Will Michigan's internal investigation affect the coaching search? Joel Klatt thinks so

The Michigan Wolverines football coaching search rolls along as we approach one full week since Sherrone Moore was dismissed for cause. Things have quieted as everyone gets their ducks in a row, but that has not stopped the national speculation from coming in.

FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt discussed on his show the latest surrounding the search and the names in the mix.

“I still believe that the three names that they are looking at are names like Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State, Clark Lea at Vanderbilt and Kalen DeBoer,” Klatt said. “I would still throw that out there. And I know, and I’m recording this after he came out and put out a statement, but I’ll just say this. That statement was like, if you really read it, it’s like ‘I haven’t had any conversations’ and ‘I have not spoken and have no interest in speaking with anyone else about any other job.’ How about ‘I’m fully committed to this program and look forward to continuing as the head football coach at the University of Alabama.’ Now that seems cut and dry. Maybe I’m crazy. I don’t know. We will see. 

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“Until there’s ink on a contract and he’s signing an extension at Alabama, I think that there’s still going to be smoke in the air. So we’ll see what goes on with Kalen DeBoer. Dillingham, I think is interesting and Clark Lea is interesting as well. 

“Now we knew that this was not a great time for Michigan. They’re at the tail end of this thing as far as the coaching carousel goes. So it’s gonna be difficult for them. And again, I think that they should not be scared by extensions. Okay, so a guy signed an extension. Great, go talk to them. See what you’ve got.”

DeBoer and Dillingham have emerged as fan favorites in the early days of the search, but Klatt says there are pitfalls with all of the Michigan candidates and their situations.

“There are obviously problems with all three of these guys,” Klatt said. “DeBoer has a game on Friday… that’s going to only dig his heels in at Alabama, because it’s not like he can say he can’t do the [Lane] Kiffin deal and just be like, ‘I’m not gonna comment on open jobs.’ He’s not gonna do that. So he might dig his heels in because of the Friday game that they have with Oklahoma; if they win, he would be playing on January 1st. The portal opens the next day, so that creates some [issues]. Dillingham is at his alma mater and they’re reportedly working on an extension at Arizona State. There’s also some family dynamics that might keep him in the Phoenix area. Clark Lea already signed an extension at his alma mater, but again, I think that you’ve gotta kick the tires on a guy that you would feel might be a good fit.

“I would just say this, I don’t think it’s ever time to panic,” Klatt said. “If anything, in the 2000s, USC went five names deep to find Pete Carroll, and then went on a historic run. There are a lot of guys who can succeed. No one thought Curt Cignetti was going to do what he did at Indiana. So even if it’s not one of those names, you have to dig until you find the right fit and the right guy at Michigan. 

Could Michigan’s investigation hurt?

Michigan has hired the Jenner & Block law firm to run an investigation on athletic department practices and scandals in recent years, which could put director Warde Manuel on the hot seat.

“Unfortunately for Michigan and Michigan fans and the department, this search is now going to coincide with an announced investigation or a query into the practices and culture of the athletic department,” Klatt said. “Not great. That’s going to be difficult for Warde Manuel as he’s trying to navigate this whole coaching search, and it might hamstring it pretty severely. As a head coach or a prospective head coach, what you would want to do is be hired by the guy that you will work for ultimately. And if that’s in question at Michigan, based on some investigation or query into practices and culture, which is very vague. …  A vague investigation or query? Not great at Michigan.

“Of course, they’ve had a lot of different things happen. The sign-stealing, assistant coaches getting in trouble in pretty severe legal cases. Obviously, the Sherrone Moore incident that has happened over the last couple of weeks, so we’ll see what happens at Michigan. 

“This is going to impact the search by the way, and we’ll see how dramatically it impacts the search here in the coming days and weeks.”