Sherrone Moore reflects on interviewing for assistant job at Michigan

When Sherrone Moore joined the Michigan Wolverines, many didn’t have him pegged as Jim Harbaugh’s eventual replacement, but he was the only choice.

Speaking with the media at his introductory press conference, Moore reflected on when he first got the job with the Wolverines. It all started with a sleepover with Harbaugh, and now Moore is the new leader of the program.

“No, I could not imagine that I’d be in this role, but I do remember the interview like it was yesterday,” Moore stated. “It was me. It was Coach (Harbaugh). It was Don Brown. Pep [Hamilton]. Jack Harbaugh. Jay Harbaugh. I think there was one more coach in there. I’ve always been taught interviews, and I’ve taught other coaches that, when you get an interview, especially for a position job, you explain your philosophy, and the first thing I did was I took off my jacket, I took a chair out and I showed them how to run block.

“Obviously, you guys know Coach. He was right there, he tightened his belt. He wanted me to run block him. He pulled another guy. He’s like, ‘Go ahead and base drive him, run block him.’ I’m like, ‘I’m going to knock him out if I do that.’ So it was phenomenal. It was like a five hour meeting. Then we went into film, and he’s like, ‘You want to spend the night?,’ and I said, ‘Coach, I came in a suit.’ He said, ‘We’ll go downstairs, get you some gear, it’ll be great.’ I was like, ‘Sure.’ It was great. So I spent the night and then I got the job the next day. So it was awesome. Remember it like it was yesterday.”

It doesn’t get much better than that. An awesome story from Moore, who simply was looking to become an assistant on Harbaugh’s staff, but has grown into so much more than that.

Michigan is in great hands, with Sherrone Moore leading the charge while Jim Harbaugh moves to the NFL. Time will tell if they have the same amount of success in 2024, but the Wolverines are ready to continue being one of college football’s best next season.

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Moreover, Sherrone Moore was named the new Michigan football head coach after Jim Harbaugh’s departure for the NFL. Harbaugh accepted the job as the Los Angeles Chargers’ new head coach on January 24.

Moore, who went 5-0 as acting head coach this past season, is the next man up in Ann Arbor. He oversaw the Wolverines offense as the OC and helped lead Michigan to a national title in 2023. Now, he’ll attempt to build upon Harbaugh’s nine seasons of success as the new man in charge of the Big Ten’s top program.

“Tremendous,” Harbaugh said when asked what to expect of Moore as a head coach ahead of the national championship. “We’ve already seen it, right? You’ve already got a glimpse of the shining star that he is. He’s just phenomenal, so smart, works so hard at it. He knows what it’s like to be a player … he was a player. And he’s really, really composed. Something goes wrong, three, two, one, let it go. He’s tremendous at that.”

Harbaugh made sure to mention Moore was at his best during the College Football Playoff semifinal against Alabama.

“He was never better than he was in that two-minute drive in the Rose Bowl and in overtime,” Harbaugh said. “Knew he had to call the game, the drive of his life, and he did. We saw the same thing when he’s coaching against Ohio State in the Big House. 

“The same thing when he went to Penn State. How about that? You’ve got to go to Penn State, you find out the day before the game, In addition to your offensive line coaching duties, your offensive coordinating play duties and your play-calling duties, you’re also going to make the head coach decisions as well.”

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this article.