On candidate Sherrone and the importance of soap opera in CFB
It's now abundantly clear that Ohio State, and maybe Ryan Day personally, was behind the Stalions leak. Michigan regents tweeted things like Happy Third Day of December. Dan Wetzel dropped the bomb that Catapult and one B1G school (cough) were under NCAA investigation. Every paysite has confirmed the New Hampshire PI angle. Etc etc.
It's also abundantly clear that the third base zinger drove Day insane. He pledged to hang 100 on Michigan and still hasn't hit it cumulatively in three years -- cumulatively.
Ryan Day was appointed Ohio State head coach because Urban Meyer disgraced himself and Kevin Wilson was ineligible due to his physical abuse of players at Indiana. Day was an anonymous OC at Boston College and Temple for eight years before Meyer scooped him up because he had been a GA for him at Florida.
Ryan Day inherited 100% of Meyer's logistical and operations teams. Every single off-field staffer is a Meyer holdover. Did you know this? Day has hired some coaches, sure -- like Al Washington (stinky), Kerry Coombs (stinky), Perry Eliano (stinky). They're all fired.
While Michigan has hit the portal for elite bespoke starters like Olu and Barner and Stewart, Day has whiffed on virtually all his portal additions. He took three OL last year and one saw the field, poorly at that.
Ryan Day was born on third base.
What does this have to do with Sherrone?
Sherrone isn't part of the Kelly-Meyer coaching tree. He isn't even part of the Harbaugh tree. Sherrone cut his teeth under big smelly stinkers like Steve Kragthorpe and John Bonamego. This is Sherrone's career arc:
2009–2011 Louisville (GA)
2012–2013 Louisville (TE)
2014–2016 Central Michigan (TE)
2017 Central Michigan (AHC/TE/RC)
2018–2020 Michigan (TE)
2021–2022 Michigan (co-OC/OL)
2023–present Michigan (OC/OL)
2023 Michigan (acting HC)
There is no objective case to be made that Sherrone was born on third base.
Forget the 15-year resume, just look at three weeks in November. Sherrone learned on an airplane in the middle of the sky that he was going to be the acting HC in a top-3 hostile road environment for a Big Noon showdown in a top-10 matchup that Michigan *had to win* lest the whole program be *invalidated*.
The next week, he hit the road again, with his star QB injured, to play what turned out to be a top-25ish B1G team.
Finally, in the most obvious and direct comparison, Sherrone Moore beat Ryan Day. He literally beat him head to head. Hello.
Remember when everyone drooled because interim Ryan Day beat TCU in some neutral site opener? That TCU team went .500 and Gary Patterson took a nose dive for two more years before resigning.
Sherrone Moore went 3-0 with zero prep time in Michigan's 3 hardest games of the regular season. Those opponents were a combined 28-8.
Is Sherrone Moore a better HC than Ryan Day? TBD.
Is Sherrone Moore a more reasonable HC candidate in 2023 than Ryan Day was in 2019? Yes.
One was born on third base, the other was not.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:15 PM ^
Sherrone Moore was not only not born on third base, but he also is the only one between the two who has hit a home run.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:48 PM ^
Sherrone Moore was born in Derby, Kansas. Which is, in baseball terms, like being born during a fungo game.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:07 PM ^
If only the OP could support his conclusions with hard data. Like, does Sherrone Moore have a record coaching head-to-head against Ryan Day?
January 10th, 2024 at 2:23 PM ^
I like this post and I like Sherrone. But, if you open the UM job and do a nationwide search, Sherrone is probably not your best candidate. For now, I think it would be a reach to give him any Big Ten job.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:32 PM ^
I'm not endorsing Sherrone, I just understand the position.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:42 PM ^
Got it. Didn't mean to address you there ...
January 10th, 2024 at 2:49 PM ^
Are we sure that Sherrone is even the best candidate on the staff? If Jim leaves, I think I'd rather keep Minter and bring in the best OC available (or give Jay or Mike Hart the shot)
January 10th, 2024 at 3:03 PM ^
coordinating and head coaching are completely different responsibilities
January 10th, 2024 at 5:43 PM ^
The first three games, four coaches got tryouts as interim. The last three games, Sherrone was interim. I think that reveals something about the opinion of one possibly influential person.
