Michigan’s Sherrone Moore has some big khakis to fill — and a big ‘Game’ to keep winning

INDIANAPOLIS — No one who watched the aftermath of Michigan’s 24-15 win at Penn State last season will forget the sight and sound of then-interim coach Sherrone Moore looking into the television camera and giving a sob-filled, profane tribute to his boss and mentor, Jim Harbaugh, who’d been suspended by the Big Ten that very day.

“I [expletive] love you, man!” Moore said. “Love the [expletive] out of you, man! This is for you!”

It was a giant release of pressure for an assistant coach on the rise who’d just helped the Wolverines pull off an extraordinary victory in what would become a national-championship season. Some loved Moore’s display. Others found it a bit amateurish.

Two weeks later, in the regular-season finale against mega-rival Ohio State, the Wolverines — still without Harbaugh — beat the Buckeyes for the third straight year and effectively locked up a spot in a third straight College Football Playoff. On the field after this one, though, Moore was Mr. Been There, Done That.

“Coach Harbaugh, we got your back, baby,” he said, calmly and in full command of the moment. “We love you. That was for you, baby.”

That’s the Moore who showed up at Lucas Oil Stadium on the third and final day of the Big Ten’s annual preseason media fest. He’s still praising Harbaugh, seeking his counsel and even quoting him — promising Michigan will continue to “attack every day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind” — but the hottest program in college football is in Moore’s hands now that Harbaugh is back in the NFL.

Is Moore, 38, ready for this? It’s what everybody wants to know. Harbaugh, with his Big Ten championship three-peat, is on Michigan football’s Mt. Rushmore. Also, it would’ve been hard to find a writer amid a sea of laptops who doesn’t believe the conference-favorite Buckeyes will exact some revenge on the Wolverines in Columbus, Ohio, on the last Saturday of November.

Is “The Game” keeping Moore up at night yet?

“The [only] thing that keeps me up at night is my four-year-old daughter kicking me in the back,” he said.

Is anything about the new gig harder than he expected?

“A lot more pictures you’ve got to take,” he said.

Harbaugh’s persona never failed to live up to his coaching success. Whether he was waxing romantic about his alma mater, telling stories about his football-coaching father, taking veiled shots at a rival or making light of an NCAA investigation, he was quirky and funny and always entertaining. He was the total package and is the toughest act to follow this side of Nick Saban at Alabama.

“I can’t be Jim Harbaugh,” Moore said, “so I’m going to be me.”

He has some Harbaugh in him, though. When Moore first interviewed for a job on Harbaugh’s staff, after the 2017 season, the former Oklahoma guard was discussing run-blocking technique when, mid-conversation, he stood up, removed his sports coat and demonstrated on his chair. Was that weird? Not to Harbaugh, who rose from his own chair, tightened the belt on his customary khakis and demanded, “OK, now block me!”

But Moore seems to be hinged, let’s call it. He deftly fielded questions about recruiting violations and sign-stealing scandals without looking or sounding uncomfortable or revealing anything of substance. He was confident without intentionally or unintentionally hanging any bulletin-board material in Ohio State’s locker room.

In a conference that has grown to 18 teams — with the glamorous additions of Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington — it’s still about the rivalry that’s unlike any other. Nothing outshines Michigan-Ohio State.

But as Moore gets things moving, Michigan is in danger of falling behind again. Harbaugh took most of his coaching staff with him to the Chargers. Most of the offense has turned over, too, including quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was drafted in the first round by the Vikings. Meanwhile, Ohio State is positioned for a national title run of its own.

The Buckeyes have what many believe will be the best defense in the country. They have Chip Kelly — once regarded as one of the three or four best head coaches in the sport — newly in place as offensive coordinator. And, goodness, the transfers this superpower program gets thanks to its colossal NIL war chest. Safety Caleb Downs, from Alabama, might be the top defensive player in the college game. Running back Quinshon Judkins, from Ole Miss, joins TreVeyon Henderson in the best running-back duo in the land. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day also got the top-ranked quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, Julian Sayin, who enrolled early at Alabama but took off after Saban did. Sayin won’t start this year, but one expects his time will come.

And Day needs to beat Michigan more than any other coach needs to beat anybody. That’s just a fact. Day is 56-8 at Ohio State and still hasn’t lost a single game to any Big Ten team other than the worst possible one — three times in a row. A fourth could be more than Day is able to survive.

“You’re expected to win every game,” Day said. “That’s just what it is. If you don’t think that’s the case, try losing a game at Ohio State.”

Michigan has been the team of the decade so far, but we mustn’t forget that Ohio State came within a shanked field goal attempt of beating Georgia to advance to a 2022 playoff title game against TCU that it very likely would have won. Day was that close to being the “it” coach in Big Ten country rather than Harbaugh.

It’s Moore’s turn to give that “it” thing a shot, even if he would say it’s not all about him.

“We’re always going to be about the team, the team, the team,” he said, quoting a certain iconic predecessor.

No, not Harbaugh again. That one was all Bo Schembechler.