The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2024 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 27 pionship rings (1988-92) — took a wait- and-see approach to the change of the guard up front. "Ed Warriner had done such a good job. … He made statistical, dramatic improve- ment in that unit," Skene pointed out. "Then when Jim Harbaugh made the de- cision to let Warriner go and move Sher- rone over there, I was not a fan, because I thought the offensive line was heading in the right direction, and why upset the progress they had made? Of course, that's an outsider's point of view. I don't know what's going on inside the building, but I had my hesitations. "At that point, Sherrone had never coached and been responsible for an entire offensive line. He was tight ends. I know he played offensive line when he was a player at Oklahoma, but as a coach, he'd never been an offensive line coach. I was like, what are you doing here? It was a wait- and-see thing. Obviously, Sherrone proved me wrong, and everybody else wrong who doubted him, because the guy did an awe- some job." Good enough to fashion lines that earned Joe Moore Awards for best offensive line in the nation in 2021 and 2022, and a national title in 2023. Skene knows what he's look- ing for in any Michigan offensive line, and he's seen it with the units Moore turned out. "First and foremost, they looked like they know what they're doing, with con- fidence," Skene said. "They don't hesitate. They got out of their stances fast, in a di- rection that you knew they knew what they were doing and what they were trying to accomplish. "Oftentimes, when you watch guys play at the high school or college level, you see some out of position. They're not play- ing with full physical confidence. That's an indicator to me that they're not really sure what they're supposed to be doing. "That was a problem for Michigan before Warriner. It was a mess. Guys didn't know where their help was. They weren't in po- sition. They didn't play with confidence. There was no swagger. The evolution from then to where Sherrone took them was pretty dramatic." The swagger brought with it assertive- ness, Skene expanded. "It starts with the body confidence," he said. "When you're confident in what you're supposed to be doing, and then you start having success at it, it breeds more confidence in the guys up front. They start having fun. "They see guys like [Trevor] Keegan putting guys in the ground, guys down- field pushing on defensive backs, shov- ing people out, chesting up with people, body positioning of aggressiveness. These are all indicators of a really aggressive of- fensive line that likes to have fun smashing people. "It reminded me of what we used to do 30-something years ago with the '97 line, with [Jon] Jansen, [Jeff] Backus, Hutch [Steve Hutchinson] and those guys. Just having fun out there smashing people and doing it in full confidence." Head coach represents another massive jump, Skene noted. He's more sure of suc- cess this time around, having seen Moore in action. "I was fully on board that Sherrone Moore should be the guy when Jim left for the NFL, which we all kind of knew he was going to do," Skene said. "Sherrone has earned it, and Jim put him in position to earn the respect of the locker room and the outsiders — like me and everybody else looking in — based on what happened when Jim wasn't on the field on game days. "I am not going to be a naysayer any- more, because Sherrone has proven it — in the big responsibility he was given three years ago, and this last year as the OC. He did a great job. "The biggest challenge for Sherrone is that being the head coach is so much dif- ferent than the position coach. Now he's got to coach his coaches, not just the units on the field. He's got to push on his coaches to get better, just like he pushed on his of- fensive linemen to get better. "He's got to manage the administrative As a player, Moore was like an extra coach on the field at Butler County (Kansas) Community College, which went 20-3 and won two conference championships. He went on to Oklahoma where he played 14 games at offensive guard in 2006 and 2007, helping the Sooners to a pair of Big 12 championships and BCS bowl games. PHOTO COURTESY OKLAHOMA ATHLETICS ❱ The Sherrone Moore File Birthday: Feb. 3, 1986 Hometown: Derby, Kan. High School: Derby Bachelor's Degree: Oklahoma (Communications, 2008) Master's Degree: Louisville (Sports Administration, 2011) Wife: Kelli Children: Daughters Shiloh and Solei COACHING EXPERIENCE Year Team Position 2009-11 Louisville Graduate Assistant (Offense) 2012-13 Louisville Tight Ends 2014-16 Central Michigan Tight Ends 2017 Central Michigan Assistant Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator/ Tight Ends 2018-2020 Michigan Tight Ends 2021-22 Michigan Offensive Line/Co-Offensive Coordinator 2023 Michigan Offensive Line/Offensive Coordinator 2024- Michigan Head Coach