For Michigan, the path to replacing a championship-winning coach is proving to be a complicated one. The echoes of a championship season have barely faded in Ann Arbor, and now it faces its most daunting offseason challenge: finding a new head coach in a rapidly shrinking market. But the Wolverines might be nearing their pick soon, as the buzz around Jedd Fisch’s move grows.

Though Michigan football is in chaos at the moment, it did take some time out to keep fans engaged. Recently, Ann Arbor firefighters installed a chimney behind the stadium’s videoboard, Swanky Wolverine reported on Instagram. This chimney’s job is to indicate where UM is with its coaching search. According to the account, maize smoke has been blowing out yellow for the past three days. It means that a replacement for Moore hasn’t been named.

But “I hear we are getting closer to seeing some blue smoke”.

This falls in line with the growing buzz around Jedd Fisch’s reported move to Ann Arbor. According to Polymarket and Kalshi, the odds of the Washington head coach replacing Moore have now increased to 52%. Kenny Dillingham and Kalen DeBoer were the top favorites for the job, but they have now dropped out as candidates. Dillingham is set at ASU after earning an extension, and it is unlikely that Alabama will let go of DeBoer – even if he gets knocked out of the playoffs.

Fisch had been pitched as a candidate for a plethora of open head coach roles during the season. What makes him a good candidate for Michigan is his connection to the program. The HC worked with the Wolverines from 2015 to 2016 as QB and WR coach, and passing game coordinator. He’s been part of two great seasons under Jim Harbaugh, so he knows what the standard is at Ann Arbor.

Plus, his record at Arizona has helped turn around a crippled program. He left Arizona with a 10-3 finish in his final season of coaching the Wildcats. He’s done a good job at Washington as well, and was even in contention for the Big 10 title until the loss to Wisconsin this year. His offensive mindset and prowess in striking a rapport with quarterbacks could be a great fit for Michigan.

Demond Williams, a name to watch out for this season, met the surrounding expectations. If Fisch does arrive at Michigan, he’ll get to work with the elite Bryce Underwood, who will be focused on chipping away at his rookie mistakes. Though Jedd Fisch is the next best choice for Michigan right now, he sent them a message after winning the LA Bowl.

Jedd Fisch sends mixed signals to Michigan fans

The future is really exciting for Fisch at Montlake. He signed the 16th-best recruiting class of the 2026 cycle – 9 places up from the 2025 finish. It is headlined by talents like 5-star OT Kodi Greene and 4-star RB Brian Bonner. The former flipped his commitment from recruiting superpower Oregon, and Fisch also landed the commitment of Kekua Aumua from Florida this month.

These names, paired with the already developing talent under Fisch at Washington, should make the Huskies a really powerful unit next season. But when Fisch was asked about his future, there wasn’t any sort of hard denial that he wasn’t interested in the Wolverines’ coaching job.

“I’m fully focused on our team,” Fisch said to the press after the LA Bowl victory. “I think our team worked really hard this whole week, and we all gave everything we had, and we played at a very high level because of that. That’s all I would say on that.”

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Michigan football is now in a serious dilemma. The season has been a pretty sub-standard one for the program, and it hasn’t been able to wipe off the stain left by the sign-stealing scandal. And now, they’re without a head coach. Until that blue smoke billows out, fans will remain anxious about who leads their beloved team.