A look at Sherrone Moore's resume
It sounds like Harbaugh will likely be staying with Michigan, but I wanted to examine Sherrone Moore's resume to see if there are any nuggets that might project success in an HC role.
Here's a quick look at his stops before Michigsn in 2018:
2012 Louisville as TEs coach under Charlie Strong, went 11-2
2013 Louisville as TEs coach under Strong, went 12-1
An article on the TE group from that era gives Moore high praise, coaching up two transfers to become an historically high-performing unit.
2014 CMU as TEs under Dan Enos, went 7-6
2015 CMU retained as TEs by John Bonamego, went 7-5
2016 CMU as TEs under Bonamego, went 6-7
2017 CMU promoted to AHC/RC/TEs, went 8-5 and coached up Tyler Conklin who was one of the few NFL draftees from CMU who have had a lasting career not named Antonio Brown. Conklin was drafted in the fifth round by the Vikings and currently plays for the Jets.
2018 UM as TEs under Harbaugh, went 10-3. Coached McKeon and Zach Gentry. Gentry was drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 draft by the Steelers and still plays for them.
2019 UM as TEs, went 9-4. Sean McKeon and Eubanks were heavily featured, IIRC.
2020 haahahhahaahhaaha
2021 UM promoted to co-OC/OL, went 12-2, B1G champs. Erick All whooped PSUs ass. We beat OSUs ass. We ran over everyone including trampling OSU - thanks Hassan. Playoff berth. Wins Joe Moore award.
2022 UM as co-OC/OL, went 13-1, B1G champs. Erick All got hurt early on but both Schoonmaker and Colston Loveland are actual human animals. Our OL mauls everyone again. Corum nearly or outright wins the most boring Heisman-year ever without his knee bruise late against Illinois. Edwards runs through the largest holes ever opened in the Shoe, Loveland catch good, and we bitch slap the Suckeyes B2B. Playoff berth. Wins Joe Moore award again - should pry be called the Sherrone Moore award. Pry has another Jake Butt in Colston Loveland.
So... there's no debate - Sherrone Moore is an excellent coach. Every position he coaches becomes a highlight on the team in multi-year fashion, so he isn't flukey.
Key questions remain, does this translate to the HC position? If Harbaugh leaves for the NFL, would you want to take a risk for Moore's youth and OL/recruiting continuity?
I'm not an expert or football wonk at all, so the closest comparable I could find to Moore's trajectory is actually OSUs 2017-2022 OC, Kevin Wilson. His success at OSU speaks for itself, shadowed only by his abject failure at HCing Indiana from 2011-2016, where he cracked 4 conference wins just once, yikes. Let's see how Wilson does at Tulsa, but it doesn't seem like there's any correlation between your position background and HC success, so I'm not sure this comparable is helpful at all.
What do y'all think?
January 11th, 2023 at 2:40 PM ^
Monken has limited head coaching experience, but the experience he has is pretty impressive. He took over an 0-12 Southern Miss team and turned them into a 9-5 team by year three. Supposedly his departure to become the Buccanneers' OC was a stunner and a decision he made completely of his own accord. He also has Midwestern roots and has coached at EMU and GVSU but has spent enough time in the SEC to know how they do things and what we can learn from them to catch up to Georgia et al. Monken wouldn't be a bad hire for the next 6-7 years if we were to grab him right now.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:46 PM ^
DeBoer has a $10 million buyout, no real ties to Michigan, and the ability to read Three and Out. Great coach in a great spot at UW.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:52 PM ^
Precisely why we should hire him.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:41 PM ^
If Michigan is willing to pony up $10 million, maybe just throw it at Harbaugh.
I just really doubt that DeBoer would be interested this offseason. Maybe next year after Penix leaves, but even then the buy-out would remain, and Michigan might be a lot less attractive depending on what happens with Jadyn Davis.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
Are we still pretending that Three and Out is the authoritative version of what happened? We’re still buying that tear-jerker of a story that Rich Rodriguez was unfairly picked on for having a West Virginia accent … as opposed to, you know, being a sexual predator? Funny how Bacon left that bit of the story out.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
Whether it's authoritative isn't really relevant. The fact is that DeBoer would be coming in as a complete outsider to replace the guy that was supposed to be the Chosen One.
That said, my wife is from South Dakota. Those eastern accents can be pretty amusing.
January 11th, 2023 at 12:31 PM ^
I'd like him to stick around yeah. That'd be cool
January 11th, 2023 at 12:31 PM ^
Michigan is plan B for Harbaugh.
He likely waits until after Jan 17 to have a better understanding of what his offers will be.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:05 PM ^
At least the user name checks out here.
January 11th, 2023 at 5:07 PM ^
I see by the negs, that not many actually want the truth. Keep living in fairy tale land.
