We are exploring the various dimensions of Michigan football before the Wolverines meet USC in the big one this Saturday in the Big House. Wolverines Wire editor Isaiah Hole is answering our questions. We asked him about Michigan’s and Sherrone Moore’s inability to land a quality quarterback in the transfer portal this offseason.
“I think they should have, but it was difficult to do so given the circumstances,” Hole said. “You have to remember that the transfer portal opened up and Michigan still had a lot to play for in the College Football Playoff, so it was somewhat limited when it came to courting talent from elsewhere. Jim Harbaugh then kept the program on the hook until late January and incumbent starter J.J. McCarthy didn’t decide to jump to the pros until mid-to-late January. Having late decisions from the former head coach and starting quarterback compound the ability to lure a player like Riley Leonard (who would have been a perfect fit for Michigan’s system) when he would have had no idea if he would be starting or playing for the head coach at the time. The bigger indictment was Michigan not recruiting a quarterback for two years, essentially. It was all-in on Dante Moore from the time he was in eighth grade. It was Moore’s first offer and he was coached by former Wolverine starter Devin Gardner, but it didn’t take into account that he wanted to head out of state. By the time Moore committed to Oregon (before flipping to UCLA and then transferring to Oregon), Michigan had no other options. The year before that, given that it had a couple of years with McCarthy, it didn’t really get involved with any blue chips (Orji and Jayden Denegal are from that class). It did get some good QBs in Jadyn Davis and 2024 commit Carter Smith (it whiffed on in-state five-star Bryce Underwood) but it was wholly unprepared for life beyond J.J. McCarthy. Or, more so, it wasn’t prepared for what would happen if Orji wasn’t up to the task – and we don’t know if he is or isn’t just yet.
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