The Wolverine Digest Pod

Michigan head basketball coach Dusty May has done a phenomenal job since taking over in late-March. He has put together a phenomenal staff, retained a few players who could really help when it comes to depth, landed three high school prospects from the recruiting trail and, most importantly, nabbed six big-time transfer targets to just about round out his roster. With all of those pieces in place, the Wolverines should be competitive on the hardwood in year one under May. On the football field, Sherrone Moore is up against it just a bit. Recruiting has been very slow for a national championship team and there does seem to be a pretty big question mark at quarterback. A few staffers have been in trouble and in turn replaced and now it's all about the players themselves getting better over the summer before everyone reconvenes in August for fall camp. Michigan should be pretty good in 2024, but the quarterback situation, turnover of the roster and schedule will all be tough to navigate for Moore in his first year as the head man.

After a perfect 15-0, national championship season, Michigan is flying high but does have a lot to figure out heading into the 2024 season. New head coach Sherrone Moore had to hire six new assistants and move around a few others into new positions. He and his staff also have to find a new starting quarterback, a couple new wide receivers, a replacement for an injured Rod Moore, a cornerback opposite Will Johnson and a completely new offensive line. Not only is there plenty of work to do when it comes to the roster, Michigan's schedule is absolutely brutal in 2024. Moore seems ready, but he definitely has a lot of work ahead of him. On the hardwood, it's probably even worse. For new head coach Dusty May, he came in with multiple openings alongside him on the bench and behind the scenes. He also inherited a roster that only had three or four names on it. Since being hired, May has hired three terrific young, ace recruiters types and has secured re-commitments from Will Tschetter and George Washington III. Things are still falling into place for May, but he's off to a good start. We talk all of that and more, on this episode of The Wolverine Digest Podcast.

It's a new year, a new format and a essentially two new programs. Michigan football is now under the watchful eye of Sherrone Moore as the Wolverines look to defend their national title, while in basketball, the Juwan Howard era is over. The former Fab Fiver was fired after an abysmal 8-24 season and athletic director Warde Manuel is now looking for a new bball coach. The two programs could not be in more different spots. Football is coming off a perfect 15-0, national championship season, while basketball is crumbling from the inside out after the worst finish in program history. It's not up to Moore to keep things going and whoever the new hoops coach will be to stop the bleeding and begin what could be a very difficult rebuild.

Jim Harbaugh got on a plane to head to Pennsylvania with his team to take on Penn State and found out, while airborne, that he was suspended. It was a cowardly move by Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, but that's how it went down. With the news that Harbaugh wouldn't be allowed inside Beaver Stadium, the weight of the biggest game of the season fell onto Sherrone Moore's shoulders. The offensive line coach/offensive coordinator/acting head coach played his roles to perfection and led the Wolverines to a 24-15 win. With Michigan now 10-0, it's about Maryland this weekend. But first, Harbaugh will go in front of a judge on Friday for a hearing following an injunction to put a temporary restraining order in place, which would allow him to coach in College Park on Saturday. If it's unsuccessful, it'll be Moore again running the show, and would likely pave the way for him to be the head man for the regular season finale against Ohio State as well. With so many strange, unprecedented moving parts, Michigan just keeps powering through and winning games. Expect that to happen again next weekend as the Wolverines go for win No. 1,000.

Well, Connor Stalions is out, the NCAA found nothing linking Jim Harbaugh to Stalions and the Wolverines are easily 2-0 since the sign-stealing allegations became public knowledge. Mix all of that in a bowl, with different media people reporting on all parts of this scandal in very different ways, and you have quite a storm when it comes to Michigan Football. However, the Wolverines are still rolling at 9-0 and will be tested, really for the first time, this weekend in Happy Valley. Now it's time for things to really get interesting because the game on the field is finally going to be competitive and worth talking about like everything off the field has been. The Wolverines are going to face some legitimate competition for the first time in 2023. That's not Michigan's fault, but it is true. Penn State hasn't looked great this year, but probably looked their best just last week while throttling Maryland, 51-15. People are definitely excited to watch Michigan play another highly talented team so that way we can talk about football versus everything else.

