It may seem slow right now, but it isn’t unprecedented.
Early last week, Michigan football picked up its first commitment of the Sherrone Moore era in four-star Nathaniel Marshall out of Oak Park, Illinois. Moore was officially hired as head coach of the Michigan football program on January 26th, meaning it took nearly three months for the program to receive its first commitment from a high school prospect. While certainly not a sign that the sky is falling in Ann Arbor, it has the natives restless as recruiting successes are generally not hard to find following a National Championship season.
It’s worth noting that Moore did face some extenuating circumstances that most new coaches don’t have to endure. The slow matriculation of former staff members to the NFL delayed Moore’s ability to put together a cohesive staff moving forward. Ben Herbert decided to follow Jim Harbaugh on January 29th, Jesse Minter and Mike Elston followed suit on February 6th, Jay Harbaugh was hired by the Seattle Seahawks on February 13th, Steve Clinkscale moved on on February 14th, and Mike Hart left the program on March 8th. This slow departure is atypical for a head coach who had been promoted internally.
Moore also experienced a few struggles in hiring as Greg Scruggs was hired to coach the defensive line on March 6th but subsequently resigned on March 21st following a DUI.
I don’t say all this as a referendum on the start of Sherrone Moore’s tenure as the head coach at Michigan. It’s simply to point out that Moore has had more than a few abnormal circumstances that he’s had to deal with at the start of his tenure.
Moore should also be credited with the retention of almost all of the recruiting class of 2024. He was fortunate that he didn’t have to find any recruits at the last minute to round out the class. He also retained the commitment of transfers Josh Priebe (Northwestern) and Jaishawn Barham (Maryland) and brought in Dominic Zvada (Arkansas St.) and CJ Charleston (Youngstown St.) while also bringing Amorion Walker (Ole Miss) home.
So how does Moore’s recruiting efforts compare to his predecessors Jim Harbaugh and Brady Hoke? Is it actually taking longer? Let’s dive in.
Harbaugh Era
Jim Harbaugh was hired at Michigan on December 30, 2014. He was able to retain just six players who had committed to the Wolverines prior to his hire, though it’s worth noting that Brady Hoke was struggling to recruit due to the on-field failures of the 2014 team. Four-star Zach Gentry out of New Mexico became Harbaugh’s first commitment on January 25, 2015, followed closely by Reuben Jones (also January 25th) and Nolan Ulizio (January 26th). Five other players committed to Harbaugh and the Wolverines in the class of 2015, as he had very little time before signing day.
While it only took Harbaugh a little under a month to gain a commitment, he had to do so in a rush as he had to round out the freshmen class for the upcoming fall. Moore has the luxury of only needing to look forward to the next class. The first true apples-to-apples comparison will be between Harbaugh’s class of 2016 to Moore’s class of 2025 — good luck matching that.
In Harbaugh’s first full recruiting class, he brought in 29 prospects and had the fourth-rated class nationwide. The first commitment he received was from Brandon Peters on April 4, 2015 (a little over three months after he was hired). The class included Michael Onwenu, Josh Metellus, Ben Bredeson, Devin Bush, David Long, Josh Uche, Khaleke Hudson, Lavert Hill, and top-overall prospect Rashan Gary.
To date, Moore’s first full recruiting class consists of four-star Nathaniel Marshall as well as three-stars Carter Smith, Bobby Kanka, and Eli Owns though it’s still very early in the cycle.
Hoke Era
Brady Hoke was hired by Michigan on January 11, 2011. Similar to Harbaugh, Hoke had to work quickly to complete the freshman class for the upcoming fall, the class of 2011 in this case. He was able to retain 10 commitments from the Rich Rodriguez era. The first commitment Hoke received was from Tamani Carter out of Pickerington, Ohio, on January 21st, just 10 days after his hiring!
Hoke rounded out the class of 2011 with nine more commits, all within 22 days of his hiring. This list included Matt Wile, Russell Bellomy, Chris Bryant, and Frank Clark.
Once he started focusing on his first full class, the class of 2012, commitments began to roll into Hoke and Michigan program in mid-April. By the end of the cycle, they accumulated 25 commitments and the No. 7 ranked class nationally. This class included the likes of Joe Bolden, Amara Darboh, Devin Funchess, Chris Wormley, and Jehu Chesson.
Summary
While Moore has had to endure quite a bit of unexpected coaching staff turmoil, he has had the luxury of not having to frantically add to the initial freshman class. The class of 2024 has remained almost entirely intact, despite being in the era of the transfer portal. Both Harbaugh and Hoke were put into rough spots that required them to fill out recruiting classes with less than two months remaining until Signing Day.
Harbaugh (April 4th) and Hoke (April 13th) did bring in their first commitments for the following cycle earlier than Moore (April 22nd), though that’s hardly a reason for concern.
With that being said, both Jim Harbaugh and Brady Hoke had top-10 classes in their first full recruiting cycles that would be instrumental in their successes in the early years of each of their tenures. As the reigning national champions, Sherrone should be in a more advantageous recruiting position and will need to capitalize.