Michigan football suffers another huge blow at hands of Jim Harbaugh

When Jim Harbaugh said he was a "loyal Wolverine" apparently that didn't mean he was willing to let Michigan football keep some of his key assistants following his departure for the NFL.

While it hasn't been announced yet, it seems like Jesse Minter, the former Michigan football defensive coordinator, will be joining Harbaugh with the Chargers. That blow was bad enough for the Wolverines, but on Monday morning, Michigan football suffered an even bigger blow to its coaching staff as strength coach Ben Herbert told the team he was leaving for LA.

It's not surprising that Jim Harbaugh would want his right-hand man to join him in the NFL. But strength coaches don't have that big a role in the NFL -- at least not compared to college football, so the fact that Harbaugh hired him away is interesting, to say the least. He does have the right to build his staff obviously, but this really weakens Michigan and Moore. That's just a fact.

When Sherrone Moore was announced last week, there were positive signs around the program that it would be able to keep Herbert. However, it seems like Jim Harbaugh offered more money, which was enough to get Herbert to join him.

Why does this matter? Because from the culture to player development, Herbert was as important as any person on the Michigan football coaching staff. That includes Jim Harbaugh. Herbert is the reason so many guys came to Michigan as three-stars and walked away as NFL players.

Herbert was a huge piece on the recruiting trail and also a huge part of that culture. It's a blow and it's one that some players are taking hard. It could even lead to some exits via the transfer portal.

We'll have to wait and see what the fallout is. But Sherrone Moore has his work cut out for him.