Retaining Sherrone Moore
The more I look at Michigan's success, the more I get nervous about not retaining Sherrone Moore after this season (should Harbaugh stay).
What he did against OSU and PSU in my mind is nothing short of remarkable and you have to start giving this guy much of the credit for the development in O-Line play and play calling. Will also add that it seems players absolutely love him.
My fear is that no matter how much money Michigan finds for him this offseason, he's going to have a lot of options for HC vacancies and I think letting him walk would really set the team back. Of course, if Harbaugh leaves he would be a top candidate if not the first choice for the HC vacancy. Anything else Michigan would be able to do to keep him warm for a few years?
November 28th, 2023 at 1:15 PM ^
Anything else Michigan would be able to do to keep him warm for a few years?
November 28th, 2023 at 1:50 PM ^
Literally laughed during a work meeting after seeing this.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:30 PM ^
This cracked me up too, but also... Moore should get paid a lot more!
Top 5 assistant coaches in FBS all make ~2 million per year, Sherrone Moore makes ~1.2 million per year.
November 28th, 2023 at 4:17 PM ^
So he will get at least $1.5m this year with the bonuses noted in that article ($50k for each regular season win over 8, plus $100k for having a top 2 B1G scoring offense).
And I still agree with paying him more.
November 28th, 2023 at 4:44 PM ^
Let's be honest he should probably get a decent amount of Harbs bonuses too
November 28th, 2023 at 1:15 PM ^
It’s good to have coaches that other schools want. Losing him may be inevitable.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:47 PM ^
Hate to agree with this as much as I do, but he deserves a shot at his own gig now. The 3 games down the stretch only further my opinion. I want Michigan to have nice things, but Moore is fully grown into a great head coach candidate, and I want to get what he is due because he has earned it.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^
Urbz was touting his praises on B1G. Seemed like he was genuinely impressed and that he enjoyed Sherrone having fun with it. Also probably hoping someone comes along and makes him a big offer.
Having said that, being an OC or a DC at Michigan is an awesome gig. When you think of our recent success, the level of talent you get to recruit / coach, not having all of the head coaching responsibilities on your plate. If Sherrone wants to be an HC somewhere I don't begrudge him. But then he would have to compete for Michigan and other top programs for players.
The grass isn't always greener...
November 29th, 2023 at 12:59 AM ^
Agreed. I believe he deserves a shot to run a program somewhere, especially after what he achieved this year.
I actually searched for a post about Sherrone Moore getting a head coaching opportunity elsewhere, so I could try to get the nightmare I had last night off my chest. I don't want to dream it again tonight, as I slept terrible afterwards. I dreamt that Ohio State fired Day and hired Sherrone.
Let me just say that I don't think that would happen. I'm sure I dreamt it because I was thinking about Mattison and Al Washington while laying in bed.
Tonight, I'm going to think happy thoughts. I will instead think of how great things will be for the three weeks after the Wolverines beat the Hawkeyes for yet another Big Ten Championship!!
Go Blue!
November 28th, 2023 at 1:17 PM ^
He’s done a great job but Harbaugh has also been incredible at picking assistants in the last few years. I am confident he will replace Moore with great coaches if he gets plucked. This is the price of being an elite program.
I am much, much more nervous about retaining Harbaugh. I am really hoping he signs the extension ASAP. Schefter reports 7-10 NFL jobs will have openings and I worry that the sign witch hunt pushes Harbaugh to leave.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:35 PM ^
Harbaugh isn't going anywhere.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:36 PM ^
Yes, every ear in the NFL about 20-25% of the HC churn over.
But are they any good? Doubt Harbaugh will jump at any bad spots.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:43 PM ^
Harbaugh won’t jump to the NFL because of the NCAA. If he jumps, it’s because he wants to. He’s literally the last guy that would allow anyone to force him to do anything.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:51 PM ^
John Harbaugh has been incredible at picking assistants in the last few years (McDonald and Minter). I absolutely love this connection. What other school has this kind of connection with a pro team?
