Michigan co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore met with the media this week to discuss the offensive line and the offense as a whole during spring practice.
For everything he had to say, check out the full transcript below.
On impressions of spring so far
Been funn. Been enthusiastic, high energy. Guys have picked up where they left off, guys are rolling. We’re very excited about the progress that we’ve made and just taking the next step, day-by-day.
On working with Matt Weiss
Seamless transition, just because we all know each other, we know each other’s voice, we know each other’s thoughts, we know how we work together. Very good and very fluid and been a lot of fun for us.
On how the two will handle play-calling
We’ve got a plan. It’s very fluid and will be collaborative. Excited for the season and excited for the day-by-day. See how we keep progressing.
On whether the offense will change or relatively stay the same
We have the ability to change. We’ll do some things that are the same and some things that are different. But, ultimately, it’ll be about what our players can do and what they’re best at. We’ll continue to put our playmakers in a place to make plays.
On whether he will be on the field or in the box
We haven’t talked about it yet. Probably be on the field, obviously with the O-line. But we’ll see when we get to that point.
On whether Trente Jones is the leader at right tackle
Yeah, I’d agree, right on it. Trente has had an outstanding seven practices. He’s been really, really good. Karsen has had really good practices, too. Trente just has the edge right now, but we’ll see. We’ve got a long way until we hit August, hit September, so if they keep pushing each other, everyone keeps pushing each other, competition is healthy and fun.
On Zak Zinter's experience
It’s very important. Specifically yesterday, he had a really good practice yesterday, but he’s taking the next steps. Trying to get him more of a leader because, as a sophomore, with two older guys like V and Stueber, he didn’t feel like he needed to be the leader, but now trying to push those guys to be leaders. So he’s done a tremendous job and it’s been good to have him there.
On a leader emerging at center
Right now, it’s still working. Still trying to figure it out—it’s been good. Olu’s done a great job for us. He’s come in, got assimilated very fast. He did a lot of studying when I was out on the road and when I came back. Crippen’s been doing a great job for us, too, so excited to see as those two go how it keeps going.
On the challenge of having so many capable receivers
I think it’s a good problem. You’ve just got to figure out how to get those guys into different positions and match up issues and different things with the defense to make it successful for us. The best thing we have is we have a great team and we have great unity. They don’t really care about the ball—well, they do. Obviously, they do, if you’re a receiver, you want the ball, which you should want. But, they do a great job of staying together, really working together, so it’s been fun. It’s always going to be a challenge as a play-caller to do that, make sure those guys are in the right place. But we’re just gonna continue to strain on our end to make sure those guys will be put in a position to be successful so we can take advantage of matchups we see against defenses.
On the three freshmen wide receivers
They’ve been awesome. They’re fast, they’re physical, they’re strong. Just love watching those guys play. Still learning, still trying to figure it all out. It’s gonna take some time. It took Andrel time, it took him a couple of games into the season and he was here early. It’ll take those guys time, too, but whenever they figure it out, they’ll be pretty special.
On the running backs and filling Hassan Haskins' shoes
We’ll see. We’ve got different players and different ways to mix guys in. But right now, obviously Blake and Donovan, they’re as electric of a combo as you can get in college football. Excited to have those guys back and keep progressing with them. Plug and play different guys—Tavierre Dunlap has done a really good job, he had a really good practice yesterday. So just keep plugging guys in to see where we need to go with the next step.
On Mike Sainristil playing on defense
He’s done a great job on defense. It’s really, for him, it’s been pretty cool to watch him because you’ve seen him on offense as such a productive player, obviously, in the pass game. in the run game for us, he was as important as a lineman for us in the run game. To watch him on defense has been really cool because he’s such a selfless guy and to watch him continue to take the steps to be that kind of player on defense, it helps the team, it’s been awesome. He’s come back and done both. It’s been really good for us.
On the left side of the offensive line
I feel great. Those guys obviously had a really good year, especially were together last year. You can kinda see the growth when you see two guys that have played together for a long time or even one year, what it looks like. They’re very confident. Sometimes they do things that I don’t want them to do but are actually right because they just trust each other with what to do. So that’s been really good. We all know that at any point if you don’t execute, your job can be taken. So they still execute at a high level so it’s been really good.
On transitioning from tight ends coach to offensive line coach
Good, fun. I love it. I still mess with the tight ends often. All those guys, I love them like they’re my kids, too. But with the offensive line, it’s a different unity, it’s a different group, obviously. Bigger group. But the transition’s been smooth since last year. Last year was the first year, and it was a lot of fun, we had a lot of success. But we erase the mindset. We can’t live on last year, this is a whole new year. We have to take it day by day.
