TTUN just had a game-changing bombshell dropped on them on Wednesday. With Sherrone Moore now fired with cause, the Wolverines need a new head coach for the second time in as many calendar years.
Cleveland.com's Jimmy Watkins warned TTUN that the Jim Harbaugh coaching tree may not be able to bail the Wolverines out. Harbaugh is the reason anyone takes the Maize and Blue seriously as a pillar program in the sport, because, as Watkins points out, TTUN has not been a top team otherwise in the 21st century.
"By the time UM fired former coach Sherrone Moore for cause on Wednesday evening, all other power conference schools had chosen new coaches this hiring cycle. Several more talented coaching candidates had signed extensions to stay put. And I’m sure, as we speak, opposing programs are already tampering with Michigan players 24 days before the transfer portal opens," Watkins prefaced before asking, "Where is Jim Harbaugh when you need him?
"Trick question. Harbaugh ain’t walking through the Schembechler Hall doors this time. The Wolverines just showed his protege the way out."
"Ten years after hiring Harbaugh, Michigan must discover an identity without its favorite pair of pleated pants."
Michigan's reputation hinges on Wolverines' next head coach
TTUN has been a scandalous program since Harbaugh took over. There was enough of a legacy built throughout the 20th century to believe the Wolverines will recover from this black eye of an era, minus the 2023/2024 Connor Stalions-led title.
But it has to nail this next hire. As in stealing Kalen DeBoer from the Alabama Crimson Tide or poaching Marcus Freeman from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish-level splash. Freeman is a former Ohio State Buckeye, so that'd be an even bigger statement.
Anything short of that, and TTUN risks the same thing the Penn State Nittany Lions risked before nailing the Matt Campbell hire: losing trust in the process. The Wolverines have Larry Ellison's money to spend, but recruits won't sign up for a program that doesn't know what to do with talent.
The clock is ticking for Warde Manuel. Good luck up there.