Tag: Sherrone Moore

Two defensive backs standing out to Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore

These guys are gonna be stars — this year! #GoBlue

Despite losing so much personnel from last year’s national championship team, the Michigan football defense still figures to be loaded.

Kris Jenkins, Cam Goode, Braiden McGregor and Jaylen Harrell are gone, but with Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Derrick Moore and Josaiah Stewart, there’s still a lot to like up front. At linebacker, Ernest Hausmann and Maryland transfer Jaishawn Barham figure to be solid replacements for Junior Colson and Mike Barrett. And in the defensive backfield, Will Johnson may just be the best cornerback in the country.

But the defensive backfield isn’t without some drama. Star safety Rod Moore, who opted to come back for his senior year, tore his ACL at the start of spring practice. Makari Paige, back for a fifth-year, and sixth-year safety Quinten Johnson hold down the fort, but with Keon Sabb transferring to Alabama this offseason, the depth at the position is thinning.

One player who stood out this spring is junior Zeke Berry, who has particularly thrived in the Mike Sainristil role at nickel. Berry started in Week 1 last year but was injured on the opening kickoff in Week 2. While Berry has been working in that nickel back role, head coach Sherrone Moore noted (on the “In the Trenches” podcast) that no one will replicate what Sainristil did the past two years, but Berry has done more than a solid impression.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that left but we’ve got a lot of really good talent here,” Moore said. “And not gonna be anybody that’s gonna be like Mike because Mike. Mike’s different. But Zeke Berry, man, he’s had a heck of a spring. And he showed that potential last year and you can see flashes. And he started to put it together from a mental standpoint now and super excited for him. But he’s really done a heck of a job this spring.”

The other position under scrutiny is the cornerback opposite Will Johnson. With Josh Wallace gone to the NFL, the Wolverines appear to be honing in on sophomore DJ Waller, who brings size and athleticism to the role. But the other player to watch is fellow second-year corner Jyaire Hill.

Hill was impressive in the spring game, with the notable pass breakup on a perfectly placed ball thrown to Peyton O’Leary. Beyond that, he seemed instinctive and with a nose for the football.

Moore broke down why Hill could be a factor this year, noting that he’s gotten positive feedback on the sophomore from his entrenched star corner.

“That kid’s got immense talent to be as good as anybody,” Moore said. “I know I’ve talked to Will a couple times. ‘Sug,’ they call him ‘Sug,’ he calls himself ‘Sug’ — ‘Sug’ is gonna be good. This kid, he’s got length, he’s got speed, he’s got athleticism. He’s fearless. He’ll tackle, he will go make a play on the ball. He’s everything you want in a corner. So he’s just had a heck of a spring.”

Sherrone Moore breaks down three Michigan football QBs after spring game

There is certainly something to like about each of the contenders. #GoBlue

While there are a lot of different decisions that have to be made before Michigan football takes the field on August 31 against Fresno State, there’s no position in Ann Arbor that will have more eyes on it than at quarterback.

With J.J. McCarthy moving on to the NFL, and no obvious heir apparent, there is already a battle in progress between four players, with a fifth in Jack Tuttle expected to join once he’s fully healthy in the fall.

On Wednesday, new head coach Sherrone Moore sat down with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast and broke down three of the four quarterbacks who threw passes in the spring game to share where they are in this stage of their development.

Alex Orji

Photo: Isaiah Hole

“He’s gotten better every single day,” Moore said. “He studies the game at a high level, he’s a great leader, has the factor of people trying to follow him — and obviously, he’s a superb athlete. So yeah, he’s done a really good job. And excited to see where he goes.”

Davis Warren

Photo: Isaiah Hole

“Just the way he performed is kind of who he is,” Moore said. “And you know his story and what he’s been through. He’s just a dude that’s never gonna give up, keeps fighting and keeps clawing. And he’s had a great spring and topped it off with a really good game.”

Jadyn Davis

Photo: Isaiah Hole

“And then Jadyn Davis, for a young freshmen, super impressive,” Moore said. “The poise that he holds, and he kind of has that, that factor to him that — he’s a little bit like J.J., where he’s a young guy and guys get gravitated towards him. He’s a leader, but he’s like always here. He’s always in here. Cool thing about him: we played the Rose Bowl and came back from the Rose Bowl. And he was in here studying film. Won the national championship, came back and he was in here studying film. So the kid, like, he really gets it and what it means to be a quarterback here.”

