The defending College Football Playoff National Champion Michigan Wolverines are reportedly "focused" on naming offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Sherrone Moore as the full-time replacement for departing head coach Jim Harbaugh, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN's Chris Low following reports of Harbaugh being hired by the Los Angeles Chargers on Wednesday (January 24).
Moore, 37, served as Michigan's acting coach in the Wolverines' third game of the season against Bowling Green following the school's self-imposed three game suspension of Harbaugh for recruiting violations, as well as in the team's final three regular season games amid a self-imposed suspension following a sign-stealing scandal. The former offensive guard initially joined Harbaugh's staff as a tight ends coach in 2018 before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator/offensive lines coach in 2021, initially sharing coordinator duties with Josh Gattis, who also served as wide receiver coach, in 2021 and Matt Weiss in 2022 before Weiss was fired in January 2023 following an investigation of computer access crimes by university police.
Harbaugh, 60, who coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014 and made the playoffs during his first three seasons, recently retained agent Don Yee, best known for representing seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and is reported to have interest from multiple NFL teams with coaching vacancies, Rapoport reported this earlier this month.
Michigan's national championship follows an undefeated regular season that began and ended with the coach serving multiple suspensions.
Harbaugh served a self-imposed three-game suspension for "severe breach of conduct," for allegedly misleading investigators during a probe into accusations that he had improper contact with a recruit, which escalated his actions from a level 2 violation, which is deemed a "significant breach of conduct," according to NCAA guidelines. The former Michigan quarterback was later suspended for the team's last three games in relation to an alleged sign-stealing scheme conducted by former staffer Connor Stallions, though the Big Ten claimed there was no evidence found that directly implicated Harbaugh.
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