ESPN insider gives update on Michigan coaching search

"And lastly, Louis mentioned Jeff Brohm—my understanding is that Brohm was not in that initial list of candidates that Michigan did talk to. There's certainly potential they could talk to him, but he was not in their initial target list."

What to make of Thamel's report

On the surface, there are many potential factors at play that would seem to be problematic for a couple of the names Thamel mentioned as targets for the Wolverines.

While Fisch has been thought of by many to be a good fit in Ann Arbor, college football analyst Josh Pate and several Michigan insiders have made the suggestion that Fisch would likely no longer be in the running for the job,

"There's been some sentiment today that maybe Jedd Fisch's name has cooled," Pate said on a recent show of his. I think that's accurate. And I think they've done a fairly good job, especially if you're on The Fort (On3's The Wolverine) on the message boards over there, I think they've done a fairly good job of detailing that. Not necessarily details that I think it's important for us to dive into—it's more minutiae based."

Since that point, some Michigan insiders have suggested that the Wolverines could circle back around to him, but it's unclear what is causing the conflicting reporting as it relates to Fisch and whether he is a serious candidate for the job or not.

Regarding Thamel's comment on Fisch attempting to retain a roster at Washington—that doesn't seem like that would be a hurdle if there was mutual interest from both parties, as of course Fisch is working on roster retention for his current job, like every other football coach in America is.

As far as Drinkwitz goes, Missouri just hired away offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey from Michigan. What sense would it make to hire Lindsey away from Ann Arbor if Drinkwitz had thoughts of joining him there? Maybe it's plausible to bring him back to Ann Arbor if Drinkwitz was offered and took the Michigan job, but adding coaches to a staff usually isn't a move made by a coach who is planning on leaving.

Additionally, Thamel's comments on Drinkwitz and Missouri having a bowl game on the 27th would also seem like a minor hurdle if there were two interested parties. The Tigers are playing in the Gator Bowl—it's not as if they are in the College Football Playoff.

Whittingham, on the other hand, would seem to add up as a coach where things could fall into place much easier. The 66-year-old just retired from Utah but has expressed interest in coaching elsewhere. His name has surfaced in multiple reports over the last several days.

Thamel reporting that Brohm isn't currently in the picture was also puzzling as it was reported earlier in the week by On3's Pete Nakos that the Lousville coach is a "name of interest" in the Michigan search.

The only part of this coaching search that is becoming clear is that things are very cloudy at the moment and it's not known which direction Michigan will end up going.

Considering the timing of the search and the fact that the athletic department is in the midst of being investigated by an outside law firm, maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that Michigan seems to be in scramble mode.

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