It’s been almost two weeks since Michigan fired head coach Sherrone Moore amidst another scandal casting a pall over the Wolverines program.
Everyone associated with the Michigan program, direct or tangential, is as restless as toddlers awaiting Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
Michigan leaders have urged players and parents to remain steadfast; they conducted a recent Zoom with the families of players to update the process and express a desire to “have our next head coach by Christmas,” sources directly familiar with those talks told FootballScoop.
While interim coach Biff Poggi remains a long shot option to earn the job on a permanent basis, a prominent new name has emerged.
Several sources told FootballScoop Sunday and into Monday that Michigan officials have begun vetting Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm and also gauged the potential interest of Brohm in the Michigan job.
Coaching at his alma mater, Brohm has guided Louisville to 27 wins the past three seasons and earned a spot in today’s Boca Raton Bowl. Prior to that, Brohm led Purdue to 17 wins in his final two seasons in West Lafayette, Indiana.
He’s been a hot name this coaching cycle; Florida officials gauged Brohm’s potential interest in the Gators’s top job, several sources told FootballScoop. and Penn State did the same before each program made its respective new hires in Jon Sumrall and Matt Campbell.
Louisville’s administration has initiated contract extension discussions with Brohm, and while he withdrew from any consideration late in the Penn State process, he has not yet inked his new deal atop the Cardinals program, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
Elsewhere in Michigan’s process, former national championship-winning defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has been persistently linked to the opening atop the Wolverines program.
But NFL sources this week told FootballScoop that Minter has privately disclosed he would not accept the Michigan job at this time; his stock is soaring in NFL circles as defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers, who have surged to an 11-4 mark and positioned themselves for one of the top seeds in the upcoming AFC Playoffs.
Those sources shared that Minter is viewed as a potential NFL head coaching candidate; if not this cycle, then in another year “if they keep doing what they’re doing and playing like they’re playing.”
Poggi, meanwhile, has worked behind the scenes to formulate a staff plan to present to Michigan for consideration of the Michigan job on a full-time basis. He has contacted some high-profile offensive and defensive coordinators, with both NFL and Power Conference experience, to be in lead roles on his staff, multiple sources told FootballScoop.
Finally, outgoing Utah coach Kyle Whittingham remains a fixture at the center of this Michigan search.
With character beyond reproach, a spotless track record with the NCAA and 177 wins atop the Utah program, Whittingham is a model of stability who is viewed by many in Michigan circles as precisely what the program needs amidst the enduring stretch of turbulence in the program.
Set to coach his last game atop the Utah program Dec. 31 against Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl, Whittingham announced he would step away from the Utes after the bowl game but indicated he was not done coaching. He’s led Utah to 10 or more wins in three of the past five years.
Time remains critical for Michigan.
As noted by sources directly connected to the program, Michigan’s players “should be negotiating their deals for the next year right now and instead they’re not getting any answers and don’t know anything about the future of their program.”
The NCAA Transfer Portal opens Jan. 2 and extends through Jan. 16, 2026. Additionally, NCAA rules provide student-athletes with the opportunity to enter the Transfer Portal within a certain window of time following a coaching change. Per the new NCAA rule, players have 15 days to enter the Transfer Portal — five days following the announcement of a program’s new head coach.