Sherrone Moore breaks down the Michigan football offense post-spring ball

It’ll be interesting to see how they do this year. #GoBlue

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.”

What Sherrone Moore has seen from Jaishawn Barham since he came to Michigan

He’s going to be a stud for #Michigan this year. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — One of the key components to Michigan football’s recent run in both the Big Ten and the College Football Playoff has been outstanding linebacker play.

Though the Wolverines have had serviceable — and sometimes great — linebackers in the past decade, it was only in the past three years that the corps as a whole has played at an elite level. Thus, it’s no surprise that with Junior Colson, Mike Barrett and Ernest Hausmann last year the maize and blue won the national championship.

The first two are gone to the NFL, but the Wolverines still have Hausmann, and they brought in Maryland transfer Jaishawn Barham in December to start opposite him.

We got our first glimpse of Hausmann in the spring game on Saturday, and while he didn’t show up often in the stat sheet, anyone paying attention could see just how disruptive he can be. There are murmurs that Michigan feels it perhaps got a first-round type of talent in the former freshman All-American and three-time All-Big Ten player.

On Monday, WolverinesWire asked Sherrone Moore what he’s seen from Barham this spring and he’s appreciated not only the play on the field, but the workmanship he’s had behind the scenes which is helping him earn the respect of his teammates.

“Instinctual, physical, violent, fast — everything you want in a linebacker,” Moore said. “As quiet as can be, just goes about his business the right way, just how we like the transfers that come in here. They just come in, assimilate themselves in the culture and keep attacking.

“So he’s been outstanding, and just I can’t wait to see what he does.”

With Barham’s attitude entering his third year being one of leading by example, it harkens back to when players like Olu Oluwatimi joined and managed to galvanize the entire team around him. When you have what Michigan currently has — a strong, player-led culture — in order to become a leader, you have to show you can abide by that culture through your work ethic.

It appears Barham is doing just that, which should pay dividends for the maize and blue this fall.

Sherrone Moore mum about Michigan football QB competition after spring ball

Spring ball didn’t give us any obvious answers. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Spring ball has come to a close for Michigan football and there is one glaring positional battle that hasn’t emerged with a winner.

A team is usually only as good as its quarterback play, and though the Wolverines do things a little differently with more of a pro-style approach, we’ve seen in past years how quickly a season can fall off the map if the signal-caller isn’t up to par.

Though Michigan doesn’t have anyone of former QB J.J. McCarthy’s star caliber, it has some options, and many of those options were on display on Saturday in the annual spring game. Alex Orji started out shaky but ended up going 13-for-18 for 103 yards. His longest pass was for 12 yards but he also rushed five times for 19 yards (if you exclude sacks — which were counted when a defender got a hand on him) with a touchdown. Davis Warren was also impressive going 6-for-9 for 136 yards and two touchdowns — both being long passes to Kendrick Bell and Fred Moore, respectively.

But new head coach Sherrone Moore isn’t ready to say anyone asserted themselves to the point where one may be ahead of another. For now, we’ll have to wait until August, when the Wolverines take the field for fall camp to get a better idea of who may start in Week 1 against Fresno State.

“Everybody’s getting better,” Moore said. “So I think that’ll go into the summer to fall. So we’ll see when we get to fall camp.”

One name that could end up being the winner is Jack Tuttle, who was granted a seventh year by the NCAA and returns for his second year in Ann Arbor.

Though not heralded in terms of expectations, last year’s backup QB for the Wolverines was actually a decorated recruit. 247Sports had Tuttle as the No. 110 player in the country, regardless of position, in the 2018 recruiting class. He was behind the likes of Trevor Lawrence and JT Daniels but ahead of players like former Michigan QB Joe Milton, Sam Hartman, Will Levis, Zach Wilson, Brock Purdy, Cam Rising, and Michael Penix Jr. Tuttle started his career at Utah before transferring to Indiana in 2019 — where he played behind the aforementioned Penix.

