SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Almost 48 hours after Michigan football conquered Ohio State in Columbus, the rapture had yet to subside. Jim Harbaugh was feeling himself, still intoxicated by the euphoria that surfaced after the Wolverines demolished their rival and completed a perfect regular season.
As he crowed about this, that and the other during a news conference that lasted far longer than usual, he set aside a few moments to deliver a full-throated endorsement of co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.
“Beyond ready,” Harbaugh said, “to be a head coach.”
Harbaugh’s emphatic declaration still reverberated a month later, echoing 2,000 miles away in the Arizona desert, where Moore was asked about the possibility of one day running his own program.