CC: How does Alabama having a vacancy affect Michigan?

Submitted by TheCube on January 10th, 2024 at 7:32 PM

Does it make Harbaugh more likely to stay? Does it make a potential coaching search more difficult if Michigan were not to pursue an in-house option? 
Is there a domino effect with assistants being poached? 
 

Discuss - as WD would say. 

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olm_go_blue

January 10th, 2024 at 11:10 PM ^

Year 4 he was 8 and 5. I assume you mean year 6 (10-3), not year 7 (9-5). He took over a top 5, 12-1 program. 

He had 2 losses 3 times in 9 years (pre-covid), never better than 2 losses. 3, 4, and 5 loss seasons in a weak pac-10 until three 8/9 loss seasons. It wasn't just stanford anymore, it had a #1 pick and was humming. I really don't get this narrative.

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Speed_in_Space

January 10th, 2024 at 10:50 PM ^

LOL, SQ. Look, I get why people are worried about Moore’s ability to take over for Jim and that’s very legitimate.

You just asked the single goofiest question a Michigan fan could ever ask. It’s like you completely forgot the transition from Bo to Mo to Lloyd.

Shaw did well but flamed out late because recruiting at Stanford sucks and he got tired. Lincoln Riley carried the torch at Oklahoma from Bob Stoops and did well. As much as we mock Day, 11-1 regular season with a six point loss to the national champions on their own turf isn’t complete garbage even if it’s fun to mock them for being soft. Jimbo Fisher wasn’t completely terrible at FSU taking over at FSU up until the recruiting and administration issues did him in. Dabo Swinney was a little known WR coach that did well and built a culture at Clemson. 
 

 

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olm_go_blue

January 11th, 2024 at 11:16 AM ^

Ok, and shaw wasn't up to the task. He did pretty good - in hindsight, was there not someone who could have maintained at a higher level for longer? Still not sure how he is being used as the example to model after. 

There are much stronger parallels that have already been made in this thread, shaw isn't one of them. Just my opinion, I've provided the stats to back it up.

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The Oracle 2

January 10th, 2024 at 8:26 PM ^

Making “maintaining the culture” the top priority in choosing Harbaugh’s successor is a recipe for disaster. Maybe Moore would be great, but that calculation should be the only consideration. The biggest component of culture is winning. Moore would get a residual carryover, but if he’s not up to the top job, and he’s never had the chance to prove he is, the culture will quickly erode. Moore has done a good job coordinating a fairly bland but successful offense, but not one that’s been particularly dynamic or among the best in the country. OSU with Day as the coordinator had an elite offense, and he did get that carryover, but that didn’t mean he was the best choice to succeed Meyer.

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olm_go_blue

January 11th, 2024 at 11:19 AM ^

Agree. Elite coordinator abilities are usually important as a HC (on one side of the ball), look how much harbaugh is involved in run game or Saban was with dbs. Can always be a ceo type, but generally first time coaches aren't CEOs. Even Andy Reid called plays forever.

Moore might be the right answer, but it's shouldn't be a slam dunk /no other conversations. 

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SiKa7x

January 10th, 2024 at 7:41 PM ^

I think the better discussion would just be about Bama's vacancy in general. Like who do they go after and who feels like trying to live up to THAT standard. All i can say is good luck and God's speed!

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jdemille9

January 11th, 2024 at 8:54 AM ^

Feels like Dan Lanning or Dabo make the most sense. Though Clemson fell off a cliff once they didn't have a generational QB talent like Watson or Lawrence, so not sure his star is as bright as it once was. 

If I was Alabama I'd take a run at Sark, but personally I don't see how the two jobs are really any different. Big name school with deep pockets and tradition in a recruiting hot bed and now the same conference. 

My money would be on Dan Lanning, has some big time coaching experience and has the SEC pedigree so he can recruit down there and he's young. 

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SalvatoreQuattro

January 10th, 2024 at 7:42 PM ^

Seeing as Oregon and Washington are going into the Big Ten on half shares I don’t see this impacting Michigan in anyway.

DeBoer seems like the best fit for Michigan. Offensive mind who beats his rivals while having physically rough teams. Familiar with area and region. Number 1 candidate.

Lanning seems like an enormous douchebag. Has a large buyout too.

If not DeBoer I’d look at Norvell at FSU or Leipold at Kansas.

Sherrone’s offense was limited and they can’t seem to recruit elite WRs. Minter is the better coordinator. I like Sherrone, but he is whelming as an OC and I don’t know if you can justify that going into a more challenging conference environment. Michigan needs a proven commodity.

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Vote_Crisler_1937

January 10th, 2024 at 9:39 PM ^

I haven’t watched a lot of Washington but didn’t see any toughness in the NC game. I envied their finesse passing game but outside of a couple screens they didn’t block very well to my untrained eye. Johnson got pretty beat up this season and Penix barely survived the game in one piece. 
 

That is my only concern about DeBoer but it’s a big one. 

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Ham

January 11th, 2024 at 2:58 AM ^

FWIW, none of the coaches you mentioned are “proven commodit[ies].”

