How first-year Michigan Football head coaches have fared since Bo Schembechler

2008: Rich Rodriguez (3-9)

The only truly disastrous season under a first-year head coach in recent memory was Rich Rodriguez’s catastrophic campaign. Michigan went from consistently competing for Big Ten championships to being at the bottom of the conference in the blink of an eye. The Wolverines went 3-9 and included embarrassing losses to Purdue and Toledo. Rodriguez’s first year here was riddled with frustration, resulting in the Michigan’s first losing season in more than 40 years and the most losses in a single season in school history.

2011: Brady Hoke (11-2)

Brady Hoke was hired to replace Rodriguez and he, surprisingly enough, broke the school-record for most wins as a first-year head coach. The Wolverines went 11-2 in Hoke’s first season, snapping a seven-game losing streak to Ohio State and defeating No. 11 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. Hoke’s inaugural campaign was the highlight of his head coaching tenure, as Michigan got progressively worse in the following years, but 2011 was certainly a memorable year.

2015: Jim Harbaugh (10-3)

After missing a bowl game in Hoke’s final season, Michigan turned to Jim Harbaugh to lead the program back to relevance. Harbaugh instantly had a positive impact, helping the Wolverines go 10-3 in 2015. Michigan finished third in the Big Ten and capped off the season by blowing out No. 19 Florida in the Citrus Bowl. It took a few more years to truly become legitimate contenders, but Harbaugh’s first season was a sign that Michigan was on its way back to national title contention.

2024: Sherrone Moore (8-5)

Sherrone Moore’s first season as head coach was filled with ups and downs, but it ended on a major high — with an upset win at Ohio State and another big upset win vs Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl. It was far from a perfect debut, but the Wolverines were able to do just enough to make the season a relatively successful start to Moore’s tenure. Unfortunately that didn’t last long, as Moore’s stint came to a scandalous end in December.

Based on the previous seven instances, the overall record for first-year head coaches in Ann Arbor is 58-29, including 5-2 against Ohio State, 4-2 in bowl games, and an average of 8.3 wins per season.

Do you think Whittingham will find more or less success than his predecessors? Make sure to comment below your predictions for Whittingham’s first season.