January 10th, 2024 at 7:12 PM ^
Every coaching hire is a crapshoot. Success at one place doesn't necessarily translate to success at another.
See, e.g., RichRod, Hoke, Frost, Riley (still a question mark to me), Kelly I and Kelly II, et cetera, et cetera.
When it works, great. Bravo. But when it doesn't you're paying for a whole lot of nothin'. I can see why it made sense to transition from Bo to his former assistants Moeller and Carr, who were able to preserve the culture of the team, and what it was built on.
It made sense for OSU to transition to Day for the same reason - give the devil his due, he has a terrific record as a head coach, third base or not.
January 11th, 2024 at 3:04 AM ^
I'm just guessing but if Jim leaves he is taking Minter as his DC to the NFL (unfortunately for us)
January 10th, 2024 at 3:18 PM ^
The risk with bringing in someone from the outside you could lose continuity, and the current staff. After what's transpired I think they'd have a hard time giving it to someone else. With Sherrone we have a good idea of who we have.
January 11th, 2024 at 3:01 PM ^
Unless it's Good Shit Jedd?
January 12th, 2024 at 9:53 AM ^
If Jim leaves, I hope Jedd applies and given the job. He has done an amazing job at Arizona.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:46 PM ^
If Michigan has to do a nationwide search, both the AD and Harbaugh will have abjectly failed at succession planning. It's a reasonable approach to attempt to fix a broken organization, but not the way to carry on a great culture. Don't buy into the beauty contest.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:56 PM ^
If it is at all possible to keep Minter and Moore as coordinators, we should. What we need at HC is whoever most embodies the culture and is able to organize and lead according to that culture.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if that was Jaybaugh. And, if we lost one or both coordinators, he is most relationally situated to keep the Ravens pipeline coming on D.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:25 PM ^
"... will have abjectly failed at succession planning."
Yeah, well, that has been SOP in one way or another since about 1969. :)
Seriously, though, for a succession plan to make sense you would -- ideally -- need to have a guy who's been on the staff for a long time with a long track record at the coordinator level and is a logical candidate for a job at Michigan's level. That's not a likely scenario.
Moeller worked out fine, but even that involved risk given his less-than-stellar record at Illinois.
January 10th, 2024 at 6:07 PM ^
Right. Michigan has a bad track record at this, while Harbaugh has a proven eye for coaching talent, so it would be wise to listen if he points to somebody and says, "That's the guy to replace me." Especially if the alternative is joining the coaching circus this offseason. Saban's retirement is going to make things choppy out there.
January 11th, 2024 at 7:33 PM ^
Everyone "has a bad track record at this". Alabama floundered through a couple before Saban. OSU got very lucky with Tressel as their third pick and after Tressel found Meyer. USC, Texas, Texas A&M, and ND have whiffed a few times.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:32 PM ^
Day had a lot more 'coaching' experience prior to being named HC than Moore would if he were to be named our next HC now.
Kinda feel like that matters. Yes, Day was born on third base and was handed everything Meyer built but wouldn't the same be true for Moore? Or anyone else on this staff who was handed the reigns?
I think Moore would be a fine choice as our next HC, assuming Harbaugh leaves of course, but it seems I may be in the minority as I have seen others saying it would be better to hire someone like Kalen DeBoer, who has previous and successful HC stints.
Personally, I don't see who out there would leave their job for Michigan. DeBoer has a great gig right now and far less pressure than he'd ever have here. I just don't see a ton of great coaches that would 'walk to Ann Arbor' if the opportunity arose.
I think we reward Sherrone Moore for what he has done here if that time has come for Jim.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:33 PM ^
DeBoer would definitely leave Washington for Michigan fwiw.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:41 PM ^
He's said that?
January 10th, 2024 at 2:52 PM ^
Likely not but I was not aware he was at Eastern and also Indiana. He's done well everywhere he's been. The crowd would be excited about that, although unlikely to occur.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:04 PM ^
I would prefer we stick to the Harbaugh tree and a current staff member. I quite like the style of football we play and how this program has been rebuilt.
