Everything Sherrone Moore said about the Michigan football offense in Week 5
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The offensive side of Michigan football is still a work in progress, as Blake Corum said on Saturday after the Rutgers game, but with the top run defense in the Big Ten in Nebraska coming up, the Wolverines have to be on their game.
On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore opened up about where his entire unit stands, what’s working, where things are, and how they look to move forward.
He discussed J.J. McCarthy in Week 3, how the offense fared against Rutgers, the challenges posed by the Huskers, and more. Here is everything he had to say.
On having fewer snaps with the new clock rules
Yeah, I mean, that’s definitely a part of it. But in the end, they we just want to win. So whatever the snap count is, whatever time is left on the clock. As long as we’re ahead, we’re good. So that’s the only thing we’re really concerned with right now.
How close is the OL to coming together?
Yeah, I see just a lot of camaraderie, I see the guys, the glue starting to stick a little bit more. And guys are starting to fill each other out and really get — the inside three really, you can see that mesh, but now the tackles, whatever combination tackles are, you can see those guys kind of sticking together and filling out, as well. So it looks like it’s coming together. And I thought this last game, they played really, really well overall as a group, played fundamentally sound in run game and did a lot of really good things. And there’s always things to clean up. But those guys are really coming together.
How can he tell when an OL is coming together?
You see the physicality, when you put on the film, guys are finishing, you’ve seen people put other people on, on their back. You see the domination, you see the line surge up front, and then you see the continuity and the communication. And you hear when I talk to them. So what I see on film is what I’m getting out of their mouth, from the sideline and when we get to the meeting. So you can see that growth, and it’s taking steps every year. It always does, especially when you got five guys working as one to take some time to really hone in and you can see that the game experience of those guys being together really coming together.
What did he see this past week?
Yeah, I mean, there’s not really one. There’s a combination. I mean, just even like the last drive, we ran the ball 10 times, started at the 26-yard line or started in the 19 and went to the 26-yard line. But you could see the violence, the physicality, and the mentality that who we are and what we can do this week, and just excited to see what we do the rest of the time.
Calming the pressure on J.J. McCarthy
Yeah, I think when you’re the starting quarterback at Michigan, you tend to have a pressure. But he needs to not just put it on himself, which he did last game. I thought he played extremely well, maybe his best one that he’s played. So really, that’s a kid with very high expectations of himself as we have higher expectations of him. But putting too much pressure on at the end of the day, he’s just got to go out there and be himself. And that’s all we need him to do.
Backup quarterback
Still working on it right now. Looks like it’ll be Tuttle. But we’ll still work on it and see how it goes.
Thought process behind mixing zone and gap schemes
Just mixing. Try not to be predictable. And either, I think we’re pretty balanced — runs, scheme-wise, and really, pass-run. I think we’re like it’s 75 to 72 run-to-pass. So we’re pretty balanced right now in the selection run-to-pass and we’re pretty balanced in the scheme and we’re just going to use whatever scheme as we see fit for that game to attack that front and that coverage and how they fit the fronts.
On using trick plays
Yeah, I love trick plays. The kids love it. I mean, at the end day, it’s just like they’re in the backyard. So when you when you see them, when you see the excitement when you present it to them, it makes you even happier. So there’s — I can’t really tell you when I decide to call those plays. But those are going to be a part of what we do. It’s fun. And then you test the eyes, the eye discipline of the team that we’re playing. So I’ll continue to do those in different ways. And we’ll see when the next one pops up.
On Semaj Morgan's growth
He’s always been a super confident kid. The maturity you can see grow really in training camp over the summer when he got some time with the guys, but he’s always a guy that has been a playmaker coming (out of) high school, and then and now, but he’s done a great job from a standpoint. Off the field, really, is where he really grown the most. Meeting more, being in the building more, attacking the film room — those are the things that you can really see and accentuate, which went over into the field. The things that he did in the game are things that he did in fall training camp so there was like no surprise when he went in there that he made those plays.
On other up-and-coming wideouts
Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of guys step up in good situations and they’re still to be battle-tested. So we’ve got a long way to go to get to that point where we need to. Those guys have done a really good job to this point, but we’ll still have new guys step up make a lot of plays.
Offensive line on short-yardage plays
I think it’s just the mentality of who the kids are, who we want to be. And there’s a point where they know we’re running it, we know we’re running it, you got to stop us. And that’s the mentality that we take. And I think sometimes you can overthink it. And then I think with our guys you don’t need to, with the mentality that they have in the way that blocks from the football — sometimes just need to attack and be downhill.
Was Myles Hinton injured? And the status of using a tackle rotation
Yeah, he had a little little thing that he’s worked through yet came back in — working through it. Practiced a little, practice today and be fine. But LD has just proved that he’s such a good player. And he’s been so reliable, and he’s just improved every week. So had to give him the opportunity to do really well. So we’ll continue to rotate those guys, work those guys in and it always helps to keep guys fresh. I remember when I played we rotated like eight or nine guys so I think that’s really gonna help and we’re gonna need everybody. We need 10 guys to take us to where we need to be.
More on the rotation, LaDarius Henderson
Yeah, I mean, practice reps just to what you saw in practice, the confidence that he grew in practice. And then when he did get his opportunity in the game he flourished and he did a great job. The honest guy never lies, as we say, and we don’t try to predict (how that’s) is gonna go. So we just let practice and the games dictate and he just did a really good job and now I trust him in those opportunities. whatever game it is, to put him in the game and be successful.
