ANN ARBOR, Mich. — One of the narratives that’s perpetuated through the Michigan football ecosphere is that the Wolverines did not do enough to retain coaches following the national championship win.
Not only did Jim Harbaugh depart the program for the NFL, but the entire defensive staff has been gutted, with no returnees from that side of the ball coming back next year as part of the coaching staff. It had appeared that Mike Elston and Steve Clinkscale could return, with the latter reportedly insisting that he would remain in Ann Arbor, only for both to end up following Harbaugh to Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel shared that though he hired Sherrone Moore to have continuity within the program, he was aware that this mass departure was on the table and it was planned for.
“I knew it was a possibility that Jim would want to talk to some staff about going there. And obviously he did and they made a decision,” Manuel said. “And, as I have with Jim, I’ve never gotten mad if people have an opportunity in making a decision. I know some of them were already being talked to even before Jim was selected for the head coach at the Chargers. And so these are decisions that people make and it happens over time, and it gives Sherrone an opportunity to rebuild the staff, particularly the defensive side in the way that he wants. And we feel good about the people that he is bringing on.
“And so we are taking this as an opportunity to keep it moving forward. And to work with those who have stayed and to welcome those who will come in new with the same expectations for winning, for developing these young men, and for doing the things that we feel are necessary to move the program forward. And so I think he’s doing a good job with recruiting. He talked to all of the staff and some of them, you know, had a debate about it. Some of them really wanted to go and we wish them well and look forward to those who come into the program.”
With that in mind, Moore’s contract is about $7 million less per year than what the leaked Harbaugh offer was. Does that mean that with those savings it gives Michigan more latitude to spend on assistant coaches?
Manuel says yes and no. It’s not that that money will be reallocated as much as this was the intended level of spending on assistants to begin with and that he had started spending more as it was on the support staff. The plan is to continue to spend to invest in talent that comes to Ann Arbor as far as the football program is concerned.
“Yes — and it’s not really a savings,” Manuel said. “Prior to Jim leaving, I invested more in our assistant pool. And it really brought it up by a couple of million dollars to invest in our assistant coaches. And so that was done prior to Jim deciding to leave to go to the Chargers and that remains with Sherrone, in terms of that investment.”