DeBoer has had 2 great seasons at Washington, but with players recruited by Chris Petersen/Jimmy Lake (including their 3 NFL-caliber receivers) + Penix (an NFL-caliber quarterback who only had 1 year with DeBoer as his OC at Indiana). Plus, Washington hardly dominated their games this year. Washington only beat 3-9 ASU because of an 89-yard pick-6 halfway through the 4th-quarter when ASU was about to build on their lead because DeBoer’s offense could only muster 3 field goals all game. They also only beat 3-9 Stanford by 9, 8-5 USC by 10 (while giving up 42 points), 8-5 Utah by 7, 8-5 Oregon State by 2 (Washington scored 0 points in the 2nd half and Penix only threw for 162 yards all game), and 5-7 Washington State by 3 (on a last second field goal). I’m not saying he shouldn’t be considered if Harbaugh leaves, but acting like he’s a slam dunk is simply being a prisoner of the moment. His sample size is simply too small to crown him like that.

Dan Lanning has also only been at Oregon for 2 years and has underperformed given Oregon’s talent level. His in-game coaching miscues single-handedly cost Oregon their game at Washington this year.

Mike Norvell had a good year this year in an increasingly awful ACC, but his previous 3 years were exceedingly underwhelming. He’s also only spent one year as a coach not in the South/Southwest (in 2011 as a co-OC at Pitt). 

Lance Leipold is the 2024-version of 2020 Matt Campbell. A former MAC coach who took over a bottom-feeding Big XII school and had a couple of respectable years there while never truly contending for anything. He’s also about to turn 60. He’s spent a career at small programs save for a couple years he spent as an assistant at Nebraska at the turn of the century. Would he be able to manage a sudden jump to a ginormous program like Michigan (and all the expectations that go with it)?

I’m not saying Moore would be a slam dunk by any means, but I think it would be unwise for Michigan to consider certain coaches ahead of him simply because they are currently head coaches as if that somehow guarantees success.

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olm_go_blue

January 11th, 2024 at 11:25 AM ^

Deboer has a pretty well documented record of winning everywhere he has been. He took over a 4-8 team and took them on a 20 game win streak and appearance in NC in 2 years. Let's not discount what he has done. His qb has back to back 4500 yard seasons and he had 3 nfl wrs, those are awesome stats. We won't have a generational D every year and will need a more dynamic offense going forward.

The rest of what you wrote makes sense regarding other "hot" candidates.

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ShawarmaChameleon

January 10th, 2024 at 7:42 PM ^

Jim’s potential decison obviously vastly more important. Could be some effect down the road. But going to depend on who Alabama hires and chain reaction stemming from that with staffing hires etc. Potential for portal to get pretty wild. 

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mgoblue78

January 10th, 2024 at 7:45 PM ^

Let's see.

Option #1. Jim signs a lifetime contract. Alabama without Saban might miss the 12 team playoff maybe 2 or 3 times tops in the next decade. We miss it 2 or 3 times tops in the next decade. We win it all once; so do they.

Option #2. Jim leaves for the NFL. We hire one of the 3 or 4 leading candidates. Same result.

Any questions?

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NewBlue7977

January 10th, 2024 at 7:47 PM ^

Is there any real possibility that a coach on Michigan's staff would make a lateral move to any other program knowing Michigan pays their staff well?  Unless it's Hart, Clinksdale, Bellamy, etc becoming coordinators, I can't see any of them leaving.  

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lebriarjr

January 10th, 2024 at 7:48 PM ^

Dumb post honestly it has nothing to do with Harbaugh staying or going.  
 

If JH goes to the NFL and to win a SB, 〽️ will be fine.  If he goes 〽️ needs to hire Minter as the new HC, he is young and is brilliant.  To me he’s a better choice than Moore. 

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dbrhee

January 10th, 2024 at 7:53 PM ^

Do not be surprised that Alabama reach out to Urbie. Though I do not think it would be possible, the more I thought about (availability and the admission), Urbie probably could be the next best thing for them..

 

The next question for me is could we pouch of their commits? Since a coach change is to occur, they could get out of their letter of intent.. 

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WayOfTheRoad

January 10th, 2024 at 7:54 PM ^

Not much that I see but you never know. Maybe a coach we would face next year is at Bama? As for players, I don't know but I doubt it. Maybe some guys lower on their chart that won't want a bajillion dollars to transfer? 

One of my first feelers would be to Dan Lanning. Footprint guy, young, seems to get it. Yes, he is at Nike University but this is the Alabama job.

DeBoer gets a feeler.

Dabo clearly would have gotten the offer already if this was 2018. Now? Still high odds but his star had faded a bit. 

Interesting timing and why this morning I wrote that just about every coach should wait a bit in both CFB and NFL. More jobs will open but Bama and Seattle opening up hours after writing that change the entire landscape. 

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charblue.

January 10th, 2024 at 7:57 PM ^

The head coach opening at Alabama only impacts Michigan to the extent that any of its players decide to hit the portal and decide to leave over the next 30 days.

Not counting on that occurring though the Buckeyes appear to believe they are going to be the next logical move for a bunch of Alabama roster moves and that they are building a super team in the process. 

 

 

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SF Wolverine

January 10th, 2024 at 8:26 PM ^

Not much. Although, if Lanning ends up at ‘Bama, Oregon might not come into the B10 as strong, esp since they are also losing Nix.  Doubt we pull any displaced ‘Bama players; sure the Ole Miss/LSU/Miami bagmen are already on the move.

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