Coming off of an injury this spring, Sherrone Moore says that Tuttle certainly has a shot to be the guy in 2024, but it will be up to how he does in fall camp. However, as Moore notes, one of the big reasons why Tuttle hasn’t gotten his opportunity to shine is because he’s played behind elite talent in two quarterbacks who will likely be drafted in the first round of the upcoming NFL draft.

“Yeah, he’ll be in it. I mean, we talked about this as a team, as a staff,” Moore said. “And then the dudes that he backed up are Michael Penix and J.J. McCarthy. So he’s got talent. And we’ll see what happens when he gets to fall camp.”

Of course, there’s also the option of seeking out a quarterback in the transfer portal, but at this juncture, it’s unlikely that someone Michigan considers to be a starting-caliber QB will look for a change of scenery this late into the process.

Sherrone Moore issues statement on Denard Robinson’s arrest

What a debacle.

He hasn’t been the head coach of Michigan football for very long, but already, Sherrone Moore has had some tough decisions to make.

Besides building his staff and the extra burden of recruiting his own roster in the newfound era of name, image and likeness along with the transfer portal, Moore was put in the unenviable position by one of his new hires, former defensive line coach Greg Scruggs, as he was arrested for drunk driving shortly after he was hired.

Now Moore is in an even tougher spot with beloved former quarterback and current recruiting staffer Denard Robinson also having been arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. For the moment, according to the Detroit News’ Angelique Chengelis, Moore is suspending Robinson indefinitely.

“We are aware of an incident involving Denard Robinson and have suspended him indefinitely,” Moore said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will have no further comment at this time.”

In the case of Scruggs, the first time Moore had to deal with such an incident, he ended up resigning on Monday after having been arrested on Saturday morning. There’s no telling exactly what will happen with Robinson, but considering he was involved in a single-car crash and that this is the second incident of a staff member having a drunk driving arrest, the leash can’t be that long.

Why Sherrone Moore flipped Tony Alford from Ohio State to Michigan football

Still can’t get over how savage of a move this was! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was a proverbial shot over the bow, not unlike what Ryan Day did to Michigan football when he took over Ohio State.

As an interim head coach turned head coach, Ryan Day took over the Buckeyes and stole away two coaches from the Wolverines for his first year in Columbus. Now, new Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, who also was an interim head coach promoted to the head role, is returning the favor by stealing away running backs coach Tony Alford from OSU.

Alford replaces former running backs coach Mike Hart who departed the program this offseason. It was a big surprise, but Moore explained why Alford was the right choice to come in for the maize and blue.

“I mean, just his resume speaks for itself,” Moore said. “Who he is as a coach, as a mentor, as a recruiter. But more importantly, as a person.

“Known him for a long time. Obviously, he was on the other side — I don’t fault him too much for that! But I mean, as a person, you just get to know him as a person outside of that. He’s an incredible human being, an incredible mentor, an incredible coach. So we’re just super excited to have him on staff.”

But what made Alford an attractive candidate for Moore beyond the obvious tangibles?

As far as he sees it, having spent nine years at Ohio State and with a long track record of coaching running backs in his career, Alford brings not only experience but a different added perspective that may differ from the status quo in Ann Arbor. Moore feels that that should pay dividends as the regime change for the maize and blue takes shape, keeping the team and staff from getting too comfortable or set in their ways following a national championship season.

“Really, just the experience he has, what he’s done, and where he’s been — it’s just a different perspective,” Moore said. “It’s always good to get a different perspective — and you always do things the way you did it, sometimes you have to change a couple of things here and there but it’s always good to have another perspective and another viewpoint. Just because you did it one way before doesn’t mean it’s gonna work. Because you’ve always done this with us and you can’t do it another way. So just having that perspective from another way is really helpful for us.”

It is somewhat rare to see coaches move from one rival to another, but not unheard of. We mentioned Day usurping Greg Mattison, who has coached at Michigan football, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Al Washington joined Mattison in Columbus, but it was a surprise he coached in Ann Arbor at all, given he was the son of a Buckeye legend.

And most notably, Bo Schembechler was on Woody Hayes’ OSU staff once upon a time while his successor, Gary Moeller, wasn’t just a former Buckeye coach, he was a team captain for Ohio State.

