It's Sherrone Moore Time at Michigan
Michigan has joined Notre Dame and Ohio State as Midwest powers that have opted for internal promotions instead of full-scale coaching searches. The Wolverines probably won't be the last.
A Big Ten power promoted a 30-something coordinator from within after he admirably filled in for his national-champion boss’ three-game suspension.
That was Ryan Day succeeding Urban Meyer after the 2018 season.
Ohio State fans loved him in the short-term, as he won big without all of the drama that his predecessor brought.
Now that even-keeled approach is being used against him, as he wears the dreaded “third-base” label after losing to Michigan three years in a row.
Enter the Sherrone Moore era at Michigan, which promoted Moore on Friday to succeed Jim Harbaugh.
Moore, like Day before him, is about as qualified as an assistant could be for a job like this, having led the Wolverines to four wins across two separate Harbaugh suspensions, most notably against Day and Ohio State.
Throw in Marcus Freeman’s ascension at Notre Dame, as he enters his third year leading the Irish after Brian Kelly left for LSU, and three of the biggest brands in the sport — arguably the three-biggest, depending on what part of the country you’re from — promoted assistants from within after their very successful head coaches left.