The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1516256
❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MARCH 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 17 38-Year-Old Sherrone Moore is the second- youngest head coach in the Big Ten. Only Or- egon's Dan Lanning, is younger, and by a mere 66 days. Iowa's Kirk Ferentz is the oldest at 68 years old. Moore is the youngest Michigan head man since Bump Elliott took over in 1959. 128th In the country is where Michigan football ranks in returning production for the 2024 season, according to ESPN.com's Bill Connelly. Per Connelly's metric, the Wolverines bring back 36 percent of their overall production — 24 percent on offense (132nd nationally) and 47 percent on defense (109th). For comparison's sake, Virginia Tech returns 86 percent of its production, leading the na- tion. There are 25 teams at 70 or more percent and 77 at 60-plus percent. The Big Ten's leader is Nebraska (third), followed by Northwestern (sixth), Rutgers (eighth), Minnesota (19th), Wisconsin (20th), Penn State (23rd), Oregon (28th), Iowa (30th), Illinois (65th), Ohio State (70th), Michigan State (73rd), Indiana (85th), UCLA (95th), Purdue (96th), USC (99th), Maryland (110th), Michigan (128th) and Washington (130th). 3 , 001 Combined snaps played in the Big Ten between Michigan's two incoming transfers — offensive lineman Josh Priebe out of Northwestern (1,843) and linebacker JAISHAWN BARHAM from Mary- land (1,158). Priebe appeared in 38 games with 28 starts, while Barham started all 23 games in which he competed for the Terps. Doing the little things right — that was Sher- rone. Passionate about what you're doing — that is Sher- rone. You could always hear his voice. He was always encouraging his teammates. Showing up to be the best he could be every day. That's the way I remember Sherrone." — James Patton, Sherrone Moore's offensive line coach when he played at Oklahoma from 2006-07 That's the standard we hold ourselves to and will continue to do so. We know everything we do and we work for, we're trying to beat them every single day. It meant everything, and that's the game we work for. I was super excited for that moment for our players, for our fans, for the university to continue what we've been doing and we look to continue to up- hold that standard." — Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore on leading the Wolverines to a 30-24 win over Ohio State as interim head coach last season It's been a lot, a whirlwind, going from the natty, going from the Rose Bowl straight to combine [training]. I didn't really go back to Ann Arbor. But growing up, I used to pray for times like this. This is what I want to do. This is not too much for me. Play - ing football is what I love. I'm happy to be at the Reese's Bowl, happy to be invited, and this is an- other opportunity to show the world who I am." — Wide receiver ROMAN WILSON in a conversation with NFL Network at Reese's Senior Bowl practice The players all loved Wink. For the most part, the players have seemed to just straight-up love playing for him. He's definitely a players' coach. It's just a matter of whether he will get along with the first-year coach since he's an offensive-minded coach. I would tend to believe this is the right fit for him because [Moore is] a guy who might be more willing to defer to Wink, given his expe - rience and the fact that he's probably new to just the entire idea of head coaching. You can never know that until you see it play out." — Dan Schneier, co-host of the Big Blue View podcast covering the New York Giants, on new Michigan defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF PHOTO COURTESY MARYLAND ATHLETICS