On Grant Newsome
He’s done great. He’s been awesome. Home run, we all knew that. Grant’s a superstar in this business and he’s doing a heckuva job, attention to detail, intensity, all the things you want. And he knows the system, so that makes it easy. He knows the things we’re saying in the room are echoed to him and then echoed to the players. We’re all about alignment and the alignment from staff to players has been really good, so we’re very excited.
On the tight ends returning and how confident it makes him
Super confident. Especially with those two. Really, you’ve got four guys that have played a lot of football but you’ve got two that are super playmakers in Erick and Schoonie. Getting them, the backs, the receivers, different positions, to create imbalances and mystery and things for the defense to think about is going to be our job as coaches. I think we’ve started to that, we’ve just installed the install, and then when we get to the game plan in the fall, we’ll get there. Very excited about those two. Those two have practiced their tail off and we’ll just continue to progress day by day.
On the younger offensive linemen that have impressed
Obviously, Greg Crippen, being in his second year, but another player, Gio El-Hadi, he’s done a really good job for us. Reece Atteberry, Jeff Persi, obviously Trente and Karsen, those guys have really stepped up. The whole group’s done really well, but really excited about those guys. The freshman class from last year, it’s always cool to watch, they were all early enrollees, to watch them now this spring, how comfortable they are in the offense and what they’re doing now just from a speed standpoint has been really good. Those guys have taken a great step and I think there’s a lot of motivation for them with the season we had last year, but a lot of motivation internally to be really good. So they’ve done a really good job for us.
On his reaction to winning the Joe Moore Award
Speechless. I was speechless. It was something I’ll never forget in my life. Very huge honor, I take a lot of pride in it. But more proud of the guys and watching them as it happened. It was super cool, something I have a couple of pictures in my house of it. It’s super special to be a part of that. It wasn’t just us. It was the tight ends, it was the backs. So, very excited about the award and continue to uphold that tradition and be a great Michigan offensive line.
On the message to this year's team building on last year's success
You can’t live on last year, because if you do, you’re gonna get beat. So really, I told them the other day and I told the whole offense the other day, don’t be upset with the success you don’t get with the work you don’t do. So if you want to look back at what we did last year and think it’s automatically gonna happen, it’s not. I told them, I told the whole offense, this is how it’s going to roll. We just take it day-by-day and try to get better that day, just keep stacking them. It’s very cliche, but it really is what it is, how we’re going to operate because we can’t look at anything we’ve done in the past.
On how to replicate the chip on the shoulder from last year
You do it because you’ve got a target on your back. You do when you’re at Michigan period, but especially with the year we had. All we can control is us and us getting better. I think that’s really how we have to do it. If we get better and better and better we’ll be where we want to be.
On Olu Oluwatimi
Experience, first of all. He’s big, he’s strong. He’s played a lot of football and he’s very, very smart. Hard worker, he just goes about his business. He’s been great for us, very excited about his future here. Just keep progressing every day with him.
On whether Michigan contacted him
Oh no, I did not contact him. I would be on ESPN. No, he reached out to us and started that process. Excited we got him, excited we got him. Excited that he’s here.
On what's impressive about the early enrollees
Probably just the speed. Especially those receivers. They’re fast, they can move, they can run, they’re strong. They’ve got great athletic ability. Excited to see them progress. Another early enrollee, Colston Loveland, he’s done an outstanding job. He’s playing on of the hardest positions to play, especially in this offense with all the stuff we do. So he’s done a really good job. He’s got all the physical tools. He’s big, he’s tall, he’s strong, he’s long, he can run. So watching him progress has been great. They’ve done a great job fitting into the offense and they just go about their business. They don’t get into trouble, they take care of things off the field, which helps them on the field to be focused and ready to go.
On coaching with Matt Weiss
Awesome, man, he’s cerebral. He’s cerebral. He’s like Goldeneye in there, he’s always looking for different ways to get better. Pushes us, pushes me, so it’s exciting, we love it. We’ve got a great dynamic of how we work. Just excited to keep progressing and make this offense the best it’s ever been.
On whether he learned from Josh Gattis' learning curve
I think the biggest thing you learn is you’ve gotta make some mistakes, especially in practice to fix what you’re gonna do in the game, and coach has given us the opportunity to have calls in different periods and everything to figure out how you’re gonna—how your rhythm is, how things are gonna go because it’s different when you’re seeing it then when you’re calling it. I think me and Matt are going to figure those things out as we go and as we continue having, it’s just going to continue to make us better as we go through, so very excited. Then, just figuring out how all the pieces fit, which is going to help us when we get to the fall.
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