Who replaces Jim Harbaugh at Michigan? Sherrone Moore and other candidates

The writing appeared to be on the wall that Michigan football would need a new head football coach once Jim Harbaugh took a second interview with the Los Angeles Chargers and sure enough that's the case.

On Wednesday night, that came true when the Wolverines coach decided to make his NFL return after nine years in Ann Arbor.

It's a relatively awkward point in the college football calendar; on the back-end of the coaching carousel and a few weeks after the end of the transfer portal window's opening (of course that window now re-opens for 30 days for all Michigan players with their coach leaving) but Michigan has always been considered one of the premier college coaching destinations.

That is the case now more than ever, one would think, with Michigan currently at the top of the mountain. So, who are the main candidates?

Sherrone Moore − Michigan offensive coordinator

Moore is the first name to come up in recent weeks when Harbaugh/NFL rumors once again began to swirl.

Michigan's 37-year-old offensive coordinator was a finalist for the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant and served as acting head coach for one-third of the Wolverines' regular season.

Moore was the acting head coach against Bowling Green when Harbaugh served the final game of his university-imposed three game suspension; but much more notably served as the team's leader for the final three games of the year — at Penn State, at Maryland and at home against Ohio State — when Harbaugh was suspended for a second time on the year.

Moore was in charge when Michigan bailed on the pass game and ran more than 30 consecutive times to secure the win at Penn State, as well as for the program's 1,000th win the next week at Maryland. And he called a masterful game against Ohio State, utilizing creativity without recklessness.

There's question if he's ready for this role full time. He was merely the tight ends coach at Central Michigan just four years ago and doesn't have any experience in the day-to-day leadership operation that is required as a head coach, but he has passed each test to this point with flying colors.

Lance Leipold − Kansas head coach

There's no clear, big name seemingly available, but Leipold, 59, has taken Kansas, perennially the worst Power Five team in America, to consecutive bowl games. That included this season, in which Kansas won nine games for the first time since going 12-1 in 2007.

Prior to Kansas, he was at Buffalo, where after winning just seven games combined in his first two seasons as he flipped the program over, he went 24-10 in the final three campaigns. That included two trips to the MAC title game.

When Nick Saban retired and Washington's Kalen DeBoer was named successor, Leipold's name came up as a potential replacement in Seattle, but he took to social media to reaffirm his commitment to Kansas. Well, should the pockets of Michigan's athletic department come calling, that could be a very different story.

Leipold had Midwest ties and is a Division III coaching legend in Wisconsin. He went 109-6 during an eight-year run at Wisconsin Whitewall (2007-14), where he won six national championships and had another runner-up finish.

It's worth mentioning Jedd Fisch, who ended up taking the Washington job after he led Arizona to a 10-win season, was a former coordinator at Michigan and likely would have been one of the top external candidates.

Brian Kelly − LSU

Crazier things have happened. This wouldn't be the first time there was a link between an LSU coach and Ann Arbor (some may recall the Les Miles saga in 2007).

However message boards in recent weeks have run wild with rumors of Kelly's curiosity in a return to the Midwest, specifically to a state where he has had a ton of success.

Kelly, 62, won two Division II national championships at Grand Valley State (2002-03) as he turned the Lakers into a power. He went 118–35–2 at the school and had a 32-game winning streak.

He was hired at Central Michigan in 2004, and by his third year turned a 4-7 team into a 9-4 MAC champion. He also led Cincinnati to a pair of Big East titles, took Notre Dame to the national championship game in the 2012 season and won 10 games in each of his first two seasons in Baton Rouge.

With Saban retired and Harbaugh in the NFL, Kelly may be the top name in the college football.

P.J. Fleck − Minnesota

He was once the hottest name on the coaching carousel and while his stock might not be that high, it may be worth kicking the tires on another Big Ten coach who has continued to win at a place where it's quite hard to do so.

The Gophers have gone to a bowl game each of the last five years outside of the 2020 pandemic season and won nine or more games in three of the past four full seasons.

Before that, Fleck took a one-win Western Michigan team and vaulted it to consecutive seasons of eight wins before the best year in school history in 2016. The Broncos finished No. 18 in the coaches poll and went a program-best 13-1, earning a New Year's Six bowl bid.

Mike Hart − Michigan running backs coach

Many would expect defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to be the final name on this list, but it would be extremely surprising if Harbaugh doesn't bring him to Los Angeles to man the same position on his new staff.

Instead, consider the lone "Michigan man" on this list as Hart, who not only knows the ins and outs of the current system, but has experience as an associate head coach elsewhere.

Hart is on the shortlist of the best running backs of the modern era and has been back in Ann Arbor on staff for three seasons as position coach of his former unit.

Hart has coached the same position at Eastern Michigan (2012-13), Western Michigan (2014-15) and Syracuse (2016) before he went to Indiana (2017-20) and coached RBs all four years and added the title of associate head coach for the final season.

Hart served as head coach for the second half of Michigan's Week 2 victory over UNLV.