Michigan football has a few qualified candidates who could take role of interim coach while Sherrone Moore serves his two-game suspension in 2025.
Michigan football now knows its punishment, with the NCAA handing out its ruling on the Conor Stalions sign-stealing saga on Friday, Aug. 15.
U-M avoided a postseason ban but received a four-year probation and has been ordered to pay fines that could amount to $20 million. In addition, former coach Jim Harbaugh received a 10-year show-cause order while Stalions received an eight-year show-cause order.
Coach Sherrone Moore, who was previously hit with a two-game suspension as a self-imposed punishment in relation to the scandal, was suspended for a third game by the NCAA. U-M's suspension will take place during Weeks 3 and 4 of the 2025 season, while the NCAA's suspension will take place during Week 1 of the 2026 season.
The school announced late Friday that it would be appealing the punishment, saying in a release: "In a number of instances the decision makes fundamental errors in interpreting NCAA bylaws; and it includes a number of conclusions that are directly contrary to the evidence – or lack of evidence – in the record. We will appeal this decision to ensure a fair result, and we will consider all other options."
But who will coach Michigan while Moore sits out during this season and next? Here are a few candidates for the role:
Biff Poggi
While he's not the most well-known coach on the staff, consider this option No. 1. For starters, he recently had head coaching experience at UNC-Charlotte. Although the tenure was not successful, at 6-15 overall, he's a much better football mind than that record indicates.
He's Michigan's associate head coach, a title he also held under former coach Jim Harbaugh on two separate occasions. Perhaps the primary reason is he's not a positional coach, who is dedicated day-in and day-out to one specific group, nor is he a coordinator, who will spend the entire week game-planning for the specific opponent on that upcoming Saturday.
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So, if he's so qualified, why wasn't he selected in 2023, you ask? The NCAA previously required it be an active positional coach or coordinator who take over at that time, but in 2024 the governing body amended its rules to allow any staff member to coach in an on-field capacity for games as well as practices.
A rule change at the same time, however, is also why this suspension could impact U-M more than when Harbaugh had to be held out. During his two three-game suspensions in 2023, Harbaugh was allowed to be around the team all week, but not the 24 hours of gameday. Now, Moore cannot be around the program during the entirety of the week leading into the game.
All the more reason for someone with head coaching experience, both in college and at an elite high school (St. Frances in Baltimore), to take over.
Wink Martindale
If it's not Poggi, the next most likely candidate figures to be defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. Martindale, who turns 62 later this month, has decades of experience in the NFL coordinating defenses. And while he has never been a head coach, he commands the respect of the team as much as anybody on staff.
There's no doubt this would shake things up a bit. Martindale is incredibly hands-on with the defense, but throughout his tenure has discussed how he tries to put his coaches underneath him in positions of success. Should he take on this role, it's unclear if he would continue to call defenses (likely) or if he would pass those duties to someone such as defensive line coach Lou Esposito or secondary coach LaMar Morgan.
Either way, Martindale is qualified to handle the situation, but it would seemingly disrupt the usual order of operations more than somebody such as Poggi.
Chip Lindsey
Then there's the newest coach in town, who comes with experience and know-how.
Chip Lindsey, U-M's offensive coordinator who just came from North Carolina, has recent head coaching experience at Troy (2019-21) and also knows what it takes to game-plan, having orchestrated offenses at the University of Central Florida and North Carolina the past three seasons.
The primary reason Lindsey seems to be the third option − and this is glossing over someone like Esposito, who served as coach at Division II Davenport (2014-16) − is because he's new to the program and already has the tall task of trying to revamp an offense that struggled in 2024.
It doesn't seem likely that U-M would want to distract him from that, or from developing Bryce Underwood as he moves into what would likely be his first Big Ten action (assuming he wins the role), but in these situations, everything must be considered.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
You can reach Christian at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Sherrone Moore suspension: Who will coach Michigan while he's out?
Category: General Sports
