Next Michigan Football Head Coach Odds

By Christopher Boan

Dec 22nd, 2025 10:46 AM EST

Sherrone Moore was fired as Michigan football head coach on Dec. 10. (USA Today Network, Han/Detroit Pree Press)

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Note: These odds were updated on Dec. 22, 2025

What looked like a settled coaching carousel in the FBS ranks has suddenly spun to life. The Michigan Wolverines fired head coach Sherrone Moore for cause on Dec. 10.

To get a sense of where athletic director Warde Manuel will go in replacing Moore in Ann Arbor, Bookies.com created these hypothetical next Michigan football head coach odds. These odds are exclusive to Bookies.com, home of the top sportsbook promo codes.

Next Michigan Head Coach Odds

Coach	Current Position	Percentage Chance	Odds
Jedd Fisch	Washington Head Coach	27.8%	+260
Kenny Dillingham	Arizona State Head Coach	15.4%	+550
Clark Lea	Vanderbilt Head Coach	13.3%	+650
Kalen DeBoer	Alabama Head Coach	8.3%	+1100
Jesse Minter	Chargers Defensive Coordinator	8.3%	+1100
Eli Drinkwitz	Missouri Head Coach	6.3%	+1500
Marcus Freeman	Notre Dame Head Coach	6.3%	+1500
Biff Poggi	Michigan Interim Head Coach	3.8%	+2500
P.J. Fleck	Minnesota Head Coach	3.8%	+2500
Tommy Rees	Browns Offensive Coordinator	2.0%	+5000
Brian Kelly	Former LSU Head Coach	2.0%	+5000
Lincoln Riley	USC Head Coach	2.0%	+5000
The Field		8.3%	+1100

Stick to Bookies for more college football betting insight, with the bowl season underway.

Top Next Michigan Head Coach Candidates

Jedd Fisch (Washington head coach): +260

When it comes to skipping around the country in search of a bigger stage, few college coaches have done so more than Jedd Fisch of Washington, a fairly new Big Ten rival for Michigan. Fisch was the head coach at Arizona for three years (2021-23), with five stops in the NCAA and NFL between 2015 and 2019.

One of those stops was a two-year stint as Michigan’s quarterbacks and wide receivers coach, while Fisch also served as Jim Harbaugh’s passing game coordinator. His experience on this staff could entice the 49-year-old to come back to Ann Arbor this time around and make more college football news.

For now, we’re giving Fisch updated +260 odds of doing just that, with a manageable $10 million contract buyout at UW and deep connections with the University of Michigan.

Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State head coach): +550

The third season for Kenny Dillingham, 35, at Arizona State didn’t go as many had hoped. The Sun Devils went from CFP glory last season to an 8-4 campaign in 2025, but the future’s still bright for the team’s head coach.

With a career record of 22-16 in Tempe and an affordable buyout, Dillingham would make a lot of sense for the Wolverines. That’s why we’re still giving him +550 odds of replacing Moore at Michigan this go-round. At FanDuel Sportsbook, his Sun Devils are 2.5-point underdogs against Duke at the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.

Dillingham signed a new five-year contract with ASU on Dec. 20. But he’ll still only make $7.5 million per year under the extension, which comes with an undisclosed (but increased) buyout from the $5 million figure on his previous deal. Regardless of what that amount might be, it seems like a school like Michigan can easily swing a deal for Dillingham still if they opt to do so, which is why we’re still listing him second on our Michigan odds board even after that deal.

Clark Lea (Vanderbilt head coach): +650

Few coaches across the country have done more with less than Clark Lea has at Vanderbilt. In his fifth season, Lea has taken the Commodores from their long-standing SEC also-ran status to the outskirts of the CFP field in 2025.

Lea’s overall record in Nashville isn’t sexy (26-35 overall) but he has lifted Vandy from the depths of two 2-10 campaigns in his first three years, to a 7-6 rebound in 2024, to this year’s 10-2 triumph, the first season with double-digit victories in the 136-year history of Vanderbilt football.

We don’t know if Lea, 44, would leap at the opportunity to leave his current post, but he spent four seasons as an assistant at Notre Dame and has coached at Bowling Green, making a return to the Midwest a realistic option in 2025. That’s why we’re putting him at +650 to replace Moore in Ann Arbor.

