The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1523593
160 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2024 FOOTBALL PREVIEW A s we've seen over the years, there are very few "sure things" when it comes to hiring coaches at the collegiate level, Michigan or anywhere else. Since 2000, there have been only two U-M hires on the football and bas- ketball fronts we thought of as "can't miss" hires — Jim Harbaugh in 2015 and John Beilein in 2007. Not coincidentally, both had a wealth of experience and suc- cess at their previous stops. And as rare as the home runs are, even rarer are the schools that will make the financial sacrifice to land them. Alabama football broke the bank for Nick Saban — ditto Kentucky basketball with John Calipari. Both won national titles, though the Crimson Tide got a much better re- turn on investment. In short — if you're not willing to make the investment, it often takes a bit of good luck to get the right guy. Beilein was old enough to remember Michigan bas- ketball's storied history prior to 10 years in the wilderness under Brian Ellerbe and Tommy Amaker, and he loved the po- tential. And the timing proved perfect (finally) for Harbaugh to return to U-M when he did. Both men provided some of the best seasons in their respective programs' his- tories, and now it's up to Sherrone Moore and Dusty May to add to their success. While there's always a segment of the fan base that believes U-M should always spend, spend, spend for proven talent (especially on the football side), we're firmly on board with both these guys. "I look forward to being judged by the choice I made," Michigan athletics di- rector Warde Manuel said when he an- nounced Moore's hiring in January. "I didn't choose him because of me, per- sonally. I chose him because he's the best person to lead that program." On that, we agree. When interim ath- letics director Jim Hackett hired Har- baugh, he noted the Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke hires were "experiments" of sorts, adding Michigan wasn't in any position to slip any further after seven mostly disappointing years (minus 2011). Some might say the same of Moore, who has only four games of interim head coaching experience on his résumé. He's the right guy at the right time, though, and for many reasons. For one, the program is humming right now, coming off the best three-year stretch in Michigan football history since the Field- ing Yost era, and Moore was a big part of it. The culture has never been stronger (again, the players and coaches would credit his contributions there, too), and as graduated offensive guard Trevor Keegan told us, his father once said he'd never seen anyone work harder than Moore. "He's really just a down-to-earth guy that only cares about his players," Keegan said. "He passes everything by us to make sure we're OK with it. It's really nice to see how much he cares for us, and how much he wants us to be really good." Yet, he'll get on them, too, former of- fensive guard Zak Zinter said, when they aren't performing. He's a player's coach, but he also knows when to push buttons. While we understand the argument for "the best available guy," too, there's also a risk there. A huge part of the fan base was ecstatic when Rich Rodriguez replaced Lloyd Carr. Those who haven't blocked it out of their memory all know how those three years worked out. When you're on top, like the Wolver- ines were when Bo Schembechler passed the torch to Gary Moeller in 1990, you don't blow it up. ESPN radio's Colin Cowherd was among the skeptics who believed U-M could have a few good years under Moore — the "Harbaugh bump," so to speak — before cracks appear in the foundation. But as we saw with Moeller and then Carr, if you get the right guy, it doesn't have to be that way. We're confident it won't. More impor- tantly, Moore is confident, and you can feel it in every interview and conversa- tion. He's not overwhelmed. On the con- trary, he's recruiting at a high level, and you can almost see that chip he's carrying on his shoulder. "Everybody is going to have haters," Moore told a group of high school camp- ers at Wayne State this summer. "Your haters are holding their breath for you to fail. Your job is to make their asses suf- focate." He's a family man and a great guy, one of the better people we've covered in our decades in Ann Arbor. He's also a badass between the lines, sporting an 1-0 record against both James Franklin (Penn State) and Ryan Day (Ohio State) with the deck stacked against him. No, he's not a sure thing like Beilein and Harbaugh, but he's the right guy for Michigan. Heading into his first season as permanent head coach, we'd bet on his long-term success. ❏ INSIDE MICHIGAN CHRIS BALAS Chris Balas has been with The Wolverine since 1997. Contact him at cbalas@ thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @Balas _ Wolverine. Sherrone Moore was, according to U-M director of athletics Warde Manual, "… the best person to lead that program." PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF New Era, Same Expectations