Michigan football OC Sherrone Moore: 'We want to be balanced'

Michigan football’s offensive identity has never been one that will win style awards or the popular fan vote. But one cannot debate what works. And with offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, the recipe is simple.

The Wolverines seek to control the line of scrimmage and run the football effectively, but it has built itself now into a unit that feels it can take advantage of what a defense gives them.

“We want to be balanced, be able to do both [throwing and passing],” Moore said during a Tuesday media session from Schembechler Hall. “Really, the division is what our players are good at, what J.J. [McCarthy] wants to throw. How we’re going to attack the defense every week is going to change. There will probably be a game we’ll run the ball more and people will be mad at us. And if it helps us win, we’ll be okay with it.

“It’s about winning. Whatever we got to do to win, that’s what we’re gonna do. We’re not going to value the opinions of people that don’t understand what we’re doing. We’re gonna do whatever it takes to win. So whatever that is, in that game, if it’s throw [or run], we’re going to do .So that’s the vision and we’ve built it around our players.”

Michigan fans are hoping the offense will open up under second-year starter J.J. McCarthy, who flashed dual-threat ability throughout