Michigan interim head coach Biff Poggi is in an incredibly tough spot. The Sherrone Moore fallout is like nothing people have ever seen before in college sports and now offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey is off to Missouri. Meanwhile, the Wolverines are preparing for a bowl game matchup against an extremely talented Texas team and oh yeah, the transfer portal opens up on Jan. 2 and the Wolverines still don’t have a leading candidate to be the next head coach.
Poggi may end up leading the Wolverines for a while, but for now, he’s trying to keep everything together, and he’s really doing a great job. There hasn’t been a mass exodus by either current players or recently signed prospects in the 2026 class, and per Poggi himself, the team seems to be enjoying football again. That was one of many very interesting things that Poggi said during Monday’s press conference.
Well, that could seemingly be good and bad. Obviously, a lot needs to change. There have been too many issues with Michigan football over the last handful of seasons and it almost feels like it’s time to clean house. Poggi was around for some of those issues so is he truly the guy to start the cleanse? Maybe he is. Now that he’s in charge, maybe he can do what he’s always wanted but never had the authority to do. Time will tell.
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On the flip side, Michigan is preparing for a major opponent in Texas in its bowl game. Changing everything right now, with no head coach and no offensive coordinator seems like a pretty big risk. Usually, this is the time to tighten up, get back to the basics and practice hard the way you have all year in order to get up for a big game. Instead, the Wolverines are implementing new practices and doing things in new ways. Again, time will tell if it’s the right move.
Amen, Biff. Look, what happened, happened. It’s a really bad situation all around, both on and off the field, but it’s done. Moore did what he did, crashed out, got arrested and will probably never coach again. In terms of where Michigan is and what it needs to do as a program, it really doesn’t have anything to do with Sherrone at all anymore, and Biff knows that.
The words he used make it pretty clear that he’s upset, angry, disappointed and whatever other adjective you want to throw in there when it comes to his view of Sherrone Moore and what he did. Sayin that it’s dead to him and referring to it as nonsense is about as straightforward as it gets.
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Next question.
Again, Biff calls it like it is and he’s spot on. Michigan has been dealing with issue after issue for a while now. If Biff was never an active part of any of those issues, which certainly seems to be the case, he has every right to be sick of it all.
Biff has worked at Michigan for around a decade altogether now, has biological children with Michigan degrees and several former players of his have worn the Winged Helmet. All of that gives him a vested interest in the program and school, and the issues have done enough to frustrate an old school, hard working dude like Biff.
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Well, that’s probably the most definitive information any of us have heard since Moore was fired. Insiders have claimed to have information but they clearly do not. At this point, I’m not sure if Manuel even knows who he wants to hire so how could anyone else?
Still, if this is the timeline that the interim head coach is working with, it’s fair to assume that it’ll happen. Also, it needs to. The transfer portal opens on Jan. 2, so someone needs to be in that big office making decisions.
Obviously Steve Casula is not a big time name. He’s not viewed as one of these up-and-coming offensive minds destined to be a head coach someday, but he has worked under some very impressive people who really excel on offense.
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Casula has learned how to coach offense from coaches like Jim Harbaugh, obviously, along with Bill Cubit at Western Michigan and Tony Annese at Ferris State.
Cubit was never viewed as a monster in the coaching game but he has a very solid reputation. He is known as a very good play caller and his offenses were usually organized, efficient, and adaptable. He was respected for working with quarterbacks and tailoring systems to personnel rather than forcing schemes. That bodes well for Casula and what Michigan is working with.
Annese has been the head coach at Division II Ferris State since 2012 and has been as dominant as any coach on any level. He has compiled a 153-21 overall record and just won his fourth national championship in five years. He’s also credited with making current Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss the signal caller he is.
Casula isn’t a $1 million per year OC, but he has learned from some very, very proven guys. It’s going to be really interesting to see how the offense looks under Poggi and Casula, versus Moore and Lindsey.
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There’s no doubt that Poggi knows what he’s doing. He’s been successful in several arenas of life including football and has a calming, authoritative presence about him. The players love him and he seems like a great guy to work for. He might not be Michigan’s long term solution, but he’s perfect for right now.
Throw in the fact that he clearly wants this job for however long he can have it and wants to do everything he can to right a lot of wrongs, and he checks a couple more boxes. Poggi has done a great job keeping things together since Moore was fired and he deserves a chance to at least guide the Wolverines through their bowl game against Texas, whether a new coach is hired by then or not.
