Sherrone Moore Describes Run Blocking a Chair for Jim Harbaugh in First Michigan Interview

“It was phenomenal. It was a true Coach Harbaugh interview.”

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore says it is important to be hands on in demonstrating your coaching style when interviewing for a job on a football staff. During an interview with The Rich Eisen Show late last week, he described how he did just that his first time meeting Jim Harbaugh—an interview that eventually set the groundwork for him taking over one of college football’s most storied programs.

Eisen, a Michigan alumnus and diehard Wolverines fan, spoke to Moore for about 20 minutes during the spot, and asked about how he earned a role on Harbaugh’s staff back in back in 2018. 

That year, Dan Enos spent just six weeks as an assistant with Michigan before jumping to take a job coaching quarterbacks for Nick Saban at Alabama. Those six weeks wound up being deeply impactful, as he invited Moore—his former assistant at Central Michigan—to interview for UM’s opening at tight ends coach. Moore took the abrupt opportunity, and decided to show off his run blocking technique on a chair once he got in front of Harbaugh.

Sherrone Moore coached tight ends and then offensive line, and took on offensive coordinator duties under Jim Harbaugh. In January, he was promoted to Michigan head coach :: Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

The interview escalated from there, in very Harbaughian fashion, with the Wolverines coach eventually pulling in a graduate assistant to take the chair’s place and getting into the mix himself.

“I took off my coat, I started run blocking on the chair,” Moore said. “He pulled a GA, he made me do it on a GA, he wanted a piece of it. It was phenomenal. It was a true Coach Harbaugh interview.

“I just wanted to show just how I would teach it. … It was a very cool experience, it was unforgettable.”

Moore, who just turned 37, quickly rose through the ranks at UM. In 2021, he took on the title of co-offensive coordinator and switched positions to coach offensive line, and became the full-time OC in ’23. This past season, he served as acting head coach during Harbaugh’s early-season suspension in Michigan’s win over Bowling Green, and took up the mantle again late in the season, leading the team to wins over Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State as Harbaugh served a suspension stemming from the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal.

After Harbaugh’s departure to take the Los Angeles Chargers job, Moore was the clear choice to inherit the program, signing a five-year, $27.5 million deal to become Michigan’s new head coach.