Moore is new coach at Michigan
Offensive coordinator will succeed Harbaugh
Sherrone Moore is replacing Jim Harbaugh as head coach of Michigan’s football team.
The school announced Friday night that the offensive coordinator who filled in for Harbaugh for the final three games of the eventual national championship-winning season would take over the program full time, making him the 21st head coach in team history. Moore put together an impressive stretch while leading the Wolverines on the field, beating Penn State and Maryland on the road and Ohio State at home to clinch the Big Ten East division.
Moore received a five-year contract with an annual value of $6 million, plus multiple opportunities for incentives if he continues the success the Wolverines had last year.
It didn’t take long for Michigan to spring into action after Harbaugh jumped to the NFL to take the head coaching gig with the Los Angeles Chargers Wednesday. By the end of the week, Moore was named as the next head coach.
And by Saturday afternoon the school was holding his press conference.
“Speechless, happy, excited, anxious,” Moore said, explaining his emotions. “Many things went through my head, but all I know is I wanted to get to work to continue what we’ve done because I’ve seen the path of what it’s taken to get there.”
It was a moment nearly two decades in the making for Moore, 37, who said as late as his upperclassmen years in high school he still thought he was going to go to the NBA to become the next Charles Barkley, until he realized a 6-foot-4 center wasn’t a thing in the NBA.
Moore went through the list of those who helped guide him to this moment. He began with his coaches from high school and then his days as a
Juco offensive lineman at Butler (Kansas) Community College.
In the spring going into his senior at Oklahoma, when he played for Hall of Famer Bob Stoops, he decided he wanted to be a head coach.
“I wanted to guide people, wanted to shape them,” Moore recalled of his thought process. “That was the moment it clicked. I started to study the game deeper, not just what my position was doing, but others.”
He honed his skills for five years at Louisville − first as a graduate assistant for three seasons, then the final two as tight ends coach − before he took over the same position at Central Michigan. There, he was elevated to associate head coach for the 2017 season.
But everything really changed for Moore when he went in for his first interview with Jim Harbaugh, a day he said he’ll never forget.
“First thing I did was I took off my jacket, I took the chair out and showed how to run block,” Moore laughed. “Obviously, you guys know coach, he was right there. He got up, tightend his belt. He wanted me to run block him.”
Moore made the leap from tight ends coach (2018-20) to coaching the offensive line and sharing co-offensive coordinating duties (2021-22) for two seasons, before this last year when he became the sole offensive coordinator and for the first time was tasked with playcalling duties.
He is uncertain if he’ll continue to hold onto those duties.
“Haven’t decided yet, probably not,” Moore said. “But got a good idea of who we’ll put in that position.”
Not only is he the 21st Michigan football coach of all time, but Moore is now the first Black head coach to lead the team.
“An honor, a privilege, something I don’t take lightly, Moore said. “I just wanted to show them, you can do it, regardless of being African American, or white, if you’re a good coach and work your tail off, dreams can come true. I want to be an inspiration to people who have that vision and want to do that.”
The Jim Harbaugh era is over at Michigan. Welcome, Sherrone Moore.
The school announced Friday night that the offensive coordinator who filled in for Harbaugh for the final three games of the eventual national championshipwinning season would take over the program full time, making him the 21st head coach in team history. Moore put together an impressive stretch while leading the Wolverines on the field, beating Penn State and Maryland on the road and Ohio State at home to clinch the Big Ten East division.
Moore was given a five-year contract with an annual value of $6 million, plus multiple opportunities for incentives if he continues the success the Wolverines had last year.
It didn’t take long for Michigan to spring into action after Harbaugh jumped to the NFL to take the head coaching gig with the Los Angeles Chargers Wednesday. By the end of the week, Moore was named as the next head coach.
And by Saturday afternoon the school was holding his press conference.
“Speechless, happy, excited, anxious,” Moore said, explaining his emotions. “Many things went through my head, but all I know is I wanted to get to work to continue what we’ve done because I’ve seen the path of what it’s taken to get there.”
It was a moment nearly two decades in the making for Moore, 37, who said as late as his upperclassmen years in high school he still thought he was going to go to the NBA to become the next Charles Barkley, until he realized a 6foot-4 center wasn’t a thing in the NBA.
Moore went through the list of those who helped guide him to this moment. He began with his coaches from high school and then his days as a Juco offensive lineman at Butler (Kansas) Community College.
In the spring going into his senior at Oklahoma, when he played for Hall of Famer Bob Stoops, he decided he wanted to be a head coach.
“I wanted to guide people, wanted to shape them,” Moore recalled of his thought process. “That was the moment it clicked. I started to study the game deeper, not just what my position was doing, but others.”
He honed his skills for five years at Louisville − first as a graduate assistant for three seasons, then the final two as tight ends coach − before he took over the same position at Central Michigan. There, he was elevated to associate head coach for the 2017 season.
But everything really changed for Moore when he went in for his first interview with Jim Harbaugh, a day he said he’ll never forget.
“First thing I did was I took off my jacket, I took the chair out and showed how to run block,” Moore laughed. “Obviously, you guys know coach, he was right there. He got up, tightend his belt. He wanted me to run block him.”
Moore made the leap from tight ends coach (2018-20) to coaching the offensive line and sharing co-offensive coordinating duties (2021-22) for two seasons, before this last year when he became the sole offensive coordinator and for the first time was tasked with playcalling duties.
He is uncertain if he’ll continue to hold onto those duties.
“Haven’t decided yet, probably not,” Moore said. “But got a good idea of who we’ll put in that position.”
Not only is he the 21st Michigan football coach of all time, but Moore is now the first Black head coach to lead the team.
“An honor, a privilege, something I don’t take lightly, Moore said. “I just wanted to show them, you can do it, regardless of being African American, or white, if you’re a good coach and work your tail off, dreams can come true. I want to be an inspiration to people who have that vision and want to do that.”