Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore should feel very secure about his job, but CBS Sports’ hot seat rankings still placed him in the middle of the pack:
Sherrone Moore was an integral part of the 2023 National Championship Michigan Wolverines team. He was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, and acted as the interim head coach for four games.
In his first season as the full-time head coach, Moore took a team that lost 17 starters on both sides of the ball and still won nine games, including big wins over Ohio State and Alabama to end the campaign. Combine that with recruiting the best player in the 2025 class and having a Top-10 recruiting class, and your job should be very secure.
Moore is certainly not on the hot seat, but CBS Sports’ hot seat rankings raised some eyebrows, placing him in an interesting category.
CBS Sports gave hot seat grades to all 136 coaches in college football, and Moore was given a score of 2.22, falling into the category of “all good…for now.” With other categories such as untouchable (0-0.99), safe and secure (1-1.99), pressure is mounting (3-3.99), start improving now (4-4.99), and win or be fired (5), Moore’s score comes in right around the middle of the pack of the ratings.
To compare his score to other coaches in the Big Ten, Ryan Day had a score of 0.89 coming off a National Championship (despite losing to Michigan four years in a row), Maryland head coach Mike Lockley had a 3.22, and most surprisingly, Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith had a 1.78 despite going 5-7 in his first season with the Spartans.
Moore’s score of 2.22 should not raise any concerns, and could just be for show. Nonetheless, having a higher score than some of his counterparts does raise questions about how the outside media is viewing the second-year head coach.
From an Athletic Department standpoint, Moore should be viewed as “safe and secure” given his success with a short runway his first season. Now with a talented quarterback and an upgrade at offensive coordinator, among other things, he has the pieces to get Michigan back to where it was from 2021-23.
Can things still change? Sure. If the Wolverines fall off a cliff and greatly disappoint in 2025, then the conversation shifts. But for now, he’ll likely get a bit of latitude with all eyes on how the team improves this year.