Michigan hires Jim Harding as interim offensive coordinator after firing Jason Beck

Kyle Whittingham fired offensive coordinator Jason Beck on Sunday night.

The move marks the first major personnel change of Whittingham's tenure as head coach at Michigan.

Whittingham cited a gap between performance and goals in his decision.

"The results have not matched our desired outcome, and I felt that a change in leadership was required for our offense," Whittingham said in a statement.

The Wolverines are 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten conference.

The team began the season ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25.

Under Beck, the Wolverines ranked No. 132 out of 138 FBS teams in total offense.

The unit also ranked No. 126 in scoring, No. 125 in passing offense, and No. 109 in rushing offense.

Michigan was held scoreless in the first half three times this season.

That is the first time the team has done so since 1979.

The Wolverines narrowly avoided being shut out for the first time since 2014 in a loss to Michigan State.

Michigan scored with 1:35 remaining in a 15-6 defeat despite being favored by two touchdowns to win that game against its rival Michigan State in a 15-6 loss after being favored to win by two touchdowns. Wait, let me rephrase that to be cleaner and avoid repetition. The Wolverines narrowly avoided being shut out for the first time since 2014 in a loss to Michigan State. The team scored with 1:35 remaining in a 15-6 defeat despite being favored by two touchdowns to win that game. No, I need to stick to the source facts strictly. Source: "The Wolverines barely avoided being shut out for the first time since 2014 against rival Michigan State, scoring with 1:35 left in a 15-6 loss after being favored to win by two touchdowns." Okay, I will use that structure but reword it slightly for flow without adding info. "In a 15-6 loss to Michigan State, the Wolverines scored with 1:35 left to avoid the first shutout since 2014, despite being favored by two touchdowns."