It was the shot heard ’round all of Michigan when strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert was revealed to be leaving the program, following Jim Harbaugh to the NFL.
Herbert has been considered the backbone of the Wolverines during this past three-year run, and he was widely expected to remain with the program. But Harbaugh apparently made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, and just like that, he was gone.
Michigan football supporters lost it, even more so than when Jim Harbaugh decided to enter the NFL, but new head coach Sherrone Moore is still optimistic about the program’s future. During his first-ever appearance on the Pat McAfee show on Thursday, Moore discussed the loss of Herbert while also expressing his excitement for Justin Tress, who will take over for Herbert.
Moore points out that, similar to how he was to Jim Harbaugh, Tress has served as Herbert’s apprentice. Above all, though, he senses that Herbert’s entire staff of assistants—who, based on what he’s heard, will stay in Ann Arbor—have a certain swagger.
Moore remarked, “We’re really excited about Justin Tress and the chance to lead the strength program.” And those guys are very great, you know. He has that entire group of people; they are all black, and they go in unison. You see one of them, you see all five of them, and he is. We are therefore eager to work with those folks in the future.