Another day, another layer of weirdness surrounding the Michigan football program and the sign-stealing allegations. The latest — a gentleman resembling Connor Stalions on Central Michigan's sideline earlier this year as the Chippewas took on Michigan State. If it is Stalions, he's in full CMU coaching garb, with sunglasses on at a night game (and they might even record video), while rocking an uncharacteristic goatee and potentially a wig. As Michigan prepares to absolutely obliterate Purdue on Saturday, there is definitely a black cloud hanging over the program. Other coaches and athletic directors from the Big Ten are calling for Jim Harbaugh's head, even though nothing has been proven yet and no governing body has formally accused the Wolverines of breaking any rules. The Wolverines are easily 8-0 and No. 3 in the country in the first round of the College Football Playoff rankings, but no one is talking about that...and that's a shame.

On Saturday, Oct. 21, Michigan beat the absolute piss out of Michigan State in East Lansing, 49-0, but unfortunately, it felt like old news by the time Monday rolled around because of new findings surrounding the sign stealing allegations at U-M. More evidence came out against Connor Stalions and it now seems like things are trending in a negative direction for the Michigan football program. Instead of focusing on how good this team is, how dominant the defense has been, how JJ McCarthy is now the Heisman frontrunner and how they've cruised to 8-0 in pursuit of a third straight Big Ten title and College Football Playoff berth, we're trying to figure out if Michigan cheated over the past three seasons and what might happen if they did.

Michigan is 6-0 overall, No. 2 in the country and winning by an average of 30.7 points each time it takes the field. Jim Harbaugh and his staff are firing on all cylinders and the the team seems locked in, yet is still improving. To put it bluntly — Michigan is in a great spot halfway through the season. Michigan is also quite healthy through six weeks, which is huge as teams try to jockey for College Football Playoff ranking position. Of course, Michigan is also thinking about that last regular season game in November, as well as the Big Ten Championship Game, which has played into how Harbaugh and Co. approach each opponent.  Michigan will be back home this week to host the Indiana Hoosiers after a two-week hiatus in Nebraska and Minnesota. Michigan won its two road games by an average of 40 points, and Indiana isn't as good as either of those programs. Michigan is a massive 34-point favorite over the Hoosiers, so 7-0 is the mark that everyone will be looking for when new rankings and discussions pop up next week.

Michigan is now sitting pretty at 5-0 after absolutely destroying Nebraska in Lincoln. Some dunces thought that the Huskers might actually give the Wolverines a game but instead, Michigan got out to a 45-0 lead before allowing a score by the home team. Jim Harbaugh, his coaches and just about every player are performing about as well as one can. Whether it's JJ McCarthy making just about every correct read, the entire defense being where it needs to be at all times or the entire staff pressing the right buttons series after series, the Wolverines are humming right along. This week, it's another road test, this time in Minneapolis. The Wolverines are, once again, huge favorites and should move to 6-0 in similar fashion. Minnesota wants to do a lot of what Michigan does — run the ball, play stout defense against the run, fly around with passion and intensity and play a clean brand of football. Unfortunately for Minnesota, they're not as good at Michigan at its own game. Expect the Wolverines to roll again, this time away from home in the Twin Cities.

For the fourth week in a row, Michigan won pretty convincingly, but it didn't play out exactly how most thought it would. The Wolverines have yet to score 40 points and have not covered a spread yet against very inferior opponents. Still, 4-0 is 4-0, Jim Harbaugh is back and the Wolverines are, for the most part, healthy heading into the fifth game of the season. That fifth game of the season, is the most interesting one to date, because it's on the road against Nebraska. The Huskers haven't been very impressive under first year head coach Matt Rhule thus far, but they do do some things well and Memorial Stadium can be a tough place to play. For Michigan, the running game still doesn't quite look as dominant as most thought it would, however JJ McCarthy returned to form against the Scarlet Knights and was as sharp as ever despite not putting up eye-popping numbers. The running game, defense and a poised McCarthy will all have to travel to Lincoln in order to get to 5-0 this week.