Jim Harbaugh made big pledge to Sherrone Moore before Michigan’s season
Nov 18, 2023; College Park, Maryland, USA; Michigan Wolverines interim head coach Sherrone Moore before the game against Maryland at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
When Jim Harbaugh left the Michigan Wolverines for the NFL at the end of the college season, the school quickly promoted offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore as his replacement. That is exactly what Harbaugh wanted, and that had evidently been the case for some time.
In a new episode of Joel Klatt’s “Big Noon Conversations” podcast, Moore revealed that Harbaugh had told him at the start of the season that he would be the next Michigan coach. Harbaugh was so serious about it, in fact, that he told Moore he wanted it written into his contract.
“The opportunity to be the head coach here was really not in my mind,” Moore admitted. “It entered my mind when Coach Harbaugh told me, ‘You’re going to be the next head coach of Michigan.’ This year he told me that. He said, ‘I don’t know when. I don’t know what’s going to happen. No man can tell the future.’ I was just like, ‘What?’ He’s just like, ‘I’m going to put it in my contract that if I ever leave or go somewhere, you’re the next head coach of Michigan.’ He told me that at the beginning of the year.
“I just thought about that — this man who’s a legendary coach, who’s done it all, and we have a chance this year to make a special run, is telling me that I’m going to be the next head coach here? That means I’ve got to work my tail off for this man.”
Harbaugh also gave Moore a public endorsement after leaving for the Los Angeles Chargers. By that point, all indications were that the school was going to give him the job. Moore obviously had reason to think that Harbaugh felt that way long before stating it publicly.
Moore wound up serving as the interim coach against Penn State and Ohio State while Harbaugh was suspended, and he won both games. This new admission certainly gives some added context to his emotional postgame interview after beating the Nittany Lions.
