INDIANAPOLIS — Amid Michigan fall camp last year, Jim Harbaugh called his offensive coordinator on the carpet.
“In his office,” Sherrone Moore said. “Just hanging out.”
It quickly became evident Moore was not in trouble. Anything but. He had been at Michigan for six years, working his way up from tight ends coach to become one of Harbaugh’s most trusted lieutenants.
Harbaugh was about to name his treasured assistant as Michigan’s next head coach. Eventually.
“[This was] while he was renegotiating his contract,” Moore told CBS Sports on Thursday at Big Ten Media Days. “I really didn’t know what to say. [I had] kind of a blank stare. That was about it. A blank stare and ‘You’re joking.'”
There were details to be worked out, of course. Harbaugh had an existing contract through 2026, so Moore wasn’t getting the job anytime soon. While Harbaugh had flirted with the NFL before, there was a season to be played and a championship to be won.
“My mind didn’t go to that [the future],” Moore said. “My mind went to, ‘We gotta prepare for camp, coach.’ He just said, ‘At some point.’ He didn’t project when it was going to be.”
We know how the story ended up. It went through twists and turns and two NCAA investigations but it ended up with the 38-year-old Moore getting the job in January. How much Harbaugh, the former junior college offensive lineman, carries forward was only hinted at on Thursday.
“We’ll continue to [succeed] with contagious enthusiasm unknown to mankind,” Moore told the media.
Who does that sound like?
Some form of Moore’s ascension story to succeed Harbaugh has been told since it was first told by Moore during an offseason podcast with Fox’s Joel Klatt.
On the final day of Big Ten Media Days, Moore revealed some of the details.
It’s not widely known that long before he was officially named Harbaugh’s replacement on Jan. 26, Moore already had the job — if Harbaugh had anything to say about it. That same month, Harbaugh was reportedly considering a 10-year deal worth $125 million from Michigan that would include a “no NFL” clause.
Harbaugh had made it known to Moore he was going to have a “coach-in-waiting” clause written into the Michigan extension, should he sign it. Of course, he did not. But even without anything in writing, Michigan only needed two days from Harbaugh’s official exit to the Los Angeles Chargers to name Moore its head coach. That fate had already intervened for Moore during the 2023 season helped his case.
As a wild, winding season that resulted in a national championship played out, Moore proved not only that he could succeed Harbaugh, but that Michigan didn’t need Harbaugh. At least not for the entire season. Harbaugh became the first national champion coach to miss half his team’s regular season sitting on the sidelines.
The season felt glorious and a bit slimy, unbelievable and sometimes uncomfortable. No one on the field at Michigan flinched, especially Moore. That’s probably the reason why he didn’t look like the typical wide-eyed first-time head coach taking over a powerhouse.
He’d already been hit in the face with that figurative frying pan. After seven seasons, he knew the roster, the school, the fans and the job. He knew the NCAA, too.
“All those experiences have shaped me and helped me right now,” Moore said.
The same month as Harbaugh told Moore he had the job, Michigan self-imposed a three-game suspension on its head coach as the result of an NCAA investigation that alleged Harbaugh had misled investigators. He was later suspended three more games by the Big Ten in the sign-stealing scandal.
Moore stepped in to coach and win four of those games.
How’s that for proof of concept? Considering what it took to accomplish that 15-0 season — and what Michigan avoided to achieve it — if anybody deserves a honeymoon year, it’s Michigan’s new 38-year-old coach.
“No, there is no honeymoon here,” Moore said. “Ready to attack.”
But by any reasonable evaluation, Michigan will slip a notch or two this season. While the defensive front remains stout, leading rusher Blake Corum, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and leading receiver Roman Wilson are in the NFL. Thirteen Michigan players were selected in this year’s NFL Draft, leading all schools. There was unexpected attrition in the secondary, which the Wolverines had to patch up after starter Keon Sabb left for Alabama and another, Rod Moore, suffered a season-ending injury in the spring. The presumed new quarterback, Alex Orji, has not been named the starter yet and has attempted one pass in his career, a five-yard completion. Arch-rival Ohio State is angry and spent a reported $20 million to build a superteam whose first goal in its 2024 revenge tour is beating Michigan once, twice or maybe even three times, should they meet in the newly-formatted Big Ten Championship Game or even an expended playoff.
Earlier in the summer, we tabbed Michigan at No. 12 in the preseason rankings.
As the season takes shape, few are talking about Michigan being in contention for the expanded Big Ten. But even in the unlikely event the bottom falls out this season, consider history. It took Harbaugh nine years to get the program to that championship level. Something has to fall off.
Moore will be given time.
At the same time, some kind of calm will take over. Harbaugh came to the job taking off his shirt and climbing trees to land recruits. He infuriated coaches by conducting offseason camps in the Deep South. His spring break trips to Europe were perceived by those same coaches as corner-cutting recruiting advantages.
Harbaugh’s troll jobs on Ohio State coach Ryan Day continue to this day. When asked what the Sherrone Moore version of all that will look like, he smiled.
“I can’t be Jim Harbaugh and I never will be,” Moore said.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. There was always something with Harbaugh. The program always seemed to be looking over its shoulder. Harbaugh won plenty, but the program is still awaiting final resolution from the NCAA on the Connor Stalions case.
In a sense, Michigan football just became a whole lot more boring. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Harbaugh’s appearances at these media days used to feature a bit of sparring with reporters. He’d veer off the subject and filibuster about whatever struck his fancy that day. Hand-raised chickens had lately been one of his favorite topics.
But, oh boy, could the man coach.
On some future date, Moore will have to step out of Harbaugh’s shadow. It isn’t now. There is still loads of residual feel-good that will sustain him. Moore was humanized by the now-epic postgame interview at Penn State.
“He’s the face of Michigan now,” defensive back Makari Paige said of his new coach.
Calling 32 straight running plays on the road to stuff the Nittany Lions lionized Moore. So did beating Ohio State.
“Ultimately, the 4-0 start to his career is a little bit of a glimpse to his career,” tailback Donovan Edwards said.
Michigan fans can only hope. Moore’s trademark phrase is “smash.” He came up with it as the son of a military man. His mentors include former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and former Texas/Louisville/USF coach Charlie Strong, who stressed physical line play. A “violent mentality,” Moore once called it.
That’s also what Michigan and Moore still want to achieve post-Harbaugh.
This isn’t altogether a happy fun-time story. Moore was also part of that initial NCAA investigation, serving a one-game suspension in the season opener.
That seems to be forgotten in the breathless transition. And maybe it should be. That case was completed in April.
That past is definitely not sticking to Moore.
That’s why the future begins undefeated and undeterred.
“For me, now, it’s putting my own flavor on it,” he said, “but not changing too much because obviously there’s a lot of things that worked.”
MORE: Inside Jim Harbaugh’s final, testy days as Michigan’s coach
