<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3JM4oY_0wF9NqRB00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3JM4oY_0wF9NqRB00" width="1200" height="798" ><figcaption>Caleb Rosenbaum/Daily. Buy this photo.</figcaption></figure>As Michigan coach Sherrone Moore sat down for his postgame press conference after losing to No. 20 Illinois, he had his hat pulled down over his eyes and his head bowed. When he raised his head to answer his first question, revealing his puffy eyes and red nose, his emotions were as clear as day.He was sad. He was defeated.“I feel disappointed in myself as the head coach that we didn’t come out and execute at a better level,” Moore said Saturday. “There’s too many bits and pieces, not enough consistency. So I have to look at myself too. There’s no finger pointing, and I’m going to reevaluate myself and see what I need to do to be better for them, for the players and coaches as well.”For as much as Moore didn’t want to point fingers, he in fact pointed a big one right back at himself — as he should. Moore represents Michigan football as its head coach, he has the most responsibility and was entrusted with the keys to the Wolverines’ program. So with the program in a rough state, Michigan’s failures are his to shoulder. His team was embarrassed — by the Fighting Illini, but more so by the depths to which they have fallen.The 10 months since Michigan won the National Championship have felt more like 10 years with how drastically different the program now looks. Preseason expectations for the Wolverines to go 10-2 or 9-3 already gave them grace and room for error, acknowledging their offseason personnel loss and tough schedule.They were expected to lose to Texas, and they did. But few would have put Illinois in that conversation of potential losses preseason. Granted, that’s partly because the Illini have exceeded expectations this season while Michigan has fallen far below them. The Wolverines scoring the lowest number of points they have in 10 years while losing by 14 to Illinois showed just how far below those expectations their season has gone.Michigan was due for a down year as it rebuilt. But with three bad losses, this season doesn’t resemble a rebuild anymore.What kind of rebuild sinks the best team in the country to a 4-3 record and back-to-back brutal losses within 10 months? How will the Wolverines be better next year when they lose both of their top running backs, their leading receiver and best offensive player in junior tight end Colston Loveland, and likely their entire defensive line?Michigan’s fall from grace speaks to its inability as a program to create something sustainable. Moore was supposed to be the inside hire able to continue the culture and mentality that led the Wolverines to the mountaintop last season. He not only knows what that success looks like, he’s experienced it. So he should be able to replicate it, at least enough to not be embarrassed week after week.“I have extremely high expectations for this program,” Moore said. “Going on year seven, I’ve seen where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and this is not indicative of who we are and what we should be. It’s my job to fix it, and we will.”Once again, Moore took accountability. He has that part down, but now he has to prove that he can actually fix it. He hasn’t been able to so far, cycling through quarterbacks to no avail — he’s considering yet another change after Saturday — and failing to maximize talent at various positions. At some point, he will have to take a long, hard look at his staff, and really his entire operation. Something is going wrong to create the ever-growing chasm between this year and last year’s Michigan team, and it’s Moore’s job to identify and rectify the problem.He knows that, and he’s clearly upset about it — because not just he, but everyone else too can see how embarrassing the Wolverines’ season has become.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

SportsMonday: Michigan’s rapid decline has been embarrassing, and the program knows it

As Michigan coach Sherrone Moore sat down for his postgame press conference after losing to No. 20 Illinois, he had his hat pulled down over his eyes and his head bowed. When he raised his head to answer his first question, revealing his puffy eyes and red nose, his emotions were as clear as day.