In a massive turn of events before the conclusion of the 2025 Michigan Wolverines football season, the university has fired head coach Sherrone Moore with cause for an inappropriate relationship with a staff
member. The news from Wednesday night sent ripples across the college football world, as many began to question who might fill the role.
After only two years as head coach, Moore will be remembered for the end of his regime coming with scandal, but also consecutive seasons where the team disappointed. A drop off was expected after Jim Harbaugh and nearly his entire staff left for the NFL, but two mediocre seasons where the talent on the field did not match the record at the end of the season had fans already questioning if Moore was the right fit.
Now, Athletics Director Warde Manuel and the university look to fill one of the most coveted positions in the sport. To be successful, here are three mistakes they cannot make again after the downfall of Sherrone Moore.
1. Hiring a coach with no experience
Let’s face it — Moore was learning on the fly. Yes, he filled in as the interim for Harbaugh and won big games in 2023, but Moore was not prepared for the full-time role, even with the big wins and support he received from his predecessor. Had Moore not been retained by Michigan after Harbaugh departed, he would have been lucky to get a head coaching gig anywhere in the country.
Instead, Michigan took its shot and made the hire. In just about every game he coached, he relied on the talent of his teams to win games. The Wolverines had three Top-15 talents in the NFL Draft, and five total in the first two rounds of the draft. Then, credit to him, he recruited extremely well, earning commitments from star players like Bryce Underwood, Andrew Marsh, Justice Haynes and others.
The team beat Ohio State in 2024 with the philosophy that Harbaugh implemented in his tenure. In almost every other big game Michigan was severely out-coached, including ranked losses to Oregon, Indiana, Oklahoma, USC and Ohio State. Otherwise, the Wolverines won games because of the roster, not the coaching.
The expectation can be and should be the Wolverines are College Football Playoff contenders every year. A large reason for missing the mark the last two seasons is coaching errors that held this team back. If it happens once or twice early on, there is some leeway. But Moore consistently did not improve. It was a problem that kept them out of the CFP this year in what may have been their easiest conference schedule in a decade. Heading into a 2026 schedule with Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, and Indiana looming, a first-time head coach would run into a huge barrier to success early.
2. Hiring a coach affiliated with Jim Harbaugh
I loved everything about Harbaugh’s time at Michigan. The antics, the catch phrases, creating a player-led culture, winning a national championship. It was glorious. Every moment, every challenge, it was so much fun to watch unfold, especially when he started to turn things around in 2021.
It makes sense to want to hold onto that, and that’s what the Moore hire was and how the fanbase justified the decision. It’s why Michigan brought in Wink Martindale and had Biff Poggi return because of the relationships they had with him.
But this is no longer Harbaugh’s team or program. Almost every player who had a role on the team in 2025 that was around in 2023 was a rotational piece during that championship run. This should be the end of holding onto “the good old days” and the culture Harbaugh established.
Harbaugh is a unicorn, as he’s found success wherever he has gone. But look what has happened in the aftermath, whether it was Stanford, the 49ers, or now what’s going on at Michigan. It’s time for a new regime, a new focus, and a new shift in what it means to play football for the University of Michigan. The time has come to move on from Harbaugh.
3. Hiring a coach with a lack of offensive knowledge
On the field, what Michigan has missed the most since Harbaugh departed was his offensive mind. Yes, Moore was the offensive coordinator under him and surely learned some things. But Harbaugh’s experience as a play caller, leader and developer of quarterbacks was far beyond any other coaches’ years since he left.
Call it Moore, Kirk Campbell, Chip Lindsey, Steve Casula or the inexperience at quarterback, but Michigan hasn’t had anything close the past two seasons. I said it at the end of the Ohio State game and I’ll say it again here — I don’t feel any more confident about Michigan’s offensive scheme today than I did a year ago at this same time. That’s damning for what they have (or maybe have not) accomplished in Ann Arbor in 365 days.
Importantly, every player for the Wolverines is up for grabs as of today. They’ll not only have the transfer window from Jan. 2-16 like every other player in the country, but Michigan’s roster will also have a 15-day transfer window when a new coach is hired, starting five days after the new coach is officially announced. That gives the program very little time to find the right person to take over if they hope for some overlap with those windows.
At the peak of that is Underwood, Andrew Marsh, Jordan Marshall, Andrew Babalola, Ty Haywood, and the No. 11 recruiting class in the country highlighted by five-star running back Savion Hiter. The Wolverines cannot afford to lose the momentum they’ve built from an offensive talent perspective, and it starts with appeasing their quarterback by hiring someone with a proven offense that has worked with premiere quarterbacks. That is the direction they have to go for this team to be successful in 2026.
