Obligatory upvote! 

Jim,

Thank you for all the hard work you put into this program we all love - meticulously and painstakingly building it back up... and even through the hardship of the covid year.  Finally getting it back to the level it should be - winning conference and national championships - is truly a great contribution to the program's legacy.

Thank you for also weakening the program our your way out so much for your own designated successor such that he will need to *also* endure the hardships and toils of rebuilding the program from (what may very well be) another low period.

Enjoy that new work commute!

You can blame Michigan’s inept athletic department. 

It should be assigned to Warde Manuel for sitting around with his finger up his butt and not providing Moore with the money he needs to succeed. When Harbaugh left, Warde needed to provide the money to not have the coaching staff raided. That has not happened. I don’t blame Harbaugh for wanting his guys but we have enough money to have convinced them to stay and Warde decided it wasn’t worth his time or the money

I don’t know who to blame either, or whether blame is in order.  What would be nice to know, however, is what kind of transition planning was possible and what kind of transition planning was done.

Everyone who is leaving was under contract, at least, until very recently. And it was at least theoretically possible for some sort of collective and collaborative transition planning between Moore and the coaching staff and/or between the athletic department and members of the staff.  

Obviously, some of that planning should’ve been initiated well before Moore was named head coach - so the responsibility to attempt to do whatever was possible falls mostly on the athletic department.

Here is why coaches are leaving

Jeff Hafley explains why NFL coordinator is a better job than Boston College head coach. https://t.co/YWn99KsTsb

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 7, 2024

Sam Webb had some interesting comments this morning—he strongly hinted that Elston's apparent departure (and a possible Clinkscale departure) aren't necessarily about money or a desire to get to the NFL. Rather, it could mainly be an issue of promotion, or lack thereof, and that the situation is not solely that Harbaugh is trying to grab him—Elston may also be searching for another place to coach, and the Chargers are an obvious landing spot.

It's not a secret that Elston has wanted to be a DC, and the main reason he left ND was because he was passed over twice for that position. With the departure of Minter, it's entirely reasonable that Elston would feel he deserves a chance to ascend to that position. Instead, Moore has apparently indicated in a very public way that he doesn't believe Elston is the man for the DC job, since his search has been focused entirely on candidates outside the program.

The same applies to Clinkscale, who for the last two seasons has been co-defensive coordinator. It would be more than a bit naive to think that Clink wouldn't regard it as a slap in the face to not be considered for the full DC position, considering his role on one of the best Michigan defenses in the past half century.

So for reasons that are probably never going to be made public, Moore has decided that two of his primary defensive assistants are not good enough to promote. The result is that this greatly increases the risk that both will leave, having understandably concluded that they don't have the confidence of the head coach. Professionals who feel that their capabilities have been judged wanting by their boss are frequently unpersuaded by offers of more money to stay.

One fact that's become pretty obvious over the past few seasons is that very few players or coaches have true allegiance to an institution or a football program—they have allegiances to coaches and assistants they work with every day. If those coaches and assistants leave, then many of the people left behind are going to start considering alternative spots for themselves.

Herbert is gone. Minter is gone. Now Elston is gone, and who knows about Clinkscale. Those are four key coaches for players like Graham, Grant, Johnson, and all the rest of the DL and DBs. Webb has been talking since the NC game about how intensely other programs are trying to lure key players away from Michigan, and that was occurring before Herbert and Elston left. Thinking that Michigan players are automatically immune to that kind of enticement after their coaches have left is wishful thinking. Moore is taking a pretty big gamble here.

What makes Moore's strategy risky is that he's apparently putting all his eggs into getting well-regarded NFL coaches to leave all that behind to join a school they have no connection to, at a time when the college game is in great turmoil. If he whiffs in his attempt to get them to Michigan, and he loses Elston, Clinkscale, and key players in the bargain, then he's made the challenge in his first season even more daunting than it was already.

Moore may think that the national championship glow will insulate him from criticism when he loses his first game, but he's fooling himself if he does. Given the holes to fill on offense and a brutal schedule, going undefeated again was unlikely even if Minter and Herbert stayed here, and if key players follow departing coaches out the door, multiple losses become a bigger possibility. If, God forbid, that happens, that national championship glow will start melting away like a patch of snow on a warm February day.

This is the point that every Brandon-basher glosses over. The guy ended up being a turd, but the powers that be here, and the MGoCommenters, absolutely loved it when he gave the "pimp hand" to the NCAA on like day one. We'd probably still be on self-imposed probation if Manuel were the AD then.

moving to a player/coach model. with commensurate salary. we're really gonna clean up in the portal once this is announced. have faith!

I thought we wanted folks with experience in with the ravens defense. Why would Elston get DC over clink?