Ranking The Top Five Candidates To Replace Sherrone Moore At Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines are back in the coaching market just two years after Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL and the Los Angeles Chargers.

This time, they’re in the market under unceremonious circumstances after Harbaugh’s hand-picked replacement, Sherrone Moore, was fired for cause following an alleged inappropriate relationship with a Michigan football staffer.

Not only that, but the Wolverines find themselves in looking for a coach at a time when most big-name coaching candidates have either landed elsewhere or recently extended at their current jobs.

So, who will lead Michigan’s football out of the tunnel in 2026?

Michigan Wolverines Coaching Candidates

Had the Wolverines been in the market for a head coach a month ago, this list may well have looked different. Matt Campbell, who recently took the head coaching job at Penn State, could well have been in the mix.

Perhaps Michigan would’ve joined Penn State and Florida in putting out feelers to Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame, although he’s since reaffirmed his commitment in South Bend.

That being said, this is still Michigan. The Wolverines are one of the biggest brands in the sport and have a ton of financial backing, so there will be options. Just who are those options?

Well, we’re counting down who we believe to be the top five.

5) Jesse Minter – Los Angeles Chargers (DC)

If the Wolverines want to go with a familiar face, the first name on the list may well be current Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.

Minter was the defensive coordinator under Harbaugh for the Wolverines in 2022 and 2023, leading the latter team to a national championship. He then followed Harbaugh to LA, where he currently has the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL in yards per game and 10th in points per game.

Minter also spent a season at Vanderbilt under Clark Lea, who is currently one of the fast-rising head coaches in the country when it comes to esteem.

It’s unlikely that Michigan dips its toes back into the pool of candidates associated with the infamous Connor Stalions scandal. But if it does, Minter is an easy choice.

4) Kalen DeBoer – Alabama Crimson Tide

If Kalen DeBoer becomes available to the Michigan Wolverines, he’s easily the No. 1 choice to replace Moore.

However, that is one very large if. DeBoer was the offensive coordinator at Indiana in 2019 before becoming the head coach at Fresno State and later Washington, which he led to the national championship game in 2023.

Coincidentally, the Huskies lost that game to Harbaugh, Moore, Minter and the Wolverines.

He then replaced the retiring Nick Saban at Alabama, where he is 19-7 through his first two seasons. At just about any other program in the country, that would be fine. But when you’re at Alabama, and you’re replacing Nick Saban, 19-7 draws some scrutiny.

DeBoer and the Tide are in the College Football Playoff this season, and if they beat Oklahoma in the opening round, or even go further in the playoff, it’s hard to see the sides parting ways. But a loss to the Sooners could present an opening to Michigan that would jump on in a hurry.

3) Jeff Brohm – Louisville Cardinals

Over his last two seasons at Purdue, Jeff Brohm led the Boilermakers to a combined 17-9 record and a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game in 2022. In the three seasons since he left, Purdue is just 7-29.

Brohm has also earned a reputation as a giant slayer, going 4-1 in the regular season against top-five opponents. However, he’s also earned a reputation for inexplicable losing games he shouldn’t, like he did this year at Louisville, when the Cardinals lost to Cal after a win over Miami the week prior put them in the driver’s seat in the ACC.

There’s no doubting Brohm’s offensive prowess, and he’s proven it can work in the Big Ten (and, notably, against Ohio State).

However, Brohm also recently reaffirmed his commitment to his alma mater. Would a call from Michigan change his view of that situation?

2) PJ Fleck – Minnesota

What about a coach who is already in the Big Ten and who has already had success in the state of Michigan?

In nine seasons at the University of Minnesota, PJ Fleck is 95-66, including an 11-2 record in 2019 that resulted in the school’s highest win total of all time and highest finish in the AP Poll since 1962.

Fleck’s .596 win percentage is the best of any coach at Minnesota since 1950. And in the year prior to taking the Golden Gophers’ job, Fleck went 13-1 at Western Michigan and led the Broncos to the Cotton Bowl, where they narrowly fell to Big Ten foe Wisconsin.

Sure, Fleck wouldn’t be the sexiest name out there. But he’s a proven winner and would likely provide much-needed stability for a Michigan program that is clearly in search of it at the moment.

1) Jedd Fisch – Washington

If DeBoer doesn’t fall right into the laps of the Wolverines, this one just makes too much.

Jedd Fisch worked as the quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator under Harbaugh in 2015 and 2016, helping them to a 20-6 record in that span.

He then bounced around the college and NFL ranks before landing the head coaching job at Arizona in 2021. Fisch took over a Wildcats program that went 0-5 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and by 2023 he led them to a 10-3 record and a No. 11 finish in the AP Poll, the school’s highest finish since 1998.

Fisch then replaced DeBoer at Washington in 2024, and despite taking over a roster that was gutted by graduation and transfers, and has gone 14-11 in his first two seasons.

Fisch is a bright offensive mind, a strong recruiter, and, like Fleck, would seemingly bring some stability back to the Michigan program.

That is why he’s our top candidate to replace Sherrone Moore in Ann Arbor.