Coming off three straight Big Ten titles and a national championship, Michigan has been picked to finish fourth this season in the new Big Ten. To which new head coach Sherrone Moore says, "Bet."
"That's it. We just gotta go. Nobody's ever predicted from a media standpoint who's going to win on the field game by game, so it's our job to go execute and go win," Moore said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket.
It's understood why the Wolverines were picked behind Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State. They have a question mark under center, and the other three don't. The Nittany Lions bring back Drew Allar, while the Ducks brought in Oklahoma transfer and Big Ten Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Dillon Gabriel and the Buckeyes landed Will Howard from Kansas State and Julian Sayin from Alabama.
The Wolverines stuck with who they had after J.J. McCarthy left for the NFL. They will enter training camp with a three-man battle between Alex Orji, Davis Warren and seventh-year senior Jack Tuttle, none of whom have starting experience. Asked about the state of Michigan's quarterback room, Moore said, "It's in a great place."
"It's in a great place now and it's in a great place in the future," he said. "We've got enough guys in our room that are going to be able to help us win at a high level. Every single one of them has a different attribute and great traits, but I think together they're going to make a great group. We're just excited for the fall camp to see what happens."
Moore has his work cut out for him in year one on the job. McCarthy was one of 13 players that Michigan lost to the NFL Draft, most in the nation. He does have some returning talent on defense and he's bullish that on offense, "We got playmakers all over the place. We've got really good players and we've got guys who have been waiting their turn to take action, and they're excited."
Then there's everything else that comes with being a head coach these days. To help him balance the new demands of college football, Moore hired a GM for his program in Sean Magee. The former chief of staff for the Chicago Bears will lead Michigan's NIL initiative and oversee aspects of recruiting and player personnel. And now and then, Moore leans on an old friend for advice.
"Even my mentors, I just talked to Coach Harbaugh yesterday," he said. "Being able to call him is a beautiful lifeline for me to have at any second. And he said, verbatim, 'Just got my phone here, waiting for it to ring, just to make sure somebody needs me.' I told him I'll be calling him often, so he'll be ready."
Jim Harbaugh left the program to Moore, who proved his worth when he led the Wolverines to wins over Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State down the stretch last season while Harbaugh was suspended for Michigan's sign-stealing scandal. For Moore, 38, it's not about putting his own stamp on the program moving forward.
"It's about letting our players do that and letting our play talk on the field. How we prepare, how we do everything, the process of how we execute, things are going to be the same. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Obviously every year is a new team, though. For us, we don't think about what we've lost," he said. "We know what we have and what we've gained and we're really excited to attack it."
