After Reportedly Losing Jesse Minter, Sherrone Moore Fires Clear Message to Jim Harbaugh & Chargers to Redefine Priorities

The Michigan Wolverines have a lot to plan and strategize after the appointment of Sherrone Moore as the newest head coach. After Jim Harbaugh announced his decision to join the LA Chargers, some people are speculating that Harbaugh could be looking to bring a few staff members with him. This could spell trouble for the CFP champions. Reportedly, the Wolverines have already lost Jesse Minter, their defensive coordinator, to the LA Chargers and Harbaugh’s influence. Now, Moore might have to be involved in a tussle with Harbaugh over keeping his staff at Michigan, specifically Ben Herbert.

The Michigan Wolverines are the reigning champions, with an undefeated 15-0 streak in the previous season. This is in part thanks to their elite squad of coaches. Minter is supposedly already out of the picture, but the program is doing its best to ensure that Ben Herbert and other staff members stay back. Michigan insider Alejandro Zúñiga has reported that new HC Moore has strong feelings about Ben Herbert. He is Michigan’s director of strength and conditioning, a vital organ for the players’ wellness. In response to all the rumors of him leaving Michigan, HC Moore has issued a statement.

After joining the Wolverines in 2018, there’s no doubt that Herbert has been a monumental part of the team, so much so that HC Moore once called him “the best strength coach in the country. It’s not close.” As reported by The Athletic, “It’s really untouchable, the things he’s done for the program, the things he’s done for the line of scrimmage on both sides for us,” added Moore. But what convinced then-HC Jim Harbaugh to hire the strength coach?

It was his handshake. At least in part. Harbaugh revealed, “I remember in the hallway outside my office, my first handshake with Ben Herbert. It’s unforgettable. He shakes your hand, leans in. It’s like he’s looking right through your entire soul. I got to the point where [I thought], ‘I cannot look at you anymore! I must avert my gaze!’ I knew that was the guy right there.” And right now, Sherrone Moore knows he’s the guy to keep.

With Harbaugh already gone and star players like J.J. McCarthy and Blake Corum heading to the NFL, if the Wolverines want to replicate their success this season, they can’t afford to lose any of their coaching staff. Especially not Ben Herbert. But why?

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The significance of strength coaches like Ben Herbert

Jim Harbaugh will be going into uncharted territory with the LA Chargers. To replicate some of the success he had with the men in Maize and Blue, he will need a few members of the team. This is exactly why he is having coaches like Jesse Minter join him in his quest for a Super Bowl. But why exactly does Moore want Herbert to stay back so badly? Anthony Broome, a journalist, explained why.

Broome said, “[College football strength training is] a lot different than the NFL. These guys show up to the NFL camp, and they might have to put some weight on or cut weight. But they’re more or less equipped to do that. In college football, you’re taking these lanky 17, 18-year-old kids and turning them into guys that, by the end of their college career, look like NFL players.” 

As reported by The Wolverine, Ben Herbert said something very similar. “Our mission as a strength and conditioning staff is to take the young men that we work with from where they are to where they are capable of being, mentally and physically, through training on a daily basis.”

It will be interesting to see who emerges as the victor in the tug-of-war for Ben Herbert. The strength coach will have a difficult decision to make. But whatever he chooses will end up disappointing either Moore or Harbaugh. Where do you think Herbert will spend 2024 and beyond? Let us know in the comments below.

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