I think Harbaugh is now on a mission to make sure players get paid. He can't do that in the NFL. I think he stays and continues his crusade against the NCAA.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^
I feel like it's a good connection for both the Ravens and the Wolverines. John can send young assistants or analysts that he feels need some seasoning and then hire them back as coordinators when a spot is open and they are ready. Plus having a college program running a very similar defensive scheme allows them to draft guys who don't need to learn their system.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:17 PM ^
Mike Hart Stepps up. None of it matters if we don't pay Harbaugh
November 28th, 2023 at 1:44 PM ^
Assuming we keep Harbaugh and lose Moore, my best guess is Hart and Campbell get co-OC and Newsome gets OL, and we go find a new TE coach.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:38 PM ^
That is EXACTLY what I am thinking if Harbaugh stays and Moore gets a HC job. TE coach is a good spot for a young up and comer that is a top recruiter. (Side note: F Vince Marrow - don't even want to hear his name if we end up looking for a TE coach.)
IMO It would be a bigger loss to lose Minter after this year. His promotion to a HC job or NFL DC also seems inevitable in the near future. Unless somebody on the current staff has already "mastered" the scheme, I think we need at least another year to groom his successor. My original thought was this would be Partridge ......(fart noise)...... Maybe JayBaugh is ready to invite some more nepotism talk? (I know we also have Coach Clink and Coach Elston as options but I would prefer a younger, top recruiter all things being equal..)
November 28th, 2023 at 6:36 PM ^
Doesn't Clink already have the Co-DC title? If so, then I would think he's the next in line...and guess he's thinking the same thing.
November 28th, 2023 at 8:08 PM ^
Hart is already interviewing for HC gigs (Syracuse, Indiana)… so not sure how long we can hang onto him in his current role/Co-OC role.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:17 PM ^
Dont be nervous, be happy for him. A healthy program seeds its assistants into other HC gigs which makes other talented assistants want to come on board. This keeps the program fresh with new ideas and younger, energetic assistants and creates a fantastic pipeline of future head coaches and coordinators.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^
^^^This is how you sustain and grow the vast network.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^
And when Moore leaves for a head coaching job, he'll be all the better when he comes back as Jim's successor.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:57 PM ^
Yup. If he goes off and is successful then guess what? That's another name that could be the next Michigan HC when Jim retires. Sherrone is ready to take the next step if he wants it
November 28th, 2023 at 1:18 PM ^
Why would we want him to not move up? Reminiscent of Gary Moeller, let him go get head coaching experience with a program of his own, and come back to UM as its head coach when needed. More power to him if he wants to move on. If he wants to stay I’m sure money will not be an issue.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:36 PM ^
Moeller left for a HC job (Illinois), but got fired after three disastrous seasons and then came back here as an assistant. He spent another decade here as an assistant before getting promoted the head job.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:46 PM ^
I know that, and his firing pissed Bo off so much he ran the score to 70 on the Illini the year after they fired him. But it got him the head coaching experience needed to step into Bo’s job.
Although some (myself included) would say this season has given Sherrone the experience needed… 😂
November 28th, 2023 at 1:58 PM ^
I'm not sure that his tenure at Illinois (where he went 6-24-1) in the late 1970s had much to do with him getting the job when Bo retired a decade later. He was simply the obvious internal candidate, having served as both our DC and OC, remarkably enough.
Brady Hoke actually would be an example of a guy who left for a HC job and came back to take that position here ... although that didn't work out as we wanted.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:30 PM ^
I think Harbaugh is doing WAY WAY better than Bo in terms of coaching tree.
November 28th, 2023 at 3:04 PM ^
Harbaugh's doing well, but Bo cranked out:
- Lloyd Carr (National Championship)
- Les Miles (National Championship at LSU)
- Jack Harbaugh (Div I-AA National Championship at WKU)
- Bill McCartney (National Championship at Colorado)
- Gary Moeller (B1G Conference Championship)
That's just off the top of my head...none of Jim's guys have yet been able to match or exceed his own accomplishments, but Shaw kept Stanford going for a bit with Jim's foundation.
November 28th, 2023 at 3:41 PM ^
Don Nehlen at West Virginia made a run at the NC from West Virginia. He was OC to McCartney as DC.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:20 PM ^
Money from the Michigan side won’t be the issue, I believe we’ll give him what he wants. His future, however, is as a Head Coach, and I couldn’t be happier for him. I think he needs to take the right opportunity, though. Staying at Michigan won’t decrease his marketplace value, so he shouldn’t feel compelled to take the Indiana job, for example.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:06 PM ^
Agreed
There are very few good jobs tho in the current marketplace. Look at Purdon't. 11 players in the transfer portal already.