January 11th, 2023 at 12:32 PM ^
I don't think we would have much of a choice at this point. Settling for the best available outside hire well after the coaching carousel has stopped spinning doesn't strike me as a better option than promoting Moore.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:01 PM ^
Agreed. If the concern is lack of HC experience, bring on a former HC from Harbaugh's coaching tree as an analyst. It looks like Willie Taggart signed on at Colorado, so let's say David Shaw.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:21 PM ^
I get the sense that Shaw and Harbaugh aren't each other's biggest fans. Since Shaw became head coach at Stanford, I can't think of a single time that I ever heard either of them so much as mention the other. Also, there was a 24/7 article a while back with anonymous quotes about Harbaugh from other coaches, and one of the Pac-12 coaches said some things that weren't exactly glowing. The quote made it seem like the coach had worked with Harbaugh before, and Shaw was the only coach in the Pac-12 at the time who fit that criteria.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:36 PM ^
In this scenario, Harbaugh would be gone, so that may not be a problem. As long as he can help a first-time HC get up to speed with running the program (à la Phil Martelli), it would be sufficient.
January 12th, 2023 at 3:42 AM ^
I get the analogy, and somewhat agree. Of course, Coach Moore is unlikely to need the same level of orientation as Coach Howard got from 2019; he’s already been in those meetings, and has developed solutions to complex problems.
January 11th, 2023 at 12:34 PM ^
Great young coach. Qualified right now for a Central Michigan type of program, not the University of Michigan.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:44 PM ^
What I was gonna say. He sticks around 5 years, OK. Otherwise we can do better.
January 11th, 2023 at 12:38 PM ^
I want (at a minimum) for Sharrone to be at Michigan and the highest paid OLine coach in the country (including NFL). He's earned at least that in my view.
January 11th, 2023 at 7:12 PM ^
I agree. I would think that whatever leverage Harbaugh has now would be better spent on boosting assistant salaries and whatever facility and other infrastructure improvements that remain to made. I don't think he cares about his own salary as much as improving chances of winning and further building up the program.
January 11th, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
Being a successful head coach at the college level usually looks like one of two things. Either you are an incredible coordinator who still more or less functions as the coordinator, and your system gives you a competitive advantage
or
You're a good CEO.
Sherrrone doesn't appear to be the former (at least so far as we can tell with any degree of clarity) so the question is can he be the latter? With young coaches like Sherrone, it's always a crapshoot until they've run a program. He seems to be an excellent position coach, no doubt. He is an excellent recruiter, no doubt. Both things are inarguable. His coordinator chops are ask again later, as no one has any idea who is calling what outside the program. So you could give him the gig and he could turn out to be a great CEO. But you can't predict that off the back of his resume.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:20 PM ^
Exactly, could be Lincoln Riley (unique innovative system compared to his peers) or could be Mario Cristobal (apparently great recruiter and position coach, but HC may just be over his threshold). I would like to see at least one more season as a coordinator, and honestly would like him to get a HC spot for a couple years someplace else before being UM HC.
January 11th, 2023 at 12:51 PM ^
It would be quite a leap. Tough to learn on the job training at a place like Michigan. The unemployment line is littered with shiny new things. Tom Herman was a can't miss until he missed. Joe Brady was going to change the game until he didnt. Kliff Kingsbury was going to bring a style to the NFL they couldn't deal with. Gus Malzahn was running an unstoppable system, until he wasn't. Etc.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:05 PM ^
I'm not sure how this is any different/better than what Jay Harbaugh has done. So why does Moore get all the pub as the one that takes over for Jim? Plus why does everything seem to show he is coming back?
January 11th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^
Have to agree that in terms of settling to an underqualified, internal hire, Jay Harbaugh seems to be the one piecing together a resume that you would think develops a head coach. Success with different position groups, excellent recruiting, excels as the lead on special teams. So, let's just:
1. keep dad
2. get NIL and recruiting fixed in a big way
3. stretch Jay into some defensive coaching when the proper opportunity opens
4. get the younger kids and grandchildren in the pipeline
5. have a Harbaugh as coach forever !
(this will comfort me into my dotage as even in senility the RR experience will be causing pain).
January 11th, 2023 at 1:16 PM ^
No fan has any idea whether Moore or any other career assistant would make a good Head Coach, particularly at a program like Michigan’s. He’s never even been a sole OC.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:04 PM ^
We should add that no fan has any idea how any candidate would fair at U of M or elsewhere. If it were so easy to predict success coaching hires would not be a such a crap shoot.
January 11th, 2023 at 3:26 PM ^
Someone with prior head coaching experience, or who has at least been the sole offensive or defensive coordinator somewhere, has a more obvious track record. The way Michigan is set up, no one outside the program even knows how much involvement Moore has in play calling or other traditional OC duties.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:21 PM ^
I disagree with everyone here saying he's not done nearly enough to be considered for a major head job. I think he'd be the obvious choice to be HC in waiting for us.
January 12th, 2023 at 4:03 AM ^
Agree, CN. Ryan Walter shows out as a DC at Illinois and immediately becomes the B1G West champs’ head coach. No reason to think Moore can’t do something similar.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:25 PM ^
Brady Hoke was a good DL coach, successful head coach at lower level, and flopped at Michigan. Head coach at top tier school is a different animal. Prefer someone who has proven they can do it.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:35 PM ^
If JH goes (I think he stays and is using NFL to get better deal at UM), I'd be fine with promoting him to OC. I think we lose Weiss anyway to NFL if Jim goes. Hire David Shaw. He's a solid offensive mind who just seemed to get burned out at Stanford. If Saban can rehab former coaches, why not us?
