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Tuesday, November 10, 2026Nov 10

Reigning national champ Michigan’s new head coach must find new starting quarterback

AP photo by Nick Wass / First-year Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore has plenty of options as he seeks a new starting quarterback for the Wolverines to replace J.J. McCarthy, who decided not to return for his senior season and instead declared for the NFL draft.
AP photo by Nick Wass / First-year Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore has plenty of options as he seeks a new starting quarterback for the Wolverines to replace J.J. McCarthy, who decided not to return for his senior season and instead declared for the NFL draft. AP photo by Nick Wass / First-year Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore has plenty of options as he seeks a new starting quarterback for the Wolverines to replace J.J. McCarthy, who decided not to return for his senior season and instead declared for the NFL draft.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Sherrone Moore will have a lot of big decisions to make in his first football season as head coach at the University of Michigan.

Moore had been an offensive assistant for the Wolverines since 2018 and was the coordinator last season after sharing those duties the previous two years, but he took charge of the reigning national champions in late January when Jim Harbaugh ended his tenure at his alma mater after nine seasons.

Harbaugh returned to the NFL, this time to lead the Los Angeles Chargers after previously heading up the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14, and he’s not the only Wolverine who is moving on on to the highest level of the sport. J.J. McCarthy quarterbacked Michigan to its first national title since 1997 and a third straight Big Ten crown, but he declared for the draft instead of returning for his senior season this year and leaves big cleats to fill.

Who starts at quarterback this season will be a closely watched development for the Wolverines, but Moore has a lot of options, including the speedy Alex Orji, who’s 6-foot-3 and 236 pounds, and the experienced Jack Tuttle (6-4, 210).

Like a savvy coach, and not one in his first year, the 38-year-old Moore dodged a question about whether the quarterback job could be shared.