The 2024 college football season is almost here, and few teams have more questions surrounding them than the Michigan Wolverines. Entering this season as the reigning national champions, the Wolverines lost their head coach Jim Harbaugh, six assistant coaches, their strength and conditioning coach, and 13 NFL Draft picks. After promoting former offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore to head coach, they had to replace both coordinators and an entire defensive staff. Along with all the changes, Michigan is dealing with a high-profile NCAA investigation. Here are five keys to Michigan Football sustaining its recent success.
Five Keys for Michigan’s Continued Success
1. Productive Quarterback Play
After former quarterback J.J. McCarthy was taken 10th overall in this year’s NFL Draft, the Wolverines are left trying to figure out who the next signal-caller will be. The current battle has been centered around junior Alex Orji, but the program also has veteran Jack Tuttle and senior Davis Warren. With McCarthy, Michigan had a talented playmaker who could extend plays with his legs and keep the offense on schedule. He also had an arm that defenses had to respect.
Orji is a proven dynamic runner but his passing ability is the biggest question. He was used as a rotational piece in certain packages last year but only has one career pass attempt. Tuttle possesses the most experience of the group having played in 21 games between his time at Indiana and Michigan, but the stats are not impressive. Tuttle’s career includes a 59.8% completion percentage with six touchdowns and six interceptions. He is capable of shifting the pocket but is not as dynamic of a runner as Orji. Warren is a senior with only 14 career pass attempts and only five were completed while one was intercepted. However, Warren had a good showing in the Wolverine’s spring game (6 for 9 passing, 136 yards, and two touchdowns) and has made this what appears to be a three-man race.
Whoever gets the nod needs to be multi-dimensional. If the starter does not have a respected arm, defenses will load the box. If the starter does not have at least functional mobility, blitzes will thwart the offensive game plan.
2. Adaptable Defensive Scheme
The Wolverines hired Wink Martindale to replace Jesse Minter as their defensive coordinator this offseason. Having been in the NFL since 2004, Martindale has operated a defense similar to the scheme the Wolverines have used for the last three seasons. He has worked with both Minter and Mike McDonald, the Wolverines’ defensive coordinators during those three seasons. He has a reputation for aggressive playcalling and creating pre-snap confusion for quarterbacks. Martindale may want to be aggressive, but for Michigan to succeed, he needs to be able to adapt. Wolverine fans may recall former defensive coordinator Don Brown (who like Martindale likes to blitz) who led many statistically great defenses but in big games could get exposed. The most glaring example was “The Game” in 2018 when Ohio State put on a clinic using crossing routes against Michigan’s defense. Ohio State put 62 points on what at the time of kickoff was a top-ten defense in the country while Brown could not find an answer. Martindale can be aggressive, but he has to be able to adjust as well.
3. Offensive Line Play
The Wolverines won the Joe Moore Award (best offensive line unit in college football) in both 2021 and 2022. In 2023 they also possessed an impressive offensive line with three NFL draft picks and three more undrafted free agents that paved the way to a national championship, but now has to replace their top six offensive linemen from last season. Michigan has produced 11 draft picks in the last five drafts. During three of those seasons, new head coach Sherrone Moore was the offensive line coach. Moore and the program may have earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to developing offensive linemen but losing six linemen is a tough task for any team to replace. Michigan prides itself on playing a physical brand of football which makes it even more critical they find they develop the right players for this unit. Their ability to dictate games and impose their will on opponents depends on their offensive line play. In recent years, even when the team has struggled in other areas they have always had quality offensive line play. If they fail to get that this year then the season could rapidly slip away from them.
4. Recruiting
Recruiting is arguably the most important part of any college football program. It is worth mentioning that many programs would be happy with Michigan’s recruiting results, but perspective matters. As of this article, Michigan ranks 16th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten in the 247Sports rankings for the class of 2025. Those are acceptable results to compete with Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin, and other teams on the upper end of the Big Ten. They are not acceptable to consistently compete with programs like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, new conference foe Oregon, and rival Ohio State. Those programs listed make up the current top five of the current 2025 recruiting cycle.
Moore has a chance to choose where Michigan will fall. The recruiting results under former head coach Jim Harbaugh were mixed at best. In the 2023 recruiting class, Michigan missed out on five-star quarterback Dante Moore, who committed to UCLA and has since transferred to Oregon. In the 2024 cycle, it missed out on four-star quarterback CJ Carr, who committed to Notre Dame. In the 2025 class, barring a flip, it missed out on five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood who has committed to LSU.
Those three players were the top-ranked prospects from the state of Michigan in their respective classes. Carr is the grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr who won a national championship with the Wolverines in 1997. Missing out on all three of those players is unacceptable. Four-star athlete and Cass Tech wide receiver CJ Sadler is the top-ranked recruit from the state for the 2026 class. Michigan is actively targeting him and cannot afford to let talent right under their nose continue to go elsewhere. Moore can get a pass on the 2024 class due to the timing of Harbaugh’s departure and uncertainty around the program. Going forward, he needs to decide if Michigan is content to occasionally compete for the Big Ten or if he is going to improve the recruiting so Michigan does not have to wait another 26 years between national championships.
5. Get a Handle on Off-Field Issues
I am primarily referencing the infamous Connor Stalions in-person scouting operation, but reports have also come out about recruiting violations during COVID and noncompliance from multiple staff members. ESPN reported on a draft of the notice of allegations to be sent to Michigan. The NCAA has established a precedent that head coaches cannot claim ignorance of their staff’s conduct. This means Moore needs to get his entire staff under control and on the same page with no rogue actions.
Michigan is already at risk of being declared a repeat offender and the program was not fully cooperative with the NCAA last fall after news of Stalions’ actions broke. Michigan got its national championship and there has been no reporting of vacated wins or titles coming from this. However, there is talk of suspensions, show causes, and postseason bans. Moore and Michigan need to steady this ship and prevent any future violations from occurring or risk facing higher penalties that endanger the program’s future. As the NCAA allegation process continues more stories will come out, but the best thing the program can do is prevent any additional violations from here on out.
Moving Forward
The issues above need addressing, but the Wolverines are currently in a solid place. They are presumptive favorites in 9 of their 12 games and have projected NFL draft picks scattered throughout the roster. They must take this current foundation and continue to improve the program. The staff has to be aware of the areas that need changes and work to make that improvement happen. The last time Michigan replaced a coach who won a national championship they entered the worst stretch in program history. The program needs to understand that is important to find answers to their current issues or they will be left with even more questions.
Main Image: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
