Michigan Football: Offensive shakeup risky but good for recruiting

One criticism about the recent hires of Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh was that he didn’t do enough to address in-state recruiting or the perceived lack of it for the Wolverines.

To be fair, the idea that Michigan football doesn’t recruit the state of Michigan is overblown, yet it’s true that the Wolverines need to do a better job as elite prospects in recent classes have spurned U-M in favor of places such as Notre Dame, Kentucky and Alabama.

Well, on Saturday, after his team, led by Donovan Edwards won a state championship, Jim Harbaugh addressed those concerns with the addition of former Wolverine Ronald Bellamy.

It was reported by Brett McMurphy of Stadium and also confirmed by Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider.

Webb also reported the departure of Ed Warinner who did not have his contract renewed. This will allow Sherrone Moore to coach offensive line as well as take over as co-offensive coordinator.

What it means for Michigan

Obviously, that’s a lot to unpack but my first reaction is that it’s a bit of a risk to move on from Warinner, although there is talk he could stay on as an analyst.

He wasn’t the best recruiter and did miss out on some top targets in recent years such as Rocco Spindler, but this is more what the other guys bring than what he doesn’t.

For starters, Michigan football had to give Moore a promotion or it would have risked losing him. Oklahoma wanted him when Frank Beamer took the head coaching job with South Carolina and giving him the co-OC title was probably one way of making it happen.

That should also appease fans who didn’t love the idea of Josh Gattis running the offense all by himself. Now, Moore will likely have a say and will probably be responsible for the run game.

While he doesn’t have the experience coaching O-lineman as Warinner did, Moore did play offensive line in college and coached tight ends, so it’s not that foreign. He’s also a dynamic recruiter and that should help up front.

Moore being the co-offensive coordinator could help the entire recruiting effort on offense and adding Bellamy definitely should help the operation within the state.

He’s not from the state of Michigan, but he played for the Wolverines, has NFL experience as a player and was a coach West Bloomfield for the last 11 years.

Bellamy is also a coach with versatility and his connections with high school coaches will prove invaluable as Michigan tries to stop some of the most talented players from leaving the state.

Some tough decisions needed to be made and in terms of recruiting, these moves make a lot of sense. It’s hard to lose Ed, but losing Moore would have been much worse.