The 2023-24 season for Michigan football is one that fans will always remember. It was perfect. The Wolverines beat Ohio State, won the Big Ten and eventually won the national championship. They also beat Nick Saban and the SEC in the process.
Another thing that made the 2023 season perfect for Michigan football is the fact that it made it clear that Sherrone Moore should take over for Jim Harbaugh. He spent four games as the interim head coach and notched two wins over top-10 teams, including wins over Penn State and Ohio State.
Some Michigan football fans want to look at external options. If the Wolverines went that route, I do not doubt that there would be plenty of interested parties. However, here are three reasons why the choice has to be Sherrone Moore.
Continuity is key
Continuity is essential for Michigan football. The Wolverines are fresh off a national championship run and if they are able to prevent a bunch of players from leaving via the transfer portal, there's no reason to think this can't be a top-10 team once again.
Michigan has Will Johnson, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Rod Moore, Ernest Hausmann, Makari Paige, Josaiah Stewart, Derrick Moore, and Keon Sabb all set to return next season. Most of those guys were either starters or played a decent amount of snaps. Donovan Edwards is also coming back on offense, along with Colston Loveland. The offensive line should be just fine too.
There are some needs in the transfer portal and once the Wolverines have a head coach, they can address those things. But keeping their players is most important and building on the culture is key.
Moore is the best choice to do both.
Moore is a huge part of Michigan's identity
Jim Harbaugh deserves all the credit in the world for the revival of Michigan football. But a key part of that was hiring Moore to be the tight ends coach. That was an underrated move and before the 2021 season, people questioned making Moore the offensive line coach.
All the offensive line did was win the Joe Moore Award. That also led to the dominating rushing performance against Ohio State.
Michigan won the Joe Moore Award twice and there's not much debate that since the start of the 2021 season, U-M has had the best offensive line in college football.
Moore is a huge part of the "smash" identity that Michigan has built over the past three years. He's also a huge part of the championship culture. Just look at how glowingly guys like Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter talk about him. Keegan has gone as far as to say that Moore made him love football again.
That's the kind of guy that you want as the head coach.
Moore has earned it
Beyond being the best fit, Moore has earned the job. The way he managed the ship against Ohio State and Penn State was something to behold. The moment wasn't too big for him.
When Penn State made it clear that Michigan football was going to have issues with pass protection, Moore's response was to put seven offensive lineman on the field and pound the rock until Penn State gave in and it worked.
Not many head coaches would have had the guts to call 32 run plays in a row, on the road, against one of the best defenses in college football. Then, in maybe the biggest Michigan-Ohio State game in the history of the rivalry (a quarterfinal game), Moore was spectacular. He went for it on fourth down three times and all three times Michigan got it. Each of those drives ended in scores.
Beyond that, Moore has proven to be an elite recruiter. He's going to be spectacular on the trail for the Wolverines, especially if Michigan can get its NIL act together. Stanford was able to have success after Jim Harbaugh left and Moore is in the position to do the same as David Shaw.
Lloyd Carr was also a former Michigan assistant. Gary Moeller was too and both of those guys have had success so there is plenty of precedent. Ryan Day and Marcus Freeman are examples of in-house hires who have had success. Freeman has disappointed a little in big games, but Notre Dame is in a good place, and if Michigan football hires Moore, the Wolverines will be too.