In the least surprising move of all time, Michigan Football has officially named the successor to Jim Harbaugh: 

Moore wins.
Moore championships.
Moore SMASH!@Coach_SMoore Named Michigan’s Head Football Coach » https://t.co/fjbTgR8AwN#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/oYY4tFR98k

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) January 26, 2024

Moore, a native of Derby, Kansas, played college football as a guard at Oklahoma University after a stint at Butler Community College. He graduated from OU in 2008 and joined Louisville in 2009 as a graduate assistant for the football team. Moore stayed at Louisville into the tenure of Charlie Strong, being elevated to tight ends coach in 2012. Strong's 2012 and 2013 teams were highly successful but Strong took a promotion to Texas after that, which is when Moore made his move to the State of Michigan. Moore joined Central Michigan's staff in 2014 as tight ends coach under Dan Enos and he would be retained by head coach John Bonamego, who took over for the departed Enos in 2015. Moore was eventually elevated to Assistant Head Coach in 2017, when the Chips went 8-5. 

Jim Harbaugh hired Moore in the 2017-18 offseason, when he was reshuffling the offensive staff after the firing of Tim Drevno and Greg Frey. Ed Warriner took over the OL duties, which Drevno/Frey shared, while Moore took over tight ends, which was Frey's sole domain on the 2017 team. Moore stayed on Michigan's staff through the disastrous 2020 season as TE coach, before shifting to OL in 2021 after Warinner was not retained. During his three seasons as OL coach, Moore's offensive lines won the Joe Moore Award for the nation's best OL twice. Moore shared offensive coordinator duties in 2021 with Josh Gattis and 2022 with Matt Weiss. After Weiss' mysterious firing under a shroud of scandal, Moore was given sole OC duties for the 2023 season, in addition to OL responsibilities. 

Harbaugh's dual suspensions in 2023 allowed Moore to see his stature within the program grow. He was the interim head coach for the Bowling Green game in September and then was chosen over Mike Hart, Jesse Minter, and Jay Harbaugh to be the team's interim coach for the crucial three game stretch in November when Jim Harbaugh was suspended for the SignGate scandal. Moore went 4-0 in his games as interim head coach, delivering wins over ranked PSU and OSU, which served as his audition for the job. The passionate Moore passed with flying colors in leading the Maize & Blue to victories and at age 37, he seemed to be the obvious long term answer for the program when Harbaugh departed. 

Anecdotal reporting from insiders had suggested that Michigan was notifying recruits for some time that Moore was the coach in waiting should Harbaugh ever not be around. With Harbaugh taking the job with the LA Chargers, all eyes turned to Moore. It didn't take long, as there was broad consensus among fellow coaches and players that Moore was the guy for the gig. He has been an integral part of Michigan's 2020s football turnaround as a culture builder and has proven himself to be one of the staff's best recruiters. Whether that can pay dividends on the recruiting trail remains to be seen, but there is certainly upside in hiring a young, charismatic coach. 

Moore's contract is reported to be five years, $5.5 M per season and he is the first Black (full-time) Head Coach in University of Michigan Football history. The first order of business for Moore will be filling out the rest of his staff, as there is already a vacancy at LB coach due to the fired Chris Partridge, and ones will likely be opening at DC (Jesse Minter presumed to go to LA), special teams (ditto for Jay Harbaugh), OL (himself), and OC (also himself). There have also been rumblings about a possible Mike Hart departure at RB coach, so stay tuned on that front. Hiring quality assistant coaches is a vital part of the responsibility of being a successful head coach in modern football and thus, the hiring Moore does in the near future will be fascinating to watch. 

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