3 reasons Michigan football has failed to meet expectations

Going into the 2024 Michigan football season, it was reasonable to expect a drop-off. The Wolverines graduated or sent to the NFL some of the best players they have ever had.

J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum, Mike Sainristil, Kris Jenkins, Michael Barrett, Roman Wilson, Cornelius Johnson, Junior Colson, Trevor Keegan, Zak Zinter and many more -- these weren't just going to be easy players to replace.

But the cupboard wasn't bare either, especially on defense. Plenty of college football teams would kill for a defense that has Mason Graham and Will Johnson -- two top-10 picks, plus Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, Derrick Moore, and others.

The offense also has Colston Loveland, a projected first-round tight end plus Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings, as well as Semaj Morgan and Tyler Morris. Morris scored a touchdown in the Rose Bowl.

There was also a belief in the some of the highly-touted offensive line recruits waiting in the wings who have been under the direcion of Sherrone Moore, when he coached the offensive line.

What I didn't expect what disarray after six games. Michigan football is 4-2 but needed some good fortune to make that happen. The Wolverines are ranked 24th in the AP poll and even that seems questionable based on what we have seen so far this season.

So is it just about Jim Harbaugh being gone? That obviously makes a big difference. Harbaugh was the best head coach in college football. But this Michigan football team should be better than it is and here are the three biggest reasons why it has failed to meet expetations.

The disaster at quarterback

With the timing of Harbaugh's departure and J.J. McCarthy leaving for the NFL draft, Michigan football was put in a tough spot. Adding a quarterback in the winter transfer portal window wasn't an option, no matter how many times people say it.

However, the Wolverines still mismanaged the quarterback position. They knew in the spring that Jack Tuttle wasn't healthy. He missed the entire spring.

And there was all this chatter about Alex Orji but no effort to install an offense or even a package that would take advantage of his running ability. What Michigan did with Orji would be akin to having Chad Henne run the Rich-Rod offense.

Square peg meets round hole.

I know Orji didn't throw well. But the coaching staff also did a terrible job of using his best asset (running) to leverage better passing opportuntiies or better run opportunities for Edwars and Mullings.

There were a few zone-reads. But not enough designed QB runs. Kirk Campbell said Alex Orji was "one of the best 11 players on offense" meaning he'll play even if he wasn't the starting QB. Then, he still wasn't used, even when the run game was struggling with Davis Warren under center.

It was weird and mismanaged all around. You have to call plays for the guys you have. Not the players you wish you still had, which is what it feels like Kirk Campbell and Michigan have been doing. They also didn't try to incorporate Donovan Edwards -- maybe their most talented pure receiver -- into a historically bad pass offense.

This offense was probably never going to be great this season, but with a better coaching effort, it could have been functional, at least if the offensive line didn't massively disappoint, which leads me to reason No. 2.