ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Sherrone Moore is in his second year as the head coach of Michigan football, and while he’s got one obvious, notable figure he can lean on in Jim Harbaugh, he also has another, more unlikely source that’s mentoring him.
Moore revealed in his first preseason that he was leaning on former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, and as it turns out, that’s not a one-time thing for a first-time head coach. Not only have the duo kept in touch, but Moore shared that he spoke to Saban quite recently to help him understand myriad things as it pertains to being the head coach of a program.
“I try to call him probably every two months, a month,” Moore said. “When you call Coach Saban sometimes, it’s like you don’t know if he really wants to talk to you. But he does. Like, once he starts talking, it’s outstanding. And, I mean, why not take advice from somebody who you consider probably to go to college football?
“I try to call some of the mentors, some of the people that I look up to throughout months, throughout weeks.I talked to Jim last week. Congrats to him on the win last night. I know he was happy about that. Just getting different advice, different things. We were talking about the travel, but also just talking about, in general, as a football program, things that he looked at, things that he tried to change or not change, and tried to adjust throughout the year. So I’d be a fool not to seek the advice of somebody like Nick Saban if I could.”
Given that Moore and Saban haven’t had any crossover or overlap, how did this relationship even come to be?
During Moore’s suspension, when Biff Poggi was acting as the Wolverines‘ head coach, it was revealed on ESPN College GameDay that Saban and Poggi have a longstanding relationship, as the two joked on the flagship pregame show. Moore says that soon after Michigan beat Alabama in the 2024 Rose Bowl (in the 2023 season), Poggi connected the two.
Even so, it was a bit of an anxiety-inducing moment, even if it ended up starting a helpful, productive relationship between the two coaches.
“So Coach Poggi was obviously really close with him, and one day I was like, ‘You know, I’d love to get in touch with him,'” Moore said. “It was after the Rose Bowl, so he really didn’t want to talk to me after that. But we connected in that February, I think, when I first got the job, and we talked a little bit. And I remember him talking about, ‘You know, I really didn’t like you guys’ game plan against us. You guys shifted and motioned every play. It was annoying.’ And I was like, ‘Thanks, Coach, appreciate it!’
“But I just, as much as I could, tried to get as much information from him as possible, and that’s really where the connections are.”
Given that Saban’s allegiances are to Alabama above anyone else (he isn’t really connected to any of his other former stops), how sure can Moore be that he’s getting good advice?
“No, I don’t think so,” Moore said. “Unless we’re playing Alabama!”
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Sherrone Moore turns to Nick Saban for head-coaching guidance
