Rod Moore reveals what Michigan DBs have been working on most this offseason
Michigan Wolverines football is replacing three starters in the defensive backfield. Safeties Dax Hill and Brad Hawkins and cornerback Vincent Gray are all off to the NFL, meaning a crop of Wolverines will have to step up.
There’s a void in both on-field play and leadership. Thankfully for Michigan, there are several who have emerged.
“Brad and Dax, those two were the leaders of the group, and they’re gone now,” sophomore safety Rod Moore said on the Blue By 90 podcast. “Right now, we have [senior cornerback] DJ Turner. He’s probably the leader of the group, and [senior nickel] Mikey Sainristil came over [from wide receiver], so he’s a leader up there. [Junior safety] R.J. Moten, obviously.
“And the freshmen — [cornerback] Will [Johnson] is really good. His man coverage, all of his attributes are really good. There are a lot of names. But I think the freshman class that came, they’re all at the top level. They’re really good. They just gotta learn the playbook, but it’s going to come. And then you’ve got me and [sophomore cornerback] Ja’Den [McBurrows] in my class; that’s really good. It’s just a whole room of athletes at the end of the day.”
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Turner is one of the top returning cornerbacks in the Big Ten, and Sainristil playing both ways and contributing at nickelback has made the outlook for the secondary that much better.
On top of that, co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, who was hired last summer, has had an entire offseason to help develop his group. The focus has been on perfecting the technique, Moore revealed, honing in on the fine details.
“I believe it’s really our technique,” he said of what the main emphasis has been. “Coach Clinkscale, he came in and took initiative when he came from Kentucky. When he came to Michigan it was a big jump, in a sense.
“He came in, taught us the ropes and everything, technique, and he’s instilled in us that the technique is really the way to go. You’ve got to rely on that to beat people. So we just learn the technique, start to master it and now we can go up from there, and be the best secondary in the Big Ten or the country.”
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The camaraderie within the Michigan defensive backfield group has grown over the last year, Moore said.
“Clink is that dude, but he’s going to be on you, though,” Moore explained. “If you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do, he’s going to get on you. But he’s cool. He’s going to look after you, look after his guys. He loves all of us; we’re all just one big unit.”
Rod Moore ready to take the next step
Moore started four games and appeared in 11 as a Michigan freshman last season. He came into his own at the end of the year, notched a team-high nine tackles against Ohio State … and that was just a taste of what he can do, he insisted.
“That year, I wasn’t playing how I know I can play,” Moore said. “It was more so me learning how college football was, the speed of everything, learning the plays. But now I know everything and I know how it’s supposed to be.
“I did miss spring ball [with a shoulder injury], so that’s kind of a setback for me, but going into camp I’m just going at it to get that starting spot back, and take it and go.”
