Jim Harbaugh’s tenure in Ann Arbor was a resounding success in the grand scheme of things. Bluebloods Michigan needed a messiah to lift them back towards their pedestal on the very top echelon of College Football. Harbaugh reciprocated the chance to head coach his alma mater with hardware. But that national championship in ‘23, for those not of a maize and blue persuasion, has an asterisk to it. A blemish that dulls the sheen of that trophy. Unfortunately for Harbaugh’s successor, Sherrone Moore, he’s having to contend with some negative byproducts from his stint. Picking up the slack that may not have been his to pick. 

As much as Sherrone Moore tries to ascend out of the proverbial quicksand that spawned during the Harbaugh era, he seems to get hauled further in. The infamous and dragged-out sign-stealing scandal rained on Michigan’s parade then, and continues to over a year and a half later. All the documentaries and discourse have been presented, but there is still no conclusion for the NCAA’s ongoing probe. “Advanced scouting”, it’s been deemed. Yet, the process of adjudicating the reprimand for it has everything but advanced. However, we did just get an update in this saga, and an unexpected one at that. Michigan has gotten ahead of the NCAA with a self-imposed sanction on Sherrone Moore. Coach Moore has been suspended for two games. 

Interestingly, it’s the 3rd and 4th games of the Wolverines’ ‘25 season, and this leapfrogging of the first two games is believed to be because they play Sherrone Moore’s alma mater, Oklahoma, in Week 2. But that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms. What’s also interesting is that Sherrone Moore has been banned from all team activities over those two games, including practice in the lead-up to them. But back when the scandal surfaced and the NCAA suspended Jim Harbaugh, he was permitted to take part in the practices. Merely suspended on the Saturdays themselves. But this dissimilarity between the two segues into one Michigan insider’s take on matters, who has warned Coach Moore that he could find himself facing a similar scope of punishment to what was in the pipeline for Harbaugh. But unlike Harbaugh, who left for the NFL, he’ll actually have to see it out. 

Discussing the Sherrone Moore suspension over “The Wolverine” YouTube channel, one of the three hosts prefaced his take by saying, “I think a lot of Michigan fans are extremely disappointed with the way that the athletic department are handling this. Because they were told [by Michigan] that we’re willing to fight. We want to have this pre-hearing meeting and all this sort of stuff. And now here you go, suspending your own coach. [And] not knowing whether or not it’s going to be accepted by the NCAA.” The implication here is that Michigan’s preemptive self-sanctioning could wind up just adding to a more comprehensive hammer coming down from the governing body. The insider then proceeded to remind his YT audience, and us vicariously, of what happened with Jim Harbaugh.

“The last time [Michigan] did this to their own head coach, the NCAA didn’t accept it and gave him a 4-year show cause and a 1-year suspension on top of it,” they resounded. Being suspended for 2 games is a slap on the wrist relative to a 1-year suspension. There exists a school of thought that this impending suspension was a factor in Jim Harbaugh jumping ship for the Chargers. If the NCAA opted to air on the side of consistency and continuity and deemed Sherrone Moore’s involvement severe enough to go through with this, it could really derail the program. You can work around not having a head coach for a fortnight, but a season is a bit of a death nail. Speaking of which, UMich has to decide who’d fill in for Coach Moore for those 2 games. One name from within the program has been floated.

Sherrone Moore’s suspension sparks discourse around his interim replacement

With the head coach out of the picture, the natural progression would be one of the coordinators. Conventional wisdom suggests DC Wink Martindale should assume interim head coaching duties. He’s been at the program for longer than his contemporary, for starters, OC Chip Lindsey, who only came to Ann Arbor this offseason. However, there’s a rationale that dictates Lindsey would be the more suitable candidate.

The Michigan fan forum, Maize and Brew, released a list of candidates in the aftermath of Sherrone Moore’s suspension being announced. Both coordinators made the shortlist, alongside vet O-line coach Lou Esposito. But Chip Lindsey got the nod, citing how his duties run most similarly to Coach Moore’s. “As the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the [UNC] Tar Heels for two seasons, Lindsey called plays, created installs for the offense and was tremendously impactful…With the expectation of already calling plays on offense even with Moore on the field, Lindsey should be the first candidate to replace Moore as the interim head coach,” it read.

Chip Lindsey probably didn’t expect to be the interim HC 2 weeks into his Michigan tenure when he signed his 3-year, $4.5 million contract. But he’s not one to shy away from responsibility either. The school, officially, is yet to announce who’s going to keep the seat warm in Sherrone Moore’s absence. It should become apparent in due course, as should the NCAA’s final verdict on matters. Coach Moore’s involvement in the scandal was deemed a violation after the initial probe. So a Jim Harbaugh-level reprimand isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. It would be harsh, though.