Jim Harbaugh to meet with Michigan team Friday, advocates for Sherrone Moore as his replacement
Jim Harbaugh officially accepted the Los Angeles Chargers head-coaching job, departing Michigan Wolverines football after nine years. But Harbaugh is back in Ann Arbor Thursday night, set to meet with the U-M team for the last time Friday, according to The Detroit News.
“Coaching here has been the love of my life outside of the family,” Harbaugh told The Detroit News.
Yet he chose to move on to the Chargers, where he also once played (1999-2000), saying he loves both Michigan and the NFL, but he noted that “it’s not goodbye” to U-M. The Wolverines won three Big Ten championships and the 2023 national title, and as a former player and the son of former U-M assistant Jack Harbaugh, Harbaugh has long been a Michigan legend. Reunions for the championship squads will surely be held in the future.
“One thing I hope for is that Michigan and the Chargers will be like one team,” Harbaugh said. “These are lasting, trusting relationships.”
The coach added that he was “torn” on whether or not to head back to the NFL and that he felt “wanted” at Michigan.
Michigan will move forward without Harbaugh for the time being, with athletic director Warde Manuel says in a Wednesday night statement after Harbaugh accepted the Chargers job that he will move swiftly and attempt to keep the current staff intact.
As reported by TheWolverine.com and numerous other outlets, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Sherrone Moore is the heavy favorite to replace Harbaugh as Michigan head coach. Harbaugh, who promoted Moore as interim head coach for four games during the 2023 season while he was suspended, advocated for his former assistant in his conversation with The Detroit News.
“I’ll always be a loyal Wolverine,” Harbaugh said. “But not a better man to coach the team than Sherrone Moore. He has my vote, my support wholeheartedly. I feel like it’s in great hands.”
Throughout this season, Harbaugh lauded Moore’s coaching chops as Michigan’s offensive coordinator. In late 2022, he said that Moore was “beyond ready” to be a head coach, revealing that athletic directors had called asking about the assistant. Moore led the Wolverines on game day to wins against Bowling Green, Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State during two separate Harbaugh suspensions.
“Tremendous,” Harbaugh said in early January when asked what to expect of Moore as a head coach of a college program. “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.
“He was never better than he was in that two-minute drive in the Rose Bowl and in overtime. 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.
“So, Sherrone Moore — shining star. No doubt about it. It doesn’t even matter what anybody says. It’s what you do. What you do speaks so loudly can’t even hear what you’re saying.”
He’s done enough to earn Harbaugh’s support, and may soon be named Michigan’s 21st head coach.
