It happened fast. Just three days after Michigan pulled off an emotional, grit-your-teeth 13-10 upset over Ohio State, the axe finally fell. Sherrone Moore didn’t wait for the bowl game dust to settle. He relieved Kirk Campbell of his duties as offensive coordinator.
Honestly, if you watched a single quarter of Michigan football in 2024, you probably weren't shocked. The offense wasn't just "off"—it was historically broken. We’re talking about a unit that went from a national title-winning juggernaut to a group that looked like it was playing with 10 men on the field most Saturdays.
The Stats That Forced Sherrone Moore’s Hand
Let's get real about the numbers. They’re ugly.
Michigan finished the 2024 regular season ranked No. 128 out of 133 teams in total offense. Think about that for a second. In the entire landscape of Division I football, there were only five teams worse at moving the ball than the defending national champions.
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The passing game was even more of a disaster. Ranking No. 129 in passing offense, Michigan only managed to stay ahead of the three service academies—who famously almost never throw the ball—and Iowa. They averaged a paltry 133.6 passing yards per game.
You can’t win in the modern Big Ten like that. You just can’t. Campbell, who was 38 at the time of his firing, had been a rising star on the staff since 2022. He was the guy who helped J.J. McCarthy refine his game during the 15-0 run. But being a great position coach and being the guy who calls the shots for the whole unit are two very different animals.
The Quarterback Carousel
Basically, the biggest indictment of Campbell's tenure was the lack of development in the quarterback room. Without a clear successor to McCarthy, the offense devolved into a game of musical chairs:
- Davis Warren: The walk-on story was inspiring, but he struggled with turnovers early.
- Alex Orji: An elite athlete who simply couldn't find his rhythm as a consistent passer.
- Jack Tuttle: The veteran presence who unfortunately dealt with injuries before eventually retiring from the sport.
When you have three different guys taking major snaps and none of them can crack the top 100 in passing efficiency, the eyes naturally turn to the coordinator.
The Bryce Underwood Factor
There’s a massive elephant in the room here: Bryce Underwood.
As Michigan moved into the 2025 recruiting cycle, they secured a commitment from Underwood, the No. 1 overall prospect in the country. You don't hand the keys of a Ferrari—which is what Underwood is—to a driver who just crashed the family minivan.
Moore knew he needed a fresh start. He needed a "proven developer" and a "modern play-caller" to convince Underwood that Ann Arbor was the right place for a future No. 1 NFL draft pick. Keeping Campbell after a 128th-ranked offensive finish would have been a recruiting nightmare.
Moore’s statement was polite but firm. He mentioned a "thorough assessment" and decided it was "in the best interest of our football program" to move in a different direction. In coaching speak, that translates to: "The product on the field was unacceptable."
What Went Wrong With the Scheme?
It wasn't just the players. The identity was lost.
Under Jim Harbaugh and Sherrone Moore (when he was OC), Michigan was "Smash." They ran the ball to set up the pass. But in 2024, the "Smash" became a "Thud." Teams didn't respect the pass at all, so they stacked eight or nine guys in the box.
Campbell seemed caught between trying to maintain the old identity and trying to implement his own spread-style nuances. The result? A confusing mess where the offensive line struggled to pick up blitzes and receivers couldn't find separation in a congested secondary.
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The Interim Solution
Tight ends coach Steve Casula was named the interim OC for the bowl game. Casula has history with Moore and a reputation for being a detail-oriented technician. While he was never seen as the long-term "big name" hire, his promotion was a signal that Moore wanted to simplify things immediately.
What’s Next for Michigan?
The search for a permanent replacement is the most important hire of Sherrone Moore's young head-coaching career. Names like Dan Mullen have floated around because of his history with elite dual-threat QBs. Whoever takes the job inherits a roster with elite talent at tight end (Colston Loveland) and a backfield that still has plenty of juice, but the mandate is clear: Fix the pass.
Actionable Next Steps for Michigan Fans:
- Monitor the Portal: Watch for Michigan to target a veteran "bridge" quarterback even with Underwood coming in. They need depth that can execute a basic passing tree.
- Watch the O-Line Transitions: With Kirk Campbell gone, the way Michigan recruits offensive linemen might shift slightly toward more athletic, pass-blocking archetypes if they move toward a more balanced spread.
- Track the New OC’s Resume: If the hire is a "quarterback whisperer," expect the 2025 offense to look drastically different from the run-heavy, condensed sets we saw in 2024.
Michigan got the "win" they needed against Ohio State to save face, but firing Campbell was a sober admission that the "Michigan Way" requires a level of offensive competence that simply wasn't there this past year. It's a tough business, but 128th is a number that no coach survives.