There are few questions about how Michigan football will look defensively, despite a whole new coaching staff and lots of new starters on that side of the ball. More of the questions for the Wolverines in 2024 comes on the offensive side of the ball.
Would luck have it but the new head coach of the Wolverines happens to be the former offensive coordinator in Sherrone Moore, and coming out of spring ball, he’s pleased with that side of the ball’s progress. The defense is always ahead of the offense at this time of year, and that certainly appeared to be the case in the spring game. But, the offense still found ways to move the ball, despite it being a drafted split squad, and going up against the defense every day has helped that unit thrive to this point.
“I think they had great maturation because of who they’re going against every day. So if you don’t get better, you’re just gonna get smashed every day by our defense,” Sherrone Moore told Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast. “And there’s some days they got them, our offense got (the defense). But the guys just got better. They competed at a high level, the young guys didn’t back down, the older guys stayed the course and kept playing. So it was good. It was really good to see.”
Despite the overall coaching change at the top, don’t expect the Wolverines to look much different.
Yes, there will be a new starting quarterback, a new offensive line — new starters everywhere except for maybe tight end and with Donovan Edwards (who started the final three games of 2022) at running back.
So when evaluating the identity of a new-look (personnel-wise) offense, Moore shared the tenets of the offensive philosophy while noting it won’t be a radical departure from last year.
“Same as last — be physical, it starts up front and always will,” Moore said. “So be physical upfront, set the tone upfront, be efficient, take care of the football, create explosive plays in different ways. Whether it’s the play-action pass, run-action, pass, dropback pass, runs. And then just be sound, fundamentally sound in everything we do.”
Of course, all eyes will be on the quarterback battle, which primarily featured Alex Orji vs. Davis Warren this spring. Jack Tuttle will be in the mix this fall, coming off of an injury, while Jayden Denegal and Jadyn Davis are also working themselves into the competition.
Moore didn’t say much about any separation when WolverinesWire asked him on Monday about the competition, and for now, he doesn’t believe that a starter will emerge until Fresno State is officially on the clock on August 31.
“Super competitive right now, excited to see what happens in the spring or in the summertime,” Moore said. “And then in fall camp — we won’t know until probably fall camp, until game one, a week or so before that game. But those guys are competing at a high level. It’s healthy competition. They’re pushing each other. So it’s been really good.”