a season in 11 years earlier than Leipold arrived.
The undeniable fact that he’s nonetheless in Lawrence ought to make Kansas the greatest winner of the yr’s teaching carousel up to now. The Athletic reported on Sunday that Leipold withdraw from the Washington head coach search earlier than Jedd Fisch was employed.
Kansas State’s Chris Klieman, like Leipold, got here from profitable massive in the decrease divisions of soccer. He gained 4 FCS titles at North Dakota State. The 56-year-old led the Wildcats to the Big 12 title in 2022, going 10-4. This previous yr, the Wildcats had been 9-4 and had a second consecutive top-20 end. Klieman has an excellent scenario at Okay-State below athletic director Gene Taylor, with whom he labored beforehand, however the probability to leap to a better-resourced, blue-blood program in the Big Ten is likely to be very tempting.
LSU’s Brian Kelly jumped from South Bend to Baton Rouge to attempt to higher his probabilities at profitable a nationwide title. Kelly had a powerful debut season in Baton Rouge in 2022, going 10-4 and profitable the SEC West. This previous season, expectations had been a lot greater and the Tigers went 10-3, nevertheless it felt disappointing given that they had Heisman winner Jayden Daniels at quarterback and a ton of key gamers again. They had been dreadful on protection, bought blown out by Florida State in the opener, gave up 55 in a loss to Ole Miss and had just one win over a ranked opponent, Missouri.
Kelly, 62, is a extremely good coach, however the bar in Baton Rouge is extremely excessive. The final three coaches there all gained nationwide titles. Making it to a 12-team College Football Playoff however not profitable a title gained’t lower it. The match with him in Louisiana has appeared odd, even weird, from the second he arrived. He now has to overtake his teaching employees. Top recruits nonetheless need to come to LSU, however I’ve heard a lot of chatter that if he may get in on Michigan, he’d in all probability go for it. Kelly spent nearly twenty years in the state of Michigan whereas teaching at Grand Valley State. How enticing would he be relative to Michigan’s different choices? I’m slightly skeptical at this level.
Harbaugh could not have been for everyone, however all the folks inside Michigan — particularly his gamers — love him for his authenticity. With Kelly, it looks as if you is likely to be speaking about the polar reverse.
(Top picture of Sherrone Moore: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
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