Following a disappointing 4-3 start to this season, Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore has been the cause of some disgruntlement among the program's fanbase over the stark difference in what the program has been in recent years and the product seen on the field now.
Moore's tenure as head coach is still in its infancy, but it's fair to question whether U-M athletic director Warde Manuel made the correct decision in promoting a 38-year-old, first-time head coach to replace one of the game's best in Jim Harbaugh and hand him the keys to one of the biggest programs in the sport.
If Michigan's season continues on its current trajectory, finding a replacement for Moore should be at least on the table. It's an uncomfortable thought, and one that is entirely unfair to Moore — given the little time he would have had to build the program according to his vision — but it's one Manuel needs to at least explore and be open to. Even if he doesn't intend to make a move, an athletic director should always have an eye on the coaching market and have a contingency plan for the unexpected.
I think it's fair to call what we've seen from Michigan through seven games "unexpected".
The Wolverines have one of the worst offenses in all of college football, due in large part to shuffling three starting quarterbacks who have all fallen well short of what is expected from a Michigan QB. Furthermore, Michigan's defense has regressed far more than what's acceptable given the NFL talent it boasts in guys like Will Johnson, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, among others.
Those reasons alone aren't enough to make a quick move away from Moore, so here's another: Michigan's biggest rival isn't going anywhere, and it's in-state rival is getting better in a hurry.
Barring some unforeseen and catastrophic circumstance, Ohio State will remain among the best programs in the sport for the foreseeable future. The Buckeyes routinely recruit top five classes and are built to win year in and year out, regardless of the talent they lose to the NFL every season. Head coach Ryan Day has been heavily scrutinized over the last three seasons for the losses to Michigan and in other big games, but he hasn't allowed some major drop off from what the program was under Urban Meyer.
Meanwhile, Michigan State is off to a surprisingly strong first season under new head coach Jonathan Smith, who has a track record of taking overlooked high school prospects, developing them, and building a hard-nosed team capable of beating anyone on any given Saturday. This year's MSU team isn't ready to do that yet, as proven in blowout losses to Oregon and Ohio State, but there's been clear improvement from what the Spartans had been the previous two years under Mel Tucker. It's much, much to early to suggest Smith will be a second-coming of Mark Dantonio for Michigan State, but that track record of development fits the Dantonio-model for success in East Lansing.
The strength of one rival and the ascension of another puts more pressure on Michigan to be absolutely certain that they've got the right head coach leading their football program.
Moore was one of Harbaugh's best assistant coaches, but was a tight ends coach just six years ago. He moved quickly up the ranks to offensive line coach, then co-offensive coordinator and eventually the solo OC. Moore's rise to head coach has been meteoric, but a major factor in his promotion was the belief it would create continuity for the program in the wake of Harbaugh's departure.
That continuity has failed.
Very little remains of what Harbaugh built at Michigan. Most of the blame for that falls at Harbaugh's feet, not Moore's, but it calls into question what the plan was here. If so much of what had been established in Ann Arbor was going to be stripped away anyway, why promote an assistant from within the program? Did Manuel believe Moore would hold on to more of Harbaugh's staff? Guys like strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert and cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale? If Manuel and Moore did expect to hold on to more of those coaches, it was a costly miscalculation. If they didn't expect to, again, why make a head coaching decision centered around continuity?
An argument can be made that the staff Moore has hired at Michigan needs time to gel and build chemistry. That's reasonable, but the early returns have left much to be desired.
Put bluntly, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale looks like a significant downgrade from Jesse Minter. Same goes for defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan from Clinkscale. Offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell was a valuable recruiter and quarterbacks coach under Harbaugh, but hasn't inspired confidence in his new role as Michigan's playcaller. Offensive line coach Grant Newsome was praised by Harbaugh and others in Schembechler Hall as a future star in the coaching ranks, but the Wolverines' offensive line has taken a significant step back this season as well.
Furthermore, Moore's first hired replacement for defensive line coach Mike Elston — Gregg Scruggs — had to resign less than a month after being hired following an OWI arrest. Whether true in quality or not, it's hard not to look at current D-line coach Lou Esposito as "the second choice" after Scruggs.
All of these questions and concerns are valid. The staff in place was hired by Moore. The steep dropoff in Michigan's quality of play has occurred under Moore's watch. Should a head coach get more than one year to prove himself? Absolutely, no question. Should Michigan move on after one season if a better option emerges or is available? You bet. This is major college football, and Michigan is one of the blue bloods of the sport.
If there's an experienced and proven head football coach out there who has interest in the Michigan job, Manuel and Michigan should at least explore the option and possibility. Manuel should be currently gauging interest from Indiana's Curt Cignetti, who has led the Hoosiers to a 7-0 record and a No. 13 ranking in his first season in Bloomington. The same can be said for Kansas State's Chris Klieman, Iowa State's Matt Campbell, maybe even Ole Miss's Lane Kiffin.
Those are just a few hypothetical examples, but the larger point is that Manuel and Michigan should not be beholden to Moore just because he's in his first season as head coach. If Manuel remains confident Moore is the right guy to rebuild Michigan, compete for and win championships, you give him the necessary time to do that. No question.
With that said, there's a lot of doubt permeating the fanbase on whether Moore is capable of leading Michigan back to that level. Athletic directors shouldn't make decisions based on the emotions of their fanbase. That's asinine. However, if Manuel has even an inkling of that doubt himself, it's his job to at least make preliminary inquisitions on other options. Again, it's part of an athletic director's job to have contingency plans in place for the unexpected.
The thought of replacing Moore after just one season isn't a comfortable one, nor is it fair to him seven games into his tenure. He's had very little time to establish himself, get acclimated with his new position and shift Michigan in the direction he ultimately wants to lead the program. For all we know currently, Moore may become an excellent head coach down the road. With that said, it's Manuel's job to be forward-thinking and have a different plan in place if it would be beneficial to the football program.
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