Michigan interim head coach Biff Poggi met the media on Monday and, in typical Biff Poggi fashion, called it like he saw it.
Poggi made as strong a case as possible that Michigan needs to clean house with its impending coaching search. Calling it a “malfunctioning organization,” Poggi said, “Everything that happens in this building needs to be reevaluated.”
Biff Poggi says he’s had multiple interviews for Michigan’s HC position. He also has some blunt words about the program’s shortcomings under Sherrone Moore, calling Michigan a “malfunctioning organization.”
“Everything that happens in this building has to be reevaluated.”
— Austin Meek (@byAustinMeek) December 22, 2025
Michigan’s problems started well before Sherrone Moore’s stunning firing and subsequent arrest two weeks ago. Moore got the job because Jim Harbaugh took the LA Chargers job, and Harbaugh took that job partly to chase a lifelong dream of winning a Super Bowl and partly because his tenure at Michigan had become tainted by scandal. The Connor Stalions fiasco was a black cloud over the rainbow of Michigan’s 2023 title run. Former co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss is accused by the FBI of hacking sexually explicit images of college-aged women while inside the Michigan facility. Former Wolverines quarterback Denard Robinson was hit with a 3-year show-cause by the NCAA as part of the Stalions scandal. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.
So, Poggi stated his case to clean house at an interesting time in the Michigan search.
Sources tell FootballScoop that the U-M board is fractured at this time on how to move forward with the search.
One faction, sources said, wants a clean break from Michigan’s recent past and prefers a respected outsider like former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. The future College Football Hall of Famer recently stepped down after 21 seasons leading the Utes and 32 seasons with the program, but has maintained he intends to coach again. Whittingham is among the most revered leaders in college football — and, certainly, the most respected free-agent candidate available, with the transfer portal set to open in less than two weeks.
Another faction of the board prefers LA Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. The 42-year-old was Michigan’s defensive coordinator from 2022-23 and currently leads a unit that ranks third in the NFL in total yardage and eighth in scoring. He would be an obvious candidate in normal, less dysfunctional times. However, these are not normal, dysfunctional times.
A third faction prefers “a Michigan man,” owing back to the famed Bo Schembechler line that has guided the Wolverines’ hiring practices, for better or worse, for a generation now. As we outlined previously, Michigan does not have a lot of recent success in hiring outside candidates to lead its football program. Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich, a former Wolverines GA who predates the Harbaugh era, has been a popular name for this reason. For what it’s worth, Dusty May — the head coach of Michigan’s undefeated, No. 2-ranked men’s basketball team — had no prior connection to the university prior to his hiring.
And then there is Poggi, who said Monday he has interviewed multiple times for the full-time position. Poggi, 65, is a forceful leader and an appealing stop-gap option, particularly with AD Warde Manuel’s days likely numbered in Ann Arbor. Poggi could lead the program for the 2026 season, by which point Michigan would have a new AD and could position itself on the front end of the next hiring cycle instead of the back end of this one.
However, Poggi’s housecleaning pitch calls in an obvious question, given that he served as Harbaugh’s right-hand man from 2021-22, and then returned to a similar senior off-field position after his 2-year run as the head coach at Charlotte. If everything was malfunctioning around him, did Poggi not have the wherewithal to notice until now, or did he not have the influence to stop it? That’s not to say Poggi wouldn’t have satisfactory answers to those questions, but the questions must be asked.
Poggi said Monday that Manuel told the team the plan was to have a hire in place between Christmas and the Wolverines’ New Year’s Eve date with Texas in the Citrus Bowl. Stay tuned.
