Biff Poggi discusses Michigan football coaching search role

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It appeared as if Michigan football's primary head coaching options to replace Sherrone Moore were between Alabama's Kalen DeBoer and Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham. However, the Crimson Tide upset the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday night, and Dillingham re-signed with the Sun Devils while noting that Michigan never offered him. So, at this point, it's unclear if the Wolverines are still holding out for DeBoer or seeking out other prospects for the job.

While external candidates appear to be the focus, acting head coach Biff Poggi confirmed on Monday morning that he is on the radar and has had conversations about getting the job permanently.

"I'm being considered," Poggi said. "I've had multiple interviews, multiple conversations. Nobody knows what's going to happen. I don't know what's going to happen. I just appreciate being considered, and we'll see what happens."

Even so, Poggi doesn't consider his current role as acting head coach as an audition. He says he was tasked with keeping the team together, so that's what he's doing.

"I have one job right now, and that's what Warde told me to do, to love and care for the kids. That's it. And we do know something about football. I've probably been the head coach for 300 games in high school and college. Football's football. That's right now. It's not about winning a game. It's not about auditioning. It's not about anything. It's about focusing on these kids and their families, and that's it. That was my mandate, and that's what I'm trying to do every single day. "

Poggi doesn't really need football. He earned his wealth as a hedge fund manager, and after that, he started his coaching career.

Having built Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances Academy into one of the premier high school programs in the country, he was also involved with Jim Harbaugh's Michigan, serving as a consigliere to both that former head coach as well as Sherrone Moore this year. He was also the head coach at Charlotte for two seasons.

Looking forward, Poggi does think that his experience — both in big finance as well as in football — would assist him if he was to be named the Michigan football head coach, noting that it's not just all about a coach coming to the table with schematic bona fides.

"When you're in business, every day is game day," Poggi said. "You have no practice days, and oftentimes things don't go the way your genius analysts from Harvard Business School tell you they're going to go. And so when that crisis happens, you better be nimble on your feet, and you better have a plan. And it's very much like football today. Football's different today. College football's different today than it was two years ago, and I don't mean a little different. I mean a 180-degree change. This is a job that now requires…In my opinion, the head football coaching job at any school, especially big schools, is not a glorified gym teacher that happens to know a lot about football. You can hire that. You need CEO skills to run these things now. They're multibillion-dollar-value corporations, and you need to have somebody that knows how to run them, somebody that knows how to keep them straight, and somebody that does not put the brand of the business in jeopardy. And that is paramount. To me, it's got nothing to do with…You can hire coaches. Put it that way."

So, why does Poggi think he should earn the Michigan football job permanently?

"Because I know what the hell I'm doing. I have a long 10-year history of knowledge of this place. This place is really important to me. My wife and I had someone, one of our boys played here. We have two daughters that most of you don't know about that graduated from here. Or are graduating. This place has been great for them. One's a doctor. One's going to be a doctor. Henry, talk about the power of Michigan. You all remember Henry. He's now an investment banker. This place is magical. The program means a lot to me. It's one of the things I want to fix before I go smoke myself to death with cigars. It's one of the things I want to fix. I want to fix this program."

Poggi confirmed that athletic director Warde Manuel told the players on Monday that he intends to have a new head coach in place by the bowl game on December 31.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Biff Poggi confirms he’s being considered for Michigan head coach

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