The biggest challenge for Michigan is the cost for out of state tuition, and the competition for recruiting in-state from MSU, EMU and CMU.
Many of the other B1G universities offer in-state tuition to neighboring states. Michigan out of state tuition is similar to that of private colleges - $36K+ per year, just for tuition. At least private schools are able to offer tons of financial aid, without it counting against their 12.8 scholarships allowed. If a kid comes into Michigan with certain types of aid, then he will count against the team's 12.8
Gibby is a proven coach for cross country, and distance runners. Unfortunately, he has to split the scholarships with sprints, jumps and throws, so prob only has 3-4 scholarships to work with. How many 9min guys can you really expect to recruit with that little money, and out-of state tuition being so expensive?
Michigan really needs to combine the programs, and have a specialist distance coach, and a specialist mid-distance coach. Very few coaches have the expertise to coach the 800m runner through to the 10k well, especially when you cant just throw tons of scholarship money around at the best kids in the nation.
How about Gibby be the distance coach, and Mcguire be the mid-distance coach? both have proven records in these areas. Heck, given the cold climate, throw all your scholarship money towards these areas, and they could get some of the best recruits in the country. Michigan just isn't going to be able to be competitive again, unless they can get better value for their scholarship $$