On Ryan Day's postgame comments
I think that’s just who we are. I think that’s who Michigan is, built on blue-collar, built on toughness. Not going to comment, speculate on anything that he said. I just know who we are and what we want to do. And I know that’s what people see. And if they don’t see it our job as we play is to show them. So that’s what we pride ourselves on and we’re just gonna continue to build ourselves that way.
On Nebraska's defense
Big, strong up front, experienced guys that played a lot of football, do multiple things, front-wise, coverage-wise. So it’ll be a great challenge and a great environment for us. But those guys, they play really well. They’re really, really stout against the run. I think they’re like the No. 1 rush defense in the country. So it’s a great challenge for the players. They’re really excited about it and excited to go play in that environment.
On getting Donovan Edwards the ball
Yeah, I think just because he’s a playmaker. So we’ll find different ways to get him the football. And when you got a guy like Blake and him, it gives you a chance to have that one-two punch and I will continue to work that thing in. But Donovan, to his credit, he’s been super stealth. He’s been great. He’s worked his tail off, and he might have had his best practice of the day, of the week, or the season yesterday. So I mean, the kid’s just working his tail off and we’re just excited for what he’s going to do in these next couple games.
On Trente Jones' usage
Yeah, he’s done a really good job. Really just have proud of, scheme-wise, what we thought and what we could give and unsurety of the fronts and things that they give us and he’s done a great job. He’s in there. He’ll continue to have a big role as we go through.
On Grant Newsome being groomed for OL coach
Yeah, I mean, Grant’s a star. I was telling him I hope he hires me one day. He’s unbelievable since he was a GA working with me. He just works his tail off tirelessly. He’s super smart, very engaging, knows how to teach, a great teacher, and knows how to relate obviously, because he’s a younger guy. But he does a great job of just teaching and attacking all the different things especially — he’s got the toughest position. The tight end is probably one of the toughest positions to coach because of all the things you got to do. You got to know the run game, you got to know protections, you got to know the pass concepts. So he does an unbelievable job, and just excited for him and his future, what he’s going to do.
Balancing OL and offensive coordinator duties
I think the biggest piece is that I’ve learned to delegate a little bit. I haven’t never been a big delegator, I always try to do stuff on my own. I learned that I can’t do that all the time if I want to be successful calling plays, being the coordinator, and coaching the position. So the staff is awesome. They just, I mean, the help that I have from — you talk about coach Newsome, coach Bell, coach Hart, coach Campbell, all the GAs, all the analysts. I mean, they’re just, they’re phenomenal. And the staff helped me so much — that allows me to coach the O-line, have the emphasis on them, but focus on the whole game plan and make sure that’s put together the right way.
On it being 95 degrees on Saturday
No, I mean, hydrate. We’ll use Glick. But mentally our guys are just prepared for things to happen. It could snow tomorrow, they wouldn’t be minded. The big guys always probably the biggest adjustment because they don’t like being hot anyways, but they’ll get over it. And once it’s game time, the adrenaline all that happens, the weather doesn’t matter at that point.
What about cramping?
Yeah, hydration is a huge piece of it. And I know Abigail and our guys are always hydrating anyway, they’re over-hydrated, regardless of what the weather is, because you can cramp in cold weather. So those guys do a really good job of that. And I’ll just be pushing us to do it even more.
On the offensive line having its own 7-on-7 team
It started in 2021, when I first started coaching the O-line, and just came out and one day they were throwing the ball around, and then they just wanted to play 7-on-7. And like you see them, they’re huge, they’re children! They’re literally kids.
And they rave about these games on Fridays. And I had to temper down and make rules and change rules. Because I mean, it got out to — I mean, the first day, Myles Hinton’s out there, he’s diving on the ground. So there’s a no diving rule, jumping rule now, you can’t jump out the cylinder, you can’t go above 75% of the speed. But it’s an awesome deal, just let’s their minds go be free, have fun, before we get to focus on a Friday. So we do that every Friday. They enjoy it. They love it and I can’t take it away. So they do a really good job with us.
Have they had a highlight-reel play?
I mean, probably the best player overall in the past few years has been Ryan Hayes. Ryan Hayes was elite. Last year, no one could cover him, he won MVP.
This year, it’s been back-and-forth battle, team Keegan is up to two-to-one right now. against team Zinter. So those are the two teams. So we’ll see what happens this week. Actually, it’s three-to-one. So team Zinter’s gotta go a little bit to get this thing going.
The long drive on the second possession vs. Rutgers
Yeah, I thought it was awesome. Really, the biggest piece was the execution by the kids. They did a really good job on that drive. It was all the way down on the five-yard line to a touchdown. So those guys just did an excellent job of executing the plays that are called and I thought the staff did a great job of things where we had to organize and fix and just fun to watch. It’s fun to watch execution happen on the field just like it does in practice.
On play sequencing
You’re setting stuff up for — yeah, I mean, you always have — always told a long time ago that good coordinator, agood offense tells a story. And so I always try to do that in certain certain ways. That’s about all I’m going to add on that.
Is it harder for OL coaches to become coordinators?
I guess it could be. But I think as long as you work hard and you put your head down and do what you’re supposed to do, those opportunities present themselves. I think, obviously, people see most coordinators are quarterback coaches. But I think as, as long as you don’t have that basement mindset, and you really open up to doing other things and learning all the other positions and learning everything, then you can do whatever you want to do.
What is he delegating?
I mean, not really specifically, everything’s, you know, we have a certain way we do the game plan in certain areas, people responsible for certain things, and we all talk about them together. So it’s a collective deal, but just more of everybody being involved and having a hand in the whole offense.
