Michigan needs a new head coach. Jim Harbaugh will be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, a league source told The Athletic, filling the top job in Ann Arbor for the first time since 2014.
Harbaugh brought Michigan back to glory, ending its run with a national championship, three straight Big Ten championships and three straight wins over Ohio State. After accomplishing everything possible, he returns to the NFL in search of the elusive Super Bowl.
This may be a very quick search considering who is on the staff and what happened last season, but it is enough time to enter a job profile.
How good is the job in Michigan? What names could come into the mix? Here are the factors you should consider.
Michigan is a national championship program
For many years, Michigan did not appear to be a program that could compete at the top of the sport. It had history, tons of money and very good players, but it didn't seem to have the talent edge to compete with the SEC's best in the same way Ohio State could. Harbaugh repeatedly achieved top performances during his tenure, first at Ohio State and bowl games and then in the CFP semifinals.
That has now completely changed. Harbaugh broke all boundaries and showed that there are no limits to this program. The Wolverines have won it all and produced some of the greatest draft classes in the country. They can develop and win better than anyone else in a given season. There are no more what-ifs or boundaries here.
It will be a small remodel, but there are strong parts in place
For the 2023 season, the Wolverines had several star players return to accomplish what they had accomplished. Now they're gone. Players headed to the pros include quarterback JJ McCarthy, running back Blake Corum, wide receiver Roman Wilson, guard Zak Zinter, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, defensive back Mike Sanristil and cornerback Josh Wallace.
That's a lot for any team to replace. Harbaugh said before the season that he believed this Michigan team could set a record for NFL draft picks, and that seems possible.
However, returning players include running back Donovan Edwards, tight end Colston Loveland, defensive lineman Mason Graham and cornerback Will Johnson, all current or potential stars, although it is always possible that more players will leave through the portal following a coaching change. On the other hand, Michigan could find more players through the portal now or in the future, particularly at quarterback, once the coaching situation is finally resolved.
It's one of the best-resourced programs in the country, but can it compete in recruiting without staff?
There was never a shortage of resources. According to Sportico's database, the Wolverines ranked 11th nationally in 2021-22 football spending. All facilities are available.
But what made Michigan's national championship run surprising was that it built this team without being at the top of the recruiting rankings. From 2020 to 2023, the Wolverines' recruiting classes ranked 10th, 13th, 9th and 17th in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. They ranked 14th nationally in the 247Sports team talent rankings last season. Winning a national championship without a top-five recruiting class or a standout quarterback had never happened in recent history. The Wolverines developed into one of the best development programs in the country and turned really good players into NFL players.
Is this development sustainable without Harbaugh? Or does Michigan need to recruit at the level of Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State? The Buckeyes, obviously motivated by Michigan's three straight wins and national title, made big moves last week, adding several top recruits and transfers. Head coach Ryan Day has said in the past that Ohio State needs to move up to the NIL. It appears they did. Michigan hasn't been at this level yet. Maybe that needs to change with a new coach. Or maybe not.
So what names could come into the mix?
Of course, this search begins with and could end with Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore. It's not often that a school has an assistant who has two top-10 wins under his belt. Moore beat Penn State on the road and Ohio State in Ann Arbor, while Harbaugh stayed home due to a Big Ten suspension for sign stealing and advance scouting. The fact that he delivered an Ohio State win as Michigan's head coach is a resume point no one else can match. He is loved by his players, he can carry on the culture and dynamic and he has coached a few games. He was Harbaugh and Michigan's choice when Harbaugh was suspended for the second time, and he would be an easy choice here unless something from the Connor Stallions scandal comes back to directly implicate Moore. We haven't seen it yet.
If Moore doesn't get the job for some reason, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and running backs coach Mike Hart could also be in-house options.
GO DEEPER
Sherrone Moore aced his audition in Michigan. Where will his story go from here?
Kansas head coach Lance Leipold Thanks to the wonderful work he did in Lawrence, he has been involved in many jobs, including in Washington, and as a Wisconsin native, he knows the Midwest. The guy just wins. The 59-year-old inherited a winless Kansas program and won nine games in his third season, beating Oklahoma and finishing 23rd this season. He won two MAC Division championships in Buffalo and previously developed several NFL players. He posted a 109-6 record at Wisconsin-Whitewater and previously won six Division III national championships. The biggest question would be whether he can recruit at the top of the sport. He just signed edge rusher Deshawn Warner, a top-70 recruit, to Kansas.
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman has won 27 games over the last three years, with a Big 12 championship in 2022 and consecutive top-20 finishes. The 56-year-old previously won four FCS national championships at North Dakota State. Similar to Leipold, Klieman simply wins a lot. But can he recruit at a top-10 level like Leipold?
Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken And Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald could be options. Both are also potential future NFL head coaches, so they may not want to return to college football, but Monken led Georgia's offense en route to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and did a good job as head coach at Southern Miss a year ago Decade. Macdonald was Michigan's defensive coordinator in 2021 (when they lost to Monken and Georgia in the CFP) before returning to the Ravens to lead that defense. Both of them obviously also have a connection between their work for John Harbaugh in Baltimore.
GO DEEPER
Mike Macdonald lets the Ravens defense do the talking
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell I felt like I was made for a lot of Big Ten jobs, but he stayed in Ames. The 44-year-old Ohio native gave Iowa State its greatest success in a century, winning a Fiesta Bowl and finishing first in the Big 12 in 2020. However, he has since aged 18 to 20 and his name is no longer as popular in coaching circles as it was a few years ago. We also didn't see him coaching and recruiting for a Power 5 job with high expectations.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly The name came up as a possibility a few weeks ago. Perhaps coincidentally, LSU has since seen an overhaul and expansion of the Tigers' staff. Kelly hired Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker as the highest-paid assistant coach in college football ($2.5 million) after Baker turned down several bigger jobs. Kelly also hired defensive line coach Bo Davis out of Texas at a higher salary. Kelly spent two decades at Michigan and always seemed like an unlikely cultural candidate at LSU to replace Ed Orgeron, but the moves LSU has made in recent weeks make such a move from Kelly seem quite unlikely.
Would Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell to be interested in? The lifelong Buckeye must leave Wisconsin with an $8 million buyout. After leaving behind his interim 6-7 coaching stint at Ohio State University in 2011, Fickell posted a 57-18 record in Cincinnati, won at least 11 games three times and reached the College Football Playoff in 2021. If this had been the case a year ago, it would have made all the sense in the world. But since he's new to Wisconsin and his debut season was a disappointing 7-6 last fall, that might be unlikely for either side.
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson has also won at multiple levels of the sport. Clawson is 63-61 at Wake Forest since 2014 and has six winning seasons in the last eight years, including an 11-3 record in 2021. He previously coached and won at Bowling Green, Richmond and Fordham. At Wake Forest, Clawson thrived in one of the Power 5's toughest jobs, recruiting and developing players like Sam Hartman and Kenneth Walker III before they moved elsewhere for their final seasons.
(Top photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)