Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore had a next-to-impossible task in 2024, taking over for a legendary figure in Jim Harbaugh fresh off the Wolverines’ first national championship since 1997.
Everything Michigan lost from ‘Team 144’ was well documented all throughout last offseason, yet the program’s standard remained the same. Moore himself laid out that standard last July at Big Ten Media Days.
“Win the big game, beat our rivals, beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten, go to the College Football Playoff and win it,” Moore said six months ago.
The Wolverines fell short of many of their big picture goals this season, finishing at 8-5 overall and 5-4 in conference play, finishing 7th in the Big Ten. During one stretch, Michigan lost four out of five games to fall to 5-5, before rebounding with consecutive wins over Northwestern, Ohio State and Alabama to close out Moore’s first season as head coach.
Following the Wolverines’ 19-13 win over the Crimson Tide in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31, Moore reflected on Year 1 leading the program.
“Yeah, we talked about not losses, lessons,” Moore said. “We had a lot of lessons throughout the year, and just learning from them. We learned the things that we needed to learn, so ultimately end up on the plus side, and we did that in these last three games.”
Moore now takes those lessons learned, and a ton of momentum on both the football field and the recruiting trail, into his first full offseason as CEO of Michigan Football. At this time a year ago, Moore was still the Wolverines’ offensive coordinator, not earning the promotion to head coach Jan. 26, two days after Harbaugh’s departure for the Los Angeles Chargers.
At this time last year, everything about being a head coach was brand new for Moore. This time around, the 38-year-old has a full offseason timeline and plan in place to take a step forward in 2025.
“Finishing on a strong note was huge for us and we’ll build great momentum going into the off-season,” Moore said. “We feel like we’ve got a bright future, the way we’re recruiting, the guys we’re bringing in, the guys we’re keeping, to make sure that this Michigan is the best version of Michigan that it can be, and that’s all we’re going to worry about.”
Michigan has some foundational pieces to build upon in 2025, including what is shaping up to be a dynamic offensive backfield with tailbacks Jordan Marshall, Benjamin Hall, and Alabama transfer Justice Haynes; a defense that steadily improved under first-year coordinator Wink Martindale, and potentially game-changing quarterback in No. 1 overall prospect Bryce Underwood.
All of that is just projection, however. Moore knows there’s more that goes into a successful season than just talent and potential. Success in the fall begins with hard work and preparation in the here and now.
“When we get to winter workouts, that’s the first cycle we’ve got, we’re going to attack that as much as we can and get better there,” Moore said. “And then we’ll go in the spring, we’ll go in the summer and we’ll go into fall camp and then we’ll work to what that final piece will look like after fall camp.”
The standard at Michigan is much higher than finishing 8-5 and being an also-ran in the Big Ten. After a strong close to Year 1, Moore has inspired confience that the Wolverines can work their way back to the top of college football in the years to come.
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