The Commodores face Iowa on Dec. 31 in Tampa, with Caesars Sportsbook installing Vandy as a 5.5-point favorite.

Kalen DeBoer (Alabama head coach): +1100

Should Manuel and company opt for a total reboot, there would be a seismic option in Tuscaloosa. Second-year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is sitting pretty as a potential replacement option at UM.

DeBoer’s buyout is rumored to be between $60 million to $70 million. But he’d be a noteworthy hire for UM, with a CFP runner-up finish during his final season at Washington in 2023 and 20 wins in 27 games coaching the Crimson Tide.

We’re giving DeBoer a puncher’s chance at the UM opening, with an 8.3% implied probability. That would translate to +1100 odds if it were available as a prop wager at top US sportsbooks. The chances of this happening might rest more on whether DeBoer wants to depart Alabama than anything to do with the Wolverines opening.

One thing that lowered DeBoer’s UM odds is the fact that his current employer keeps rolling along. His Crimson Tide knocked off Oklahoma, 34-24, on the road in Friday’s opening round of the CFP, and will next face top seed Indiana in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Jesse Minter (Chargers defensive coordinator): +1100

Another familiar option for Manuel would be to bring back former Wolverines defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, an assistant under Harbaugh from 2022 to 2023 at UM who moved with Harbaugh to the NFL.

Minter’s time at UM netted the school a CFP title (in 2023) and saw him build one of the nation’s most ferocious defenses, which could be enticing to Wolverines leadership.

We’re not writing Minter off, but we are guessing that Manuel and his team will want someone with a little more head coaching experience this time around. So the current Chargers DC enters the cycle at +1100 on our list to be the next head coach of the Wolverines.

Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame head coach): +1500

Another head coach as a traditional powerhouse program who might be an option is Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame. He is only 39 and led the Fighting Irish to the CFP title game last season, the highlight of his run in South Bend over four full seasons.

After Notre Dame’s snub from this year’s CFP, Freeman could view UM as a safer bet (though, starting next season, the Fighting Irish will get an automatic CFP bid if they are in the final top 12). Freeman is familiar with the Big Ten, having played at Michigan’s archrival, Ohio State.

Freeman enters the Michigan carousel at +1500 odds on our board (lengthened from +700) to be the next man up in Ann Arbor.

Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri head coach): +1500

The other man (besides Freeman) listed at +1500 to replace Moore in Ann Arbor is Missouri’s head coach, Eli Drinkwitz. During six years in Columbia, Drinkwitz has gone 46-28, taking the Tigers to four straight bowl games with a fifth on the way (his teams are 2-2 in those postseason contests). In a single season as Appalachian State’s head coach in 2019, Drinkwitz went 12-1 and won the Sun Belt Conference title.

His Tigers are 4.5-point favorites at BetMGM Sportsbook to beat Virginia at the Gator Bowl on Dec. 27.

The 42-year-old Oklahoma native signed a six-year extension with Mizzou last month that’ll raise his pay to $10.75 million per year, with a $5 million buyout. So Michigan would likely have little trouble making a move for the veteran coach if the school wants to. But given his newfound contract and continued ascent on the field, we’re giving Drinkwitz long odds of leaving the SEC for the Big Ten, though crazier things have happened lately in college football.

Who Else Could Land the Job?

A Michigan candidate listed at +2500 is the man who’ll lead the Wolverines in the upcoming Citrus Bowl – interim head coach Biff Poggi. At DraftKings Sportsbook, Michigan is a 7.5-point underdog to Texas in Orlando on Dec. 31. But that line might move more, depending on any further news out of Ann Arbor. Poggi went 8-16 at Charlotte as head coach from 2023 to 2024.

We also considered some longshot candidates who could step in and surprise people.

That list includes Minnesota's P.J. Fleck at +2500 along with Poggi, then USC's Lincoln Riley, Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and former LSU head coach Brian Kelly, all at +5000. We rate "The Field" at +1100 for anyone not on our list.

What we know for sure is that Michigan will need a new head coach for the first time since Moore replaced Harbaugh in 2024, with a host of in-and-out of house options to choose from in Ann Arbor.

And for postseason insight, our College Football Bowl Betting Guide has tips covering the next several weeks of action.

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