Things are going to look a bit different at Michigan Stadium on Saturday. You won’t see Michigan coach Sherrone Moore running out of the Lloyd Carr Tunnel with the rest of the Wolverines. You won’t see him pump up the crowd. In fact, you won’t see Moore at all.
At 12:00 a.m. Saturday, Moore’s self-imposed two-game suspension officially begins. Against Central Michigan and Nebraska, Moore will be absent from both the locker room and the sidelines as the Wolverines operate under the direction of associate head coach Biff Poggi, who was named interim coach Monday.
Even with Moore absent, Michigan insists things will be business as usual. While the Wolverines’ head coach may have changed, their structure and expectations remain the same.
“The offense is staying the same, defense is going to be the same, special teams are going to be the same, everything is going to be the same, coach Moore just won’t be out there,” senior defensive back Jaden Mangham said Tuesday. “A lot of the guys, we’re already locked in. We’re just working on stuff, just continuously getting better, so I don’t really think a lot is going to change.”
Michigan’s structure can be broken down into individual parts of a well-oiled machine, each tasked with a different aspect of the game. By retaining the function of each component, the Wolverines’ production shouldn’t dip. Part of Moore’s decision to appoint Poggi as interim coach was so that Michigan could keep its coordinators in each of their respective roles. With offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale remaining in their positions, the Wolverines will keep things as consistent as possible.
Add to that the fact that Moore has been coaching Michigan himself in practice this past week, and signs point to the Wolverines functioning as a cohesive unit against the Chippewas — even with a new coach at the helm.
“(Poggi’s) been in the program before,” Moore said Monday. “The knowledge of the players specifically was huge. And then obviously his experience as a high school head coach, as a head coach, but just in general, his love for the players, his knowledge of everybody in our building, and keeping the cohesion in the building was huge.”
Poggi’s prior experience as a head coach at Charlotte can provide Michigan with some confidence as Saturday approaches. He understands what it’s like to lead a team, maintain a collective identity and keep things running, even in the face of change. With roots in the program and a deep knowledge of the Wolverines’ players, Poggi isn’t here to shake things up — he’s here to stabilize the locker room and ensure that Michigan is firing on all cylinders despite Moore’s absence.
While things may not look different for the Wolverines, they’ll likely feel different.
“This game matters because it’s not just for us at this point, it’s for him,” junior tight end Zack Marshall said Tuesday. “It’s a place that he coached at. It matters that much more because he’s not there. Because we know that it’s not going to feel right. … We’re not happy with it. We intend to have a moderately pissed-off approach to this game, and that’s what they’re going to get, and hopefully it translates in the scoreboard.”
Against Central Michigan, Michigan’s players will feel Moore’s absence. He won’t deliver a speech in the pregame huddle or pace up and down the sidelines. But that won’t change the game plan. The Wolverines have made it clear: Execution will remain the same, with or without Moore.
Moore’s self-imposed two-game suspension isn’t likely to define the program in the next two weeks. Rather, it will be a test of Michigan’s resilience. The Wolverines will still sprint onto the field, face their opponents and carry out the plan of action. Because whether or not Moore is on the sideline, Michigan doesn’t think it’ll matter — the Wolverines’ identity remains the same.
The post Even with Sherrone Moore gone, Michigan is expecting business as usual appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
Leave a Reply