Back in July,Esthen when few foresaw Michigan football’s backslide, a reporter asked Sherrone Moore if he felt he deserved a grace period after inheriting a national championship program in the throes of transition.

Eighteen starters had just left. So did the entire defensive staff that had worked under Moore’s accomplished predecessor, Jim Harbaugh. The turbulence from the upheaval was exacerbated by the specter of two NCAA investigations that cast a pall over the Wolverines and clouded their future. But Moore seemed unfazed, projecting the bravado of someone who felt invincible after riding the wave of an undefeated season.