Three burning questions as Michigan prepares for spring practice

With Michigan football a few weeks away from participating in spring football, there are some burning questions surrounding the staff that still need to be answered.

The Wolverines saw a little bit of a shuffle when it comes to its staff during the offseason. It wasn't wholesale changes but enough to make a difference in the 2023 campaign.

Here are our three biggest burning questions surrounding the Wolverines as the program prepares for spring ball.

These kinds of questions get answered with time but it certainly is an intriguing situation brewing with the addition of Chris Partridge. He was added to the program as an on-field coach, which means he is allowed to go out and recruit for the program.

As he's already reached out to many of the Wolverines' top prospects, what is happening with the staff currently? Upon Partridge's hire, a corresponding move was not announced meaning the staff was 'full' and a departure needed to happen before adding a coach.

Perhaps a move has already happened and the story is sitting there waiting to go public or perhaps Jim Harbaugh has told the outgoing coach to find a new job while Partridge takes over.

Either way, it's an interesting situation brewing that should work itself out.

That leads to the other part of the question, where will he coach?

With his experience in Ann Arbor previously, he has coached special teams, safeties and linebackers. With Jay Harbaugh occupying both the safeties and special teams, logic suggests that the linebacker position would make the most sense for him to coach.

The dots are being connected, it's up to the football program to make it clear.

With Matt Weiss departing the program, Kirk Campbell was hired to coach the quarterbacks and was not given the title of pass game coordinator or co-offensive coordinator.

Does this mean that Sherrone Moore is the full-time offensive coordinator and the offense is exclusively his to run?

It's possible.

Knowing how U-M has run its offense in the past, it has been a collaborative effort and I doubt Jim Harbaugh lets Moore sink or swim on his own. Ultimately, it's Harbaugh's program and while he has done a great job of being hands-off with his assistants in recent years, it would not come as a surprise to see his fingerprints over what the Wolverines do on offense in 2023.

Now, that's not to say that Moore is an OC only by title, he will need to call plays in. Does he call the plays from the box or stay on the field?

This leads to our next question...

Being a full-time offensive coordinator and offensive line coach isn't an easy thing to do as both areas require full attention. Does Moore stay with his offensive line room or does he relinquish his duties to someone like Grant Newsome, who works with the tight ends and is familiar with the blocking schemes?

At first glance, it would appear that an OC and OL coach role would stretch Moore thin in terms of his time and attention. As a co-OC, Moore only had a select few things to work on with Weiss handling the other part of it, this allowed him to keep his focus on his position group as the team enjoyed another solid season from the OL.

Now, he might not have the luxury to split responsibilities. Perhaps Campbell and Harbaugh take over the passing side of things and allow Moore to stay focused on where he excels.

Either way, I think it's important for the program to not take Moore away from what he is good at so it's clear that Harbaugh has some decisions to make about offensive responsibilities heading into spring practices.

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