ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore addressed several topics during his Week 3 press conference, including offensive decision-making, injury updates, and interim coaching roles.
Regarding offensive decisions such as fourth-and-short situations in the red zone, Moore explained the complexity behind those calls.
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“Yeah, I mean, the early one, it was fourth and two. It was on the 40-yard line. So, you know, those are situations. Yeah, you can kick the field goal, but when you can pin them deep like we did in the five-yard line, it’s a long field for any offense to execute.”
Moore emphasized that decisions are a mix of analytics and in-game feel.
“There’s all those types of decisions that you got to make, and there’s an analytics piece of it, but there’s also a feeling of how you feel in the game in those certain situations of how the defense is playing and what you’re doing,” Moore said.
Interim coaching setup
Regarding the interim coaching setup for the next two weeks, Moore stated that the team will operate as a collective unit.
"Chip (Lindsey) will handle the offense, Wink (Martindale) will handle the defense, J.B. (Brown) will handle the special teams, but the overall operation, coach Biff Poji will stand in as the interim, and it’ll flow like normal."
Moore said it’s obvious that he won’t be on the sideline for the Central Michigan game, but on game day, it’ll be Lindsey handling the offense, Martindale handling the defense, and Brown handling the special teams.
“Our players will be ready to go,” Moore said.
On Poji’s role as interim coach, Moore praised his experience and connection with the team.
“He’s been in the program before. His love for the players, importantly, his knowledge of everybody in our building, and keeping the cohesion in the building was huge,” Moore said.
Moore confirmed he will still coach this week.
“I’ll be here, so I’ll be coaching hard. This week’s about the how, not necessarily the what,” Moore said. “So, we’re really going to attack that and attack all of the details. He’s always with me, and he’s always around me. He’s always in the meetings, and he’s right there by my side. He sees it and understands how I feel. Obviously, he’s not me, but the players have a lot of respect for Biff and they love being around Biff, so we’ll continue to work in that direction.”
When asked about lessons learned from previous interim coaching experiences, Moore emphasized the importance of teamwork and adhering to the plan.
“You have to work together as a unit, and you can’t try to stray away from the plan that you’ve talked about earlier in the week. We’re going to do that and we’re going to stay together as a cohesive unit, as a team, as a family, and continue to do that,” Moore said.
Moore said he hasn’t thought about where he would be watching the game, but he said he could imagine and guess.”
“I already talked to half the team after the game until now, and they are going to be ready to go,” Moore said. “They are going to be fired up, no pun intended, to the Central Michigan Chippewas, but they’ll be excited. They’ve all have voiced their opinions about how they’ll fill about everything and what they want to do, and I continue to say that guys, ‘You’re not playing this game for me, you’re not going to win it for me, go win it for yourself, go win it for Michigan for the goals that you guys have set.’ So, they’ll be excited and ready to play.”
Serving two games
Moore discussed why he chose to serve games three and four instead of games one and two of the season, including the Big 10 opener.
“It was a collective decision with us between me and Warde Manuel, and just making sure that, especially having a new team, new offense, new defensive people. All of the things involved when having a new team, especially, so I wanted to be there for that, to keep that cohesion and to be there for that. But that was the main reason,” Moore said.
Injury report
Moore provided updates on the injuries of key players.
"Zeke (Berry) has a very mild lower-body injury. We’ll see how he progresses through the week, but he looks good," Moore said.
Moore added that Giovanni El-Hadi is day-to-day and Marlin Klein is improving, expected to practice midweek.
Regarding Rod Moore‘s potential return, Sherrone said, “There’s a good chance that Rod could play this week. We’ve been very cautious with him, but there’s a high probability that Rod Moore plays in the game on Saturday.”
Cornerback depth
On the cornerback situation, Moore expressed pride in freshman Jaden Sanders stepping in.
“He came in in the fourth quarter and never even noticed them, made a couple of tackles. Pretty proud of what they did. It’ll be pretty good to get Shamari Earls back this week and possibly Caleb Anderson back this week, so that’ll be huge for the corner depth. Jyaire Hill is playing as good as he’s ever played. He’s playing at a great level, and he’s practiced that way. Zeek is definitely stepping up, and then having guys like Jaden come in and getting JoJo (Jo’Ziah Edmond) back is going to be huge for our depth,” Moore said.
Offensive line
Moore also discussed the offensive line’s performance, noting its inconsistency.
“There are times when there are huge holes. There are times when there’s movement at the line of scrimmage and times when there are things that are leaky and loose. It’s got to be consistent,” Sherrone said.
Regarding balancing protection and aggression with a new quarterback and offensive line, Moore said, “You find the right balance all the time. You’ve got to continue to work to be perfect at that.”
Bryce Underwood’s mobility
Regarding Bryce Underwood’s mobility, Sherrone confirmed that it is part of the plan to utilize his legs more.
“You run your quarterback, you better have two. We will have a strategy for that,” Sherrone Moore.
Moore reflected on Underwood’s first road game experience.
“The moment isn’t too big. He kept his poise for a freshman in that environment,” Sherrone said.
Offenses identity
On the offense’s identity, Moore said, “It is too early, but going to be violent, going to be physical, want to be explosive... consistent as we go through every single game.”
Linebacker depth was praised as strong and deep, with Sherrone noting the development of younger players.
Sherrone also touched on his involvement with the offensive line coaching.
“I dive in there once or twice a practice, but I trust Grant (Newsome), coach (Juan) Castillo, coach (Nick) Gilbert, and coach Rook (John Morookian) to do their jobs."
Regarding a missed kick by veteran Dominic Zvada, Sherrone said he did not speak directly to him, trusting the special teams coach to handle it.
“We always talk about (Fado) forgetting it and driving on,” Sherrone said.
On a sideline altercation between Justice Hayne and Underwood, Sherrone described it as a competitive energy that was quickly resolved.
“They were loving each other, dapping each other up. It was squashed immediately,” Sherrone said.
Finally, Moore provided a positive update on Mikey Keene‘s health, saying he is “full go, ready to go.”