Jim Harbaugh did everything Michigan fans wanted the former Wolverines star quarterback to do when he returned to Ann Arbor to take over his alma mater’s football program. He ended hated rival Ohio State’s series dominance and turned the tables; he turned Michigan into a Big Ten juggernaut; then he led Michigan to its first win in nearly 30 years A national champion.
Now, not surprisingly, Harbaugh is meeting with an NFL team again after three years of considering a return to the NFL. He will begin Monday’s meeting with the Los Angeles Chargers, opening up the very real possibility that he will now leave a storied program and one of the best jobs in college sports. If he leaves, who will Michigan turn to next?
obvious path
that would be promotion Badgers offensive coordinator Sherron Moore.
Moore has emerged as a strong candidate, especially after the final month of the regular season. The 37-year-old is still young, but he proved more than capable when he stepped in to coach Michigan late in the 2023 season after the Big Ten suspended Harbaugh during the toughest stretch of the Wolverines’ schedule. This job. Moore led the team to a win over top-10 Penn State in a very hostile environment, performed well on the road against Maryland, and then continued Michigan’s dominance against the Buckeyes. The team loves Moore; spend some time with the program and you’ll see his impact is huge.
“I almost walked away,” offensive lineman Trevor Keegan, one of the team’s leaders, told me about an hour after Michigan won the national championship. “The recruiting process is a dangerous thing. Everybody tells you how good you are. You’re going to start in the first grade. As an 18-year-old kid, I wasn’t the most mature person. I didn’t play. I was a little bit off. Couldn’t love football anymore. Going into Schembechler Hall was a bit of a hassle for me. Coach Moore came in and changed my whole outlook on life and football. He made me fall in love with football all over again. I can’t thank him enough. He was just a head-scratcher. Guy who works. He started out as a tight ends coach and now he’s an OC with a head coaching offer.”
Moore, a Kansas native who played at Oklahoma State, was well-liked by his fellow players and coaches. I would be surprised if he didn’t get the job. There are a few relatively similar situations that can be pointed out – most notably Ryan Day taking over at Ohio State after Urban Meyer left for the NFL, and Marcus Freeman taking over at Brian Kelly He took over at Notre Dame after transferring to LSU. Day’s record is 56-8, although Buckeye fans are not happy with the losing streak against Michigan these days. Freeman is 19-8, and it’s too early to truly know if this is the right move for the Irish. Continuity and how players feel about the move are important factors, but both must be fit to work.
However, the overall results of promoting from within key positions after a head coach departs have been mostly positive.
After Bobby Bowden retired, Florida State promoted Jimbo Fisher, and it worked out great for the Seminoles – Fisher led them to a national championship. After Harbaugh left the NFL a decade ago, Stanford promoted David Shaw. This also worked out well, although the program later regressed under Shaw. Bret Bielema took over for Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez and things are going well. Lincoln Riley replaced Bob Stoops at Oklahoma State, and the Sooners have been playing at a high level.
After Mike Bellotti stepped down, Chip Kelly took Oregon to another level, then Mark Helfrich led the Ducks to the national championship game, although the Ducks It didn’t take long to get into trouble. Conversely, the previous generation, Bob Davie, was less than stellar (one top-20 season in five years) when he took over for Lou Holtz to coach Notre Dame. Jimmy Lake also wasn’t promoted after Chris Peterson retired in Washington a few years ago.
The only thing that might give Michigan brass pause is whether Moore is connected to the ongoing NCAA sign-stealing scandal investigation. If the investigation finds that Moore, who had no connection to the scheme, was involved in some way, Michigan State may want to start from scratch.
Lance Leipold leads Kansas to its first top-25 finish since 2007. (Joe Camporeale/USA Today)
external candidate
Kansas State player Lance Leipold Lawrence worked wonders. He won six Division III national championships with Wisconsin-Whitewater, led Buffalo (one of the toughest jobs in the FBS) to a top-25 ranking, and then resurrected Kansas State, the worst Power 5 program. In three seasons, the Jayhawks went from 2-10 to 6-7 to 9-4. They were ranked No. 23 in the final AP poll for the 2023 season and beat Oklahoma State for the first time in a generation. The 59-year-old is of Midwestern descent and grew up in Wisconsin. He knows how to build a culture, how to play physical football and how to do more with less. In the 11 years before Leipold’s arrival, Kansas had never won more than three games in a season.
The fact that he’s still in Lawrence should make Kansas the biggest winner in the coaching rotation so far this year. Competitor It was reported Sunday that Leipold withdrew from Washington’s head coaching search before Jedd Fish was hired.
Chris Kleiman, Kansas State UniversityLike Leipold, he also had big wins in the lower leagues. He won four FCS titles at North Dakota State. The 56-year-old led the Wildcats to a 10-4 record and a Big 12 title in 2022. Last year, the Wildcats posted a 9-4 record and their second straight top-20 finish. Kleiman is in a good situation under Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor, who has worked with Taylor before, but the opportunity to jump to a better-resourced blue-blood program in the Big Ten could be very Tempting.
LSU’s Brian Kelly Jumped from South Bend to Baton Rouge to try to increase his chances of winning a national championship. Kelly had an impressive first season in Baton Rouge in 2022, going 10-4 and winning the SEC West Division title. Expectations were much higher last season, with the Tigers going 10-3, but considering they have Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels at quarterback and a plethora of key players returning, This is disappointing. Their defense was abysmal, getting blown out by Florida State in the opener, giving up 55 points in a loss to Old Mississippi, and winning just one game against ranked opponent Missouri.
Kelly, 62, is a very good coach, but the standard in Baton Rouge is very high. The last three coaches have all won national championships. Making it to the 12-team College Football Playoff and not winning a championship doesn’t tell the whole story. From the moment he arrived, his adjustment to Louisiana seemed strange, even bizarre. He must now overhaul his coaching staff. The top recruit still wants to come to LSU, but I’ve heard a lot of people say that if he can get into Michigan, he might go. Kelly spent nearly two decades at Michigan State while coaching at Grand Valley State University. How attractive is he relative to Michigan’s other options? I’m a little skeptical now.
Harbaugh may not be for everyone, but everyone at Michigan — especially his players — loves him for his authenticity. To Kelly, you seem to be talking about the exact opposite.
(Top photo of Sheron Moore: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
