Sherrone Moore: Beating Ohio State as Michigan's interim head coach meant 'everything'

It’s not every offseason that a head coaching vacancy can be filled by a candidate who has proven they can beat a program’s bitter rival. Which new Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was able to do last football season as the Wolverines’ interim head coach.

Moore filled in for former Michigan headman Jim Harbaugh in the final three games of the regular season last year while Harbaugh served a suspension, defeating Maryland, Penn State, and capping things off with a 30-24 win over rival Ohio State.

Moore was hired as Michigan’s next head coach after Harbaugh returned to the NFL level this offseason, becoming the Los Angeles Chargers head coach following the Wolverines’ national championship-winning season. Moore recently joined Michigan alum Rich Eisen on his show and reflected on leading the team to their big win versus the Buckeyes last year.

“It meant everything, I mean just winning that game regardless of whether you’re the head coach or the offensive coordinator, o-line coach, defensive coordinator. It means everything, that’s everything we work for all year,” Moore explained.

There’s not much that’s more important in Ann Arbor than Michigan beating Ohio State, and while there were various reasons why Moore was an ideal candidate for the Wolverines to hire from within, him boasting an undefeated record as a head coach versus the Buckeyes surely helped his case.

Moore has been a part of Michigan’s staff since 2018, present for the Buckeyes seventh and eighth straight wins over Michigan before the program turned things around and ripped off three straight wins over Ohio State in their last three meetings. As Moore continued to express the significance of the last year’s win and the rivalry overall.

“That’s the standard we uphold ourselves and that program and will continue to do so. We know everything we do and we work for we’re trying to beat them every single day. So it meant everything and that’s the game we work for and was super excited for that moment for our players, for our fans, for the university to continue what we’ve been doing and we look to continue to uphold that standard,” Moore said.

Those are certainly words that Michigan fans can get behind. As Sherrone Moore will look to uphold the program’s latest high standards set by Harbaugh in his first year officially at the helm for the Wolverines, all while striving to outwork the Buckeyes in the process.