I don't want to see someone come in and make wholesale changes. Washington can keep its high flying offense and average defense.
EDIT: Just saw Pete Carroll was let go by Seattle, I'd take him in a heartbeat.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:39 PM ^
I'd take DeBoer over Carroll and it's not close. I just wonder if the Seahawks opening will spark rumors for DeBoer. He was working on a contract extension, but I don't believe anything has been signed. The parallels are intriguing.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:58 PM ^
I am not a fan of his (DeBoer's) offensive philosophy. I don't wanna turn into an air raid passing attack. I like the Harbaugh philosophy just fine. I fear if we turn to a more passing heavy attack we won't be able to maintain an elite level of defense.
That said, I still stand by my sentiment that Moore is our best option moving forward.
January 10th, 2024 at 7:02 PM ^
I don’t know much about DeBoer other than from this season. Is he a passing spread fanatic like Ryan Day, or up did he just adopt that kind of offense to take advantage of the talent he had with Penix and those guys?
January 10th, 2024 at 5:06 PM ^
Pete Carroll is 72.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:49 PM ^
You know that how???
January 10th, 2024 at 2:36 PM ^
I love Sherrone and glad he's here. I'm also hopeful Jim stays. My concern is that if Jim leaves, some of the staff falls out, and the magic that brought this team to the promised land will slowly leave, through no fault of Sherrone's. There's still a lot of tumult coming our way in the shifting landscape of college football, and Jim is the guy to guide us through that, I'm convinced now.
We'll see what happens...
January 11th, 2024 at 3:53 PM ^
We’re lucky that the staff has a lot of former Michigan players who are loyal to Michigan, not just Harbaugh. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hart, Bellamy, Newsome, Elston, & Clinkscale (not an alum but just a gut feel) stay in that scenario and especially so if Moore becomes the HC.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:37 PM ^
I do support Sherrone, but I'm a bit nervous about him taking over an operation like Michigan football.
Yes, he coached the team to multiple victories this season. But let's not forget he was coaching the team that Harbaugh built...with Harbaugh directing the operation during the other six days of the week.
You could easily argue that, if Sherrone takes over as HC at Michigan, it's no different than the situation that Day inherited.
January 11th, 2024 at 2:44 PM ^
not sure i've ever seen such an mgopoint total
January 10th, 2024 at 2:44 PM ^
I think the case for Sherrone Moore is that you want to maintain the culture that's so good and minimize the transition as much as possible. So I think whether you want to hire him or not very much depends on how much of the staff sticks around if Harbaugh leaves (and Ben Herbert in particular). My guess is that Hart, Bellamy, Newsome, Elston, and Clinkscale stick around. No guess on Kirk Campbell and I'd guess that Minter is gone to the NFL no matter what happens and Jay Harbaugh would be off the NFL if Jim Harbaugh is. But retaining Herbert is incredibly important to that culture. It'd also matter if JJ makes clear that Moore being named coach would be a deciding factor in him coming back.
But if Herbert were to go with Harbaugh or the coaching staff goes to the NFL en masse I think you have to do a wider search and at least kick the tires on guys like Dan Lanning or Kalen DeBoer. Who knows if they'd be interested and I'm not saying Moore isn't ultimately the guy, but you have to at least gauge what the interest is out there. DeBoer to me is also basically the football version of John Beilein. And obviously I want Harbaugh to very much stay, but it'd be a fun to see JJ play a year in DeBoer's offense.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:17 PM ^
David Shaw took over for Jim Harbaugh when he left Stanford, and kept that program running at a high level for the ensuing eight years--including three Pac-12 titles and two Rose Bowl wins. The bottom did eventually fall out in 2019, but then again this is Stanford we are talking about--it was probably bound to happen eventually.
I've been skeptical of groomed successors taking over top programs ever since the Larry Coker experience at Miami. But JH proved he could identify and develop the right guy for the job at Stanford, so I think that means a lot with respect to M's next head coach.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:22 PM ^
I fully endorse this comment. Wish I could upvote it 100 times.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:55 PM ^
I just want this resolved because of recruiting and the portal. If I am correct, Carr was the last Michigan coach with consistent top ten recruiting classes. Harbaugh could win without them, but I'm not betting anyone else could.
