Michigan coaching search: Joel Klatt lists multiple top-tier names for Wolverines' search

FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt is a big believer in shooting for the moon before settling for the clouds. And when it comes to the next Michigan head football coach, Klatt believes the Big Ten blueblood shouldn’t shy away from calling some of the biggest names in the sport.

The Wolverines job came open Wednesday after Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel announced he’d fired second-year head coach Sherrone Moore for cause due to an inappropriate relationship with a team staff member that was uncovered following an internal investigation.

“You’ve got to force people to say ‘No,’ you’ve got to,” Klatt said during Tuesday’s episode of The Joel Klatt Show podcast. “So there’s a few names that I would force them to say ‘No.’ And listen, they likely will, and that’s OK. But to start there, you have to force them to say no, because you’re Michigan. And Michigan is a premier job in college football.”

Of course, there have been plenty of notable candidates already thrown out into the ether, including a litany of quality — and much more likely — candidates in the Michigan’s initial Hot Board released Wednesday by On3‘s Pete Nakos. But Klatt has his eyes on even bigger names, even if each of them ultimately opt to decline the Wolverines’ interest.

“So, who are those guys that I would call them and force them to say no, who also would fit? … My first call? I’d probably call Marcus Freeman and just force him to tell me no,” Klatt said. “Because he is a great fit at Michigan. Now he’s also a great fit at Notre Dame, and Notre Dame is right now trying to fend off (teams from) the NFL that are trying to talk with and lure Marcus Freeman away into the National Football League. And there’s a possibility that might happen in the coming weeks. But if I’m Michigan, I’m forcing Marcus Freeman to tell me no.”

Klatt then mentioned two head coaches currently employed at Big Ten rivals — Oregon‘s Dan Lanning and Indiana‘s Curt Cignetti — both of whom have signed lucrative extensions in the last year.

“I’m forcing Dan Lanning, again, to say no. And listen, this is just part of the job, and Dan Lanning probably gets frustrated when his name gets thrown out on a show like this, but it is what it is. Because Dan has championship lineage, he is an excellent football coach, and you have to at least force him to say no,” Klatt continued. “(And) you’ve got to force Curt Cignetti to say no. And I understand that he just signed an extension. But listen, are we really that naïve to think after the extension is signed and he’s coached for a year, then we can rip up contracts and a coach can leave or you could fire a coach? It’s just legal jargon, so all the coaches that signed extensions, I’d at least have them in the (hiring) pool, because why limit your pool? Why not?”

Why not indeed. Klatt then explained why he didn’t name the last two sitting head coaches to win national championships: Ohio State’s Ryan Day “because that’s just not a call you’re going to make,” and Georgia’s Kirby Smart “because I don’t think Kirby Smart would be a great fit (at Michigan).

Ultimately, Klatt’s top-tier list of Michigan candidates focused on “great fits” in Ann Arbor, adding: “these guys would be great fits because they understand the area, the (Midwest) region, the conference, and they understand toughness and physicality.”