Michigan football: What can we expect in year one of Sherrone Moore?

Michigan football fans seem to be thrilled with the introduction of Sherrone Moore as the program's next head coach, replacing Jim Harbaugh who left for the Los Angeles Chargers after beating Alabama and Washington to complete a perfect 15-0 national title season.

And there are plenty of reasons to be excited. Moore returns after playing the role of second in charge this past season and he even replaced Harbaugh when he was suspended.

Moore proved that he could coach when he did fill in for Harbaugh, including in the season finale against Ohio State and previously on the road against Penn State. He helped lead Michigan to its two biggest regular-season wins and the team responded well to his coaching. So there can't be much of a drop-off with him in charge, right?

Not so fast.

The coaching staff is losing basically every single big name it had from last season to Harbaugh's coaching staff in Los Angeles and JJ McCarthy, Blake Corum, Roman Wilson, and Mike Sainristil are all moving on. The team is going to look a heck of a lot different this upcoming season on both sides of the ball and while Michigan is bringing in the No. 19 recruiting class, it currently only has two incoming transfers.

Michigan will not only have an immediate coaching drop-off from Harbaugh's staff to Moore's but the talent will not be as elite or deep as it was in 2023.

So what can we expect from this team in year one? While it may feel like the end of the world to not win a Big Ten title, I can see Michigan going 8-4 with a decent bowl berth. It'll feel like a failure because of the three straight Big Ten titles, perfect 2023 season, and national title, but it's a rebuilding year under a new staff with all-new starters at key positions.

Don't expect a repeat in 2024 for the Wolverines, but Moore will have guys buying in like he has all year and they'll win 8-9 games.