How Michigan football is managing with Greg Scruggs’ abrupt departure

Sherrone Moore has a plan. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In the category of things that should not happen, new Michigan football defensive line coach Greg Scruggs was arrested for drunk driving on the Saturday before the start of spring ball. The former Wisconsin assistant reportedly had a blood-alcohol content of nearly double the legal limit. The arrest led to his resignation on Thursday.

With spring practice having begun on Monday, the Wolverines needed to quickly shift gears to cover the fact that they suddenly were without a defensive line coach. On Thursday, about a half hour after the announcement that Scruggs was no longer with the program, new head coach Sherrone Moore shared his thoughts about moving on from Scruggs. He noted that, at the moment, it’s a group effort to ensure that defensive line duties are covered from a coaching perspective.

“We’ll move swiftly but carefully, and do what we need to do to get that (covered),” Moore said. “But we have a collective unit coaching D-line and super happy with these past couple of days while that was going on. The whole defensive staff will be all hands on deck as we all are coaching every position. So looking forward to keeping it moving.”

While Moore wouldn’t share much about how he’s dividing the responsibilities for coaching the defensive line at the moment, he said defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is among those working with the group and some of the newly hired analysts will also get involved.

“Right now we’re just working through — coach Wink’s definitely helping with that,” Moore said. “And we’ll work through the logistics of the analyst piece as we go through.”

So, again, Michigan football will have to look for another new member of the coaching staff. It’s not the first time Moore will have to look for a new addition after it appeared that the staff was set. Mike Hart ended up departing the program right as the new defensive staff was announced, and the Wolverines moved quickly to hire former Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford as his replacement. So now the maize and blue are in the market for a new coach for the defensive line.

But even in the Jim Harbaugh days, in 2021, there were a couple of late departures. Just before spring ball, prodigal linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary departed for Tennessee. After spring ball, cornerbacks coach Maurice Linguist took the Buffalo head coaching job. When Jean-Mary left, Harbaugh slid George Helow over from safeties coach to linebackers and hired Matt Weiss to coach the quarterbacks. When Linguist left, Michigan went out and hired Steve Clinkscale to oversee the cornerbacks. So while the drunk driving offense is out of the norm, the general situation is not.

We’ll see where Moore decides to go when it comes to replacing Scruggs.

Former Wisconsin defensive line coach resigns from position at Michigan

Former Wisconsin defensive line coach resigns from position at Michigan

Former Wisconsin defensive line coach Greg Scruggs has resigned from his position as defensive line coach at Michigan, according to several reports.

This news comes after Scruggs was recently arrested for OWI — just one month after reports surfaced of him leaving Wisconsin for the same position on Sherrone Moore’s staff and eight days after Michigan officially announced his hire.

A recent report from the Michigan Insider noted that Scruggs was at twice the legal BAC limit at the time of his arrest on the morning of March 16. Michigan suspended Scruggs indefinitely later that day. He has now reportedly resigned five days later.

The former NFL defensive line coach spent just 2023 with the Badgers, though previously worked for four years under Luke Fickell at Cincinnati — two as director of player development and two as defensive line coach.

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Michigan football coach suspended indefinitely amid OWI investigation

Will this be the end of his young #Michigan career?

Before he even coached a single practice for Michigan football, Greg Scruggs is in a heap of trouble.

As first reported by The Detroit News’ Angelique Chengelis, Scruggs was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated in Ann Arbor just before 3 a.m. on Saturday morning. As a result, his job is in jeopardy, not even a month into it.

The Michigan football program issued a statement by head coach Sherrone Moore announcing Scruggs is being suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into the incident.

“Greg made an unfortunate mistake and was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated,” Moore said. “He made no excuses and has taken accountability for his actions. The football program and athletic department have suspended Greg indefinitely while we review details of the incident.”

For the Wolverines, spring practice begins on Monday, and there’s no clear answer who will oversee the defensive line at the outset of the practice sessions.

Scruggs came to Ann Arbor via Wisconsin, where he was the defensive line coach under Luke Fickell. He arrived in Madison after being an assistant in the NFL for two years, but he was with Fickell previously at Cincinnati. He has a connection with Moore; he was a player at Louisville, where Moore got his coaching start.