The schism between have's and have not's which we thought might narrow with NIL as player unhappy being backups go elsewhere, seems to only be increasing. Almost any good players at now not only a MAC or non P5 school but a Wake Forest, Michigan State (see Coleman, Keon), Purdue, Cal, Boston College, Kansas State, Stanford, and similar is going to be recruited even when they are on their own teams to leave by $$$. Hell Western Michigan is basically AAA baseball for Fleck at Minnesota.
It's really going to be difficult for these coaches who are getting their first gig at a smaller program who once built programs over 3-4-5 years and then moved on to greener pastures to show out as every player is a free agent every single day of the year and there is no salary cap.
Kind of makes what Fisch is doing at Zona interesting.
I think Moore did a great job and if Harbaugh leaves there is such a paucity of good candidates out there probably we just go with that route. But being a game day head coach for 4 days a year is very different than being a CEO who has to answer to players, parents, donors, high school coaches, admin, etc. That would be a good thing for Moore to experience.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:21 PM ^
As much as I would like to see Moore remain as OC, in the long run it might be better for him to take a HC position somewhere and gain some (more) experience as a HC, and then be a top candidate to come back when JH retires or heads to the League.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:50 PM ^
Agree otherwise you run the risk he'll turn out like Ryan Day /s
November 28th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^
You'd think he'd be at the top of many lists but I'm not really seeing him getting mentioned. Maybe the scandal is giving schools pause in regards to him. It shouldn't but it might.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:23 PM ^
If he gets a solid P5 HC opportunity he should take it. He can always come back in 20 tears when Harbaugh retires.
November 28th, 2023 at 2:02 PM ^
"He can always come back in 20 tears when Harbaugh retires."
Just 20 tears? I will cry 96 tears. And I might drink 96 beers, for all those old enough to remember Dick the Bruiser on WRIF.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:25 PM ^
I’m not worried. He will be handed the job when Harbaugh returns to the NFL this offseason
November 28th, 2023 at 1:39 PM ^
I think he's a great OC / OL coach, but I'd like him to get some HC experience before he's named the heir apparent. And that's not a knock on him, he did a great job as HC the past 3 weeks.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^
Has he considered piracy? I think he'd make a great Dread Pirate Roberts.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^
I want him to go to a program that offers a real chance at success, provided he can build it. Indiana is not that program. If that's all he has in terms of offers, I'd stay at Michigan if I were him. However, if he has an offer for a decent P5 program, especially in the Big 12 or ACC, he'd be a fool not to take it.
If Harbaugh decides to leave and Sherrone has already taken another job, I'd hire Jedd Fisch. If Harbaugh stays and Sherrone leaves, promote Hart.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^
If Sherrone leaves I would think Campbell will be the OC..he has experience already before he came here and can be QB/OC
November 28th, 2023 at 1:47 PM ^
I bet their first choice, aside from Moore, would be someone like DeBoer or Dan Lanning, although the latter would be a tough pull. Jedd would be a decent fallback.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^
I have a hunch that there is a handshake deal that he is our coach in waiting. If not, let him leave and get some more HC experience and if he truly loves Michigan then I think he will come back whenever JH retires.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:37 PM ^
The Head-Coach-in-Waiting agreement almost never works out in college football.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:47 PM ^
Ok....cool....see my second sentence....
November 28th, 2023 at 1:32 PM ^
If Harbaugh leaves, he should be first in line and given at least 2 years.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:35 PM ^
Moore WILL leave for a head coaching gig. I'm sure his phone is already ringing. It's not a matter of if, but when. The only way he stays is if Harbaugh leaves for the NFL and Warde offers him the top job.
And honestly, that's not such a bad thing. His success is a testament to the program's aptitude for putting smart and capable assistants in a position to realize their full potential (especially since he started out as a position coach and was promoted to OC). Other sought-after assistants will see his example as a reason to come to Michigan.
November 28th, 2023 at 1:41 PM ^
Yeah, I disagree almost entirely.
I doubt he leaves this year. Michigan will pay him accordingly, and he's only been coordinator for what, less than two years? I think he is smart enough to know that there's a lot he doesn't know. He performed admirably as interim HC, but I really don't know if he's quite ready for the full gig. I think he's best served by staying one more year (maybe two), and then spreading his wings.
And I'll eat all of my hats if Harbaugh leaves. He's undisputed king of the mountain now. He has said, several times that he would stay as long as Michigan wants him, which we clearly do.
Anyway...
Go Blue
Win all the games.