Cole Cubelic: People will be 'wowed' by potential candidates for Michigan job

Michigan began its coaching search on Wednesday after terminating former head coach Sherrone Moore for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a Wolverines staffer. Now, time is ticking for Michigan to name its next coach.

Cole Cubelic joined Josh Pate on his show Thursday where the pair discussed the Michigan opening. Despite controversy surrounding the position, Cubelic made a bold statement on the type of interest the Wolverines job will draw.

“This is one of those jobs, Josh, that we might look at the condition that it’s in,” Cubelic said. “We may look at some of the fallout and the shrapnel that comes with what just happened there. Make no mistake … There are candidates that we won’t hear about that are highly interested in taking this job.

“Now, whether that plays out will be determined on their current situation, how their team’s season ends, other opportunities that are presented to them, how Michigan approaches them, whether they want to talk to them or not. But there will be candidates people will be wowed by that are interested in this job.”

Cubelic reiterated that this may just be a specific coach asking their agent to send feelers out to Michigan about its current situation. Others may pursue it more aggressively.

If one thing is true, it’s that the Michigan brand is iconic, Cubelic said. He argued that Michigan’s uniform is one of the most recognizable in all of sports, not to mention the Big House and the atmosphere it brings as the largest venue in college football.

“At the end of the day, the drama that has been around it. The way that this ended, and the way people might look at it and the slight tarnish that might be on it right now — it’s the Michigan job. That will hold clout and that will bring eyeballs in coaching circles no matter when, no matter where it is, or no matter how it happened.”

Moore’s firing comes at a less-than-ideal time during the college football calendar. Most coaching searches took place before or during conference championship week, which leaves the amount of quality candidates lower than it would have been otherwise.

Cubelic’s statement sends the message that Michigan is a sought-after job. It’s still a program that has the reputation, history, and most importantly, the resources to be one of the best teams in college football on a yearly basis, despite the situation surrounding it.