January 11th, 2024 at 10:22 PM ^
Michigan has had top 10 recruiting classes with every coach including Harbaugh until just recent. I agree nobody but Harbaugh will being able to win with our current recruiting strategy.
Although maybe Moore being younger can out recruit Harbaugh which would probably happen. We all heard the St Brown recruiting story....Jim is Jim.
Having said that I don't understand why Minter who's defense is elite and an OSU killer wouldn't be the coach if we go with 1st time HC. I believe I seen a stat (pregame) that Michigan has the worst ypg offense in CFP history to win a natty.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:14 PM ^
But Cryan teaches motivational hopping classes so there's that.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:17 PM ^
Hire Minter! To remain competitive, we need his D far more than Sherrone’s O.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:08 PM ^
JH will take Minter with him wherever he goes so if JH leaves, so does Jesse.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:25 PM ^
Dude, He's part of the Harbaugh tree now.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:10 PM ^
Michigan will hire Sherrone Moore, period. It will not make the same mistake it made with RichRod. Instead, it will go back and recall the successes of Bo to Mo and Mo to Carr. Culture and talent kept.
Hiring outside would send half of our talent to the portal because the last thing players want is anyone new to come in and dare tweak the culture like RichRod did.
Except it would be worse, because the culture RR tweaked was LLoyd's diminishing results in his last few years (OSU, App State, Oregon, USC, Texas losses, etc.), whereas the current culture is this odd thing called NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP culture.
Those calling for a "comprehensive national search" simply fail to understand the fact that any outside hire would result in a complete reboot, with very few current top players sticking around for it. No thanks.
It will be Sherrone, so live with it. It will not be easy because Harbaugh will take Minter with him to the NFL, but know what? It's all downhill or at best sideways from where we are now anyway, looking down from the summit, so just enjoy the view, and appreciate the internal hire when it comes.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:37 PM ^
Um, it’s not “entirely clear” that ohio did everything you alleged. Highly possible, sure. But not at all proven. So your entire premise is questionable from the start. Stick to established facts.
January 11th, 2024 at 12:39 AM ^
-1 If Jim Harbaugh wants to be appreciated and shown love as head coach then why talk about Moore as if Harbaugh is gone? Does Harbaugh read Mgoblog? Who knows but I read this talk of Moore being our next head coach as if we WANT the man who just delivered us a national champion to be gone. I read it everywhere (Twitter, Youtube, MSN, etc.)
All the talk should be centered around showing Jim Harbaugh love and makes sure he knows that this fanbase wants him to stay. Talking up Moore unnecessarily doesn't really show your current coach you appreciate him.
January 11th, 2024 at 2:18 AM ^
All of the haters on ESPN and BTN are begging for Jim Harbaugh to leave for the NFL. They also all think Sherrone Moore would be a “great hire.” I don’t disagree, but would really prefer that Harbaugh stay.
The culture he has built is incredible. Sherrone would likely benefit from some Head Coaching experience elsewhere, before I would be 100% comfortable handing him the keys.
January 11th, 2024 at 7:44 AM ^
I agree that I'd prefer our next HC to actually have more than three games of in-game HC experience, but given the other potential candidates out there and my desire to maintain the current staff (as much as possible) and to keep the Harbaugh program philosophy intact - I do think Moore is the 'best' choice.
There are some other good coaches out there who'd likely come, but I just worry we'll see another RichRod type transition from one style to another and frankly, I do not want to see us go spread. I rather like the 'old school' ground and pound style of offense Harbaugh runs. It's different and tough to defend for a lot of teams.
For argument's sake, assuming Harbaugh leaves who would be your top 3 (realistic) choices of coaches outside the program?
January 11th, 2024 at 9:31 AM ^
Jedd Fisch has been a miracle worker at AZ. He would be my first call.
January 11th, 2024 at 9:54 AM ^
100% agree.
January 11th, 2024 at 10:37 AM ^
I'd be fine with Jedd, I did enjoy his brief time as our OC and to do what he's done at AZ is impressive.
Would Moore stay on as OC in that scenario or do you think he'd bolt for a bigger opportunity (maybe a smaller school HC gig)?
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