The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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42 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2023 FOOTBALL PREVIEW great support staff helping me with those guys. It's been really good, and I'm enjoy- ing every minute of it." The Wolverine: Some coordinators " borrow" from other teams or programs or watch film in the offseason to get ideas. What's your philosophy on that, and how do you prepare for the next season in the summer? Moore: "I think you always have to look at yourself, see what you did well and see what you can do better. You have to see how you can adjust, how you can tweak, because everybody is always watching you. You've got to figure out the things you do well and keep doing them, but you might have to tweak them a little bit. You might have to change the way you do it or might have to adjust some- thing. "But what you do good, you're going to continue to do good. Then you're always going to find little wrinkles and things to help you win those games you need to win throughout the season. We're going to continue to work on those. I'm very excited to see where it takes us." T h e Wo l v e r - ine: For you per- sonally, you keep moving up the coaching ladder and now have more responsibility than ever. What do you do to make sure you continue to improve as a coach? Moore: "You're always going to learn. I don't think as a coach you've ever ar- rived. I don't think there's ever a time where you say, 'I know everything; I know exactly how to handle everything.' "But I would say I'm way further along than I was at this point two years ago, absolutely. I have a better feel for every- thing, I understand how to put together a play even better, and how to delegate things to our great staff, our amazing staff we have. "That was probably my biggest trouble as a coach just in general. I always try to work like a G.A. [graduate assistant] and tried to do everything myself. You figure out at some point you can't do that. Hav- ing the tremendous staff we have on the field and off the field coaches has been seamless for me and helped me a ton." The Wolverine: As an offense , you guys dominated on the ground the last two years, but now you have a quarterback in J.J. McCarthy who could be a next-level passer. You always talk about wanting to be balanced on offense, but how do you find it? Moore: "We have a great balance of mentality within the staff, too. We all have the same vision of what we need to do to win. We all know who the playmak- ers are in the room, and we all understand at the end of the day we're going to do whatever it takes to win, whether it's run, pass … whatever it is. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure that at the end of the game we're at least one point ahead of the team we're playing." The Wolverine: And yet that's not "sexy enough" for a portion of the fan base who would love to see "Air McCarthy," even though you won a ton last year. How do you respond to that? Moore: "I just kind of laugh. We were as happy as we could be when we were 13-0. I've never been 13-0 in my life, in any sport … in anything. I scratch my head, but more I kind of laugh. "Fans are fans. They're going to have their opinions, which is great. I love the Michigan fan base. But I think every fan base is like that in a sense. Everybody wants the sexy way to win. Sometimes it's not that sexy. But as long as we get the win, we're happy." The Wolverine: With that, let's go back a few years when it wasn't so pretty. What changed to make this team a con- tender overnight after the 2-4 finish in 2020? Moore: "The biggest change was our players. We had some staff changes — those happen. I was very excited to take over the offensive line, and that's some- thing I've tried to work my tail off to do my whole career and be a part of. I'm very excited for the opportunity Coach [Harbaugh] gave me. "But I think the biggest thing was the players. There was a mindset with the players that said, 'That's not who we are. That's not Michigan football. We should never ever, ever have a year that repre- sents that kind of performance on the field at Michigan.' "They took it upon themselves. I know they had a players-only meeting and told everybody if they don't want to be part of the team, then don't be part of the team. The guys that wanted to be, it was, 'We're going to work. We're going to get back to the grittiness, the toughness, the physi- cality, all the things we do.' "They took it upon themselves to do that. It panned out. The guys, they've just been unbelievable. I'm just excited about what they've done." The Wolverine: All the talk in the room about the culture having changed — has it remained, and what did you see from these guys this spring in that respect? Moore: "It's stronger than ever. I've said this before — it's not really a culture, it's a brotherhood. It's deeper than a cul- ture. It's something you can't come in and break. I really don't think it's break- able right now. I just think it's something you continue to build. Whatever new guys come in, whether it's this coming class that's coming in the summer or the next class, they're going to figure out that this is something a lot bigger than them- selves, and the work you have to put in is going to be huge. "If you're not ready to work, then this is probably not the place for you. That's how these guys have really changed and t u r n e d t h i s t h i n g around." T h e Wo l v e r i n e : A lot of these guys — B l a k e C o r u m , Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter, for ex- ample — could have gone to the NFL but came back for another shot at a national championship. How much do you sense the same hunger after back-to-back Big Ten titles and wins over Ohio State? Moore: "The execution, the effort, the mentality everybody went in with this spring was exactly what you would think. Some young guys showed out, made some positive impacts we were re- ally excited to see, but the team just keeps on the up and up and just keeps pushing themselves to go to the next level. It's just awesome to watch the young men as focused and determined as they are. "I think they're as hungry as ever. Ob- viously, the success the past few years has been great, but I think everybody in the program — players more so than anybody else — is putting their horns on those last two games of each season. They're re- ally motivated by those things, by those losses [in the playoff semifinals]." The Wolverine: There's no quarter- back controversy this year — everyone knows J.J. McCarthy is the guy. Where did you see him improve the most this spring? Moore: "I would say probably just gen- eral progression in the passing game, un- derstanding when to make that play, when "We all know who the playmakers are in the room, and we all understand at the end of the day we're going to do whatever it takes to win, whether it's run, pass … whatever it is." MOORE