Sherrone Moore reflects on the balance of being a coach, father

Sherrone Moore had two audiences on Nov. 25. His first audience was the 110,000 rowdy fans in Michigan Stadium eager to witness the Wolverines’ 30-24 triumph over Ohio State. Only a few hours later, Moore faced his second audience: his two daughters, Shiloh and Solei.

Just hours after heart-pounding adrenaline rushed through Moore’s veins, the 37-year-old Michigan offensive coordinator sat in his daughters’ bedroom and read “Beauty and the Beast.” Two timeless stories. One day.

In a conversation with On3’s Andy Staples, Moore described how the jarring contrasts of his work and home life affect his mindset.

“It’s humbling,” Moore said. “You get put into perspective the things that are in your life. People only see those things on television and the stadium, the going for it, the coaching part and the TV, but they don’t see the real life me.

“When I go home it has nothing to do with anything I call or the games that we win. I’m gonna go back to their room and they’re not going to be worried about the national championship game. They’re worried about, ‘Dad, hey, let’s play. Let’s do this.’ For us, it’s, it’s humbling, but it’s also grounding. It lets you know the things that are important.”

Moore is certainly important to Michigan. In a turn of events, Moore acted as the team’s head coach in four games this season, filling in during head coach Jim Harbaugh’s two separate suspensions. His head coaching appearances weren’t walkthroughs, either.

On Nov. 11, Moore led the team to a must-have victory over No. 10 Penn State. After the game, Moore didn’t bother holding back his emotions. Tears streamed down his face in the postgame interview as he reminded the nation who they were playing for.

Two weeks later, Moore acted as head coach in “The Game.” The two fierce rivals went to war and Michigan came out on top. Instantly, Moore was a part of history.

The only Big Ten coaches with more wins against Ohio State since 2005 are Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio (3), Penn State’s Joe Paterno (2), Purdue’s Danny Hope (2) and Harbaugh (2). If Moore ever opts to become a head coach, Harbaugh is confident he will succeed.

“Tremendous. We’ve already seen it, right?” Jim Harbaugh said. “You’ve already got a glimpse of the shining star that he is. He’s just phenomenal, so smart, works so hard at it. Knows what it’s like to be a player. Was a player.”

For now, Moore simply has to boost Michigan to one more win. Of course, national champions still have to read bedtime stories to their daughters.