On Wednesday, Dec. 10, the Michigan Wolverines announced that they were firing University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore.
“U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately,” Michigan said in a statement, adding that Biff Poggi was appointed head football coach in an interim capacity, effective immediately.
The firing of Moore comes at a bad time, because it happened during a period in college football that’s critical for recruiting and showing program stability. The quick firing leaves the Wolverines without a longstanding leader right when they’re trying to lock in top-notch recruits.
So, the sooner the Michigan Wolverines can solidify a new head coach, the better. Also, the team would be wise to get a head coach with so much experience in college football that there isn’t a learning curve in running one of the strongest football programs in the nation.
That’s where retired college football heavyweights Nick Saban and Urban Meyer come in. In a feature out on Wednesday, just hours after Moore’s dismissal, Trent Knoop of SI lays out options for a replacement, and he names both Saban and Meyer as dream candidates.
“Love them or hate them — either would be a slam-dunk hire for Michigan,” Knoop notes in the piece. “Urban Meyer and Nick Saban’s pedigree speaks for itself and both are considered two of the best to ever coach in college. It would be a shame not to at least pick up the phone and call both to gauge interest in the job.”
He adds that Saban might give it a harder listen than Meyer, but that “both are likely going to turn the job down.”
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Knoop makes the case that the AD “[Warde] Manuel has to at least pick up the phone and make the call. Not only would players stay to play under them, but either coach would get Michigan back into the College Football Playoff in no time.”
That’s really where this idea of Saban or Meyer taking the gig shines. Both of them have the knowledge and stability to get Michigan right back where they were in their final year under Jim Harbaugh, winning a championship.
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It’s worth noting that Meyer has already said on social media that there’s “no shot” he’ll take the job, but everyone knows that in football, never say never. It’s frankly a long shot that either would take the gig. But it’s worth a try, and the university would be foolish not to do it.