Let Shaw run the O and give more duties to Mike Hart, perhaps add OL. Keep the rest of the staff as well.
I don't think we'd see much attrition with these moves and still in the running for Davis as a QB recruit.
Still hope this just ends up with JH coming back with a bigger deal and bigger buyout for him to leave but not fretting it. We are in far better shape as a staff and team as we were in December 2020 or even December 2014.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:50 PM ^
Are you saying hire Shaw as OC, or as HC?
I doubt there'd be any enthusiasm at all for Shaw as HC, given his last three non-Covid seasons were 4-8, 3-9, and 3-9, with conference records of 3-6, 2-7, and 1-8.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:29 PM ^
Shaw would be a disaster hire after the way his Stanford tenure ended. If he burned out at Stanford, why would giving him a higher-pressure job be a good idea?
January 11th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
Let's not reinforce the idea that running into stacked boxes and not developing an elite passing game is still a good idea.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:38 PM ^
To what extent was Sherrone responsible for the offensive strategy against TCU?
January 11th, 2023 at 1:40 PM ^
Is there much difference between Sherrone Moore's resume and Ryan Day before he took the OSU job? I know Day had a couple games as acting-HC when Urban was suspended for the Zach Smith situation, but wasn't Day a co-OC prior to that?
January 11th, 2023 at 2:31 PM ^
Hey now, Ryan Day coordinated mediocre offenses at BC and Temple for a few years.
January 11th, 2023 at 3:14 PM ^
Yes, Day's resume only says "Born on Third Base"
January 11th, 2023 at 1:46 PM ^
I vote for Harbaugh.
January 11th, 2023 at 1:48 PM ^
A Tight Ends coach, you say?
January 11th, 2023 at 2:10 PM ^
The transition should be
Moore HC
Hart Co OC/RB
Jaybaugh Co OC/TE
Newsome OL
January 11th, 2023 at 2:13 PM ^
Thinking that someone needs HC experience before being a HC at Michigan is an outdated way of thinking (Ryan Day, Lincoln Riley, Dabo Sweeny, Kirby Smart, Marcus Freeman) Experienced HC's can flame out just as easily (Rich Rod, Hoke).
The most important questions are:
-Can he run an organization? We coordinated the offense and one of the most complicated position groups. Evidence suggests yes.
-Can he recruit? Is considered amongst our very best.
-Can he hire talented assistances? No idea.
He would also make sense as Newsome could take of OL coaching and Weiss would likely leave. Moore would just need to hire a talented OC and maybe an experience AHC.
That being said, there could also be valuable candidates out there like Deboer who would make more sense but could be a risk to scatter our existing staff/players.
Truth is no man knows the future and if any one candidate will be successful.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
Imagine with all the momentum Michigan has built the last two years, then hiring an on staffer with zero HC experience? No chance
January 11th, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
If that staffer can maintain continuity and retain the players on the team, that might be preferable to blowing it up with a guy like Deboer who would radically change the scheme. Hell, if he's a good recruiter—and we know this is the case with Moore—it's not even that big of a risk as long as his initial contract is sane.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^
Historically, the best head coach candidates for elite schools come from guys that were successful head coaches at lower levels of college football. They tend to have the best hit rate historically. Guys like Saban, Meyer, Kelly, Tressel, and so on.
January 11th, 2023 at 4:44 PM ^
I am not sure that hokds up. Since the start of CFP (to keep sample size reasonable) these are the coaches who took their team to the CFB playoffs.
Coaches with successful HC experience:
-Nick Saban
-Brian Kelly
-Jim Harbaugh
-Urban Meyer
-Sonny Dykes
-Mark Dantonio
-Chris Petersen
Coaches without successful HC experience prior:
-Dabo Sweeney (no coordinator experience either, internal hire)
-Jimbo Fisher (internal hire)
-Ryan Day (internal hire)
-Lincoln Riley (internal hire)
-Mark Helfrich (internal hire)
-Kirby Smart
-Ed Orgeron (previous experience but not a record of success, Internal hire, no coordinator experience)
-Luke Fickle (1 year as Interim HC)
Summary:
-7 had successful HC experience, 8 did not.
-Kirby Smart is the only one who was neither a HC prior or internal hire.
-Both lists include 4 coaches with multiple appearances in the playoffs.
Thoughts:
HC experience is a bonus but I don't think it is as important as many fans believe.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
Gary Moeller went 6-24-3 at Illinois so go figure.
January 11th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
I think Headcoaching is a different animal.
Managing a whole program must be highly challenging, there´s tons of highly-qualified Coordinators that fail miserably when promoted.
I think the best route is for him to get some HC experience at a smaller program and make the leap once he has some seasons and success under his belt.
January 11th, 2023 at 3:27 PM ^
I could maybe see it, if this was 100% his offense and we averaged 50 points a game for multiple years. Even then I prefer guys who have shown they're a good Head Coach, preferably at more than one place. Ideally, it would be someone who started at something like the MAC level and turned a loser into a championship contender, then did the same at a high G5 or low P5 school.