Michigan OC Sherrone Moore: 1-game suspension ‘learning lesson’

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore acknowledged his suspension for the first time publicly on Monday, just as he prepares to take over for the sidelined Jim Harbaugh.
Moore called the one-game suspension that forced him to miss the Wolverines’ season opener against East Carolina “a learning lesson,” a nod to the Level II recruiting violation leveled him against by the NCAA.
As part of the penalty process, the NCAA approved a negotiated resolution submitted by Michigan on Moore’s behalf. Now that the assistant coach has served his penalty, his part in the matter is considered closed.
Meanwhile, Harbaugh remains under investigation and facing a Level I violation for allegedly misleading and/or not cooperating with NCAA investigators. Michigan has imposed a three-game penalty on its own, hoping to blunt some of forthcoming punishment.
Saturday’s game against Bowling Green (7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) is the last of that three-game suspension. Moore has been tapped as the fourth and final assistant to serve as acting head coach, calling the opportunity “an honor to represent this university.”
“It’s not really about me, it’s about the players — that’s all it’s truly about,” Moore, 37, who enters his sixth season on staff. “I just want to have a chance to make sure we’re doing everything right on game day.”
Like the three other acting assistants who came before him, this will be Moore’s first crack at being a head coach. Before arriving in Ann Arbor, he served on the Central Michigan staff from 2014 to ‘17, and the Louisville staff from 2009 to ‘13, the first three seasons as a graduate assistant and the final two as a full-time position coach.
He’s risen up the ranks quickly since Harbaugh hired him in 2018, spending three seasons as tight-ends coach before moving over to the offensive line in 2021, when he also had a hand in coordinating the offense. Moore was given play calling duties last year in another co-coordinator role with Matt Weiss before taking full reins of the offense this fall.
He returned to the sidelines last week, when Michigan handled Nevada, Las Vegas 35-7, improving to 2-0 on the season. Moore will look to make it three wins in a row this Saturday. Harbaugh, during his weekly Monday remarks, referred to Moore as “my esteemed associate” before handing things off.
“It’s not about me, it never will be about me,” Moore said. “It will never be about coach (Harbaugh), even. He’ll say it’s about his players and this university.”