Michigan avoided transfer portal exodus after Jim Harbaugh left, at least for now

Shockingly, Michigan seems to have come out of the expanded 30-day transfer portal window okay. With Jim Harbaugh leaving the reigning College Football Playoff national champions for another crack at the NFL, there was some belief that players would be treating Ann Arbor like Dodge City and getting out of there. Now that the window has closed once again, only Keon Sabb left the program.

Sabb transferred to Alabama for a better opportunity to start, Rod Moore and Makari Paige returning probably had a reason for that. Of course, there are other mitigating factors in why only Sabb left the team for another. Whether it be very late into the start of the spring semester, Michigan being the defending national champions, no sanctions being implemented or the belief in Sherrone Moore, I get it.

However, the transfer portal will open once again in a few weeks. From April 15 to April 30, anyone can transfer from one school to another. Of course, graduate students can transfer at any time. The players may have fully bought into Moore right now because the headwinds are favorable. That all could change if unresolved issues manifest during spring practice. This applies to every program.

The big question is if Michigan will come out of the upcoming transfer portal window alright again.

Michigan survives the expanded transfer portal under Sherrone Moore

Truth be told, I don't expect many players will transfer from Michigan in the second half of April. Some players will because you never really know where a kid's head is at. This applies to every team because not everybody will have a fun time during spring practice. However, this is a critical year for Moore taking over for Harbaugh. He must prove to be a great leader, without being a carbon copy.

When it hits the fan at Michigan, that will be Moore's first real test. Michigan had some adversity a year ago, but that was mostly of the self-inflicted variety. The Wolverines had the better team in every game they played. For now, I can understand everyone who is still at the program having complete and total buy-in to what he wants to do. However, we have seen so many promotions from within fail.

Hiring Don "Wink" Martindale to replace Jesse Minter as the defensive coordinator was massive. His working knowledge from being a prominent branch stemming off the Harbaugh coaching tree will serve him well. The one thing I am concerned the most about is how Harbaugh leaving will affect recruitment, especially in a Big Ten that just picked up four former Pac-12 programs, like Oregon.

Just because Michigan wasn't devastated by the transfer portal doesn't mean they won't pull back.