Rod Moore injury update: Sherrone Moore 'hopeful' Michigan DB can return

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore is hopeful safety Rod Moore can return this season despite tearing his ACL in spring practice.

Rod Moore went down with the injury back in late-March and it being a month of recovery, there might be a possibility he’s back on the field. It won’t be anytime soon however.

Moore is holding out hope his safety could see the field sometime in the fall as the Wolverines go into 2024 as the defending national champions.

“I think we’ll see what it is,” Sherrone Moore said. “I’m not a doctor. I was asked how fast that is and what that process is, but hopeful, hopeful that (he can return).”

Rod Moore was set to enter his fourth season at Michigan and was a starter each of the past three seasons. He earned first team All-Big Ten honors this past season to finish with 38 tackles, two interceptions and three passes defended.

It’s a big blow for a Wolverines team that is coming off of a national championship in 2023. The defense played a major part in that as Michigan ranked No. 1 in both total defense and scoring defense. 

The secondary allowed just 157 passing yards per game to rank second in the country and recorded 18 total interceptions. The Wolverines already lost cornerback Mike Sainristil (six INTs) and safety Keon Sabb, and the injury to Moore takes away another experienced player. 

Cornerback Will Johnson (four INTs) will aim to step up as the leader for the secondary as a whole, but the safety position now has a lot of questions heading into the season.

As a member of the Class of 2021, Moore was a three-star recruit out of Clayton (Ohio) Northmont, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 16 overall prospect in the state, the No. 35 safety in the class and the No. 483 overall prospect in the class.

Michigan defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator LaMar Morgan said earlier this month that Moore has remained engaged and been helping him coach.

“He got injured. Let me talk about Rod real quick,” Morgan said April 10. “The guy gets injured; the next day he’s the first guy in the front seat in every meeting. He hasn’t missed anything; he’s asking questions. He’s unbelievable. That’s the culture that we have here.

“It’s hard to miss somebody like that — it’s really hard to get over it — and right now we’re just trying to be with him at every turn. Whenever he needs to get the surgery, we’ll all be behind him, the whole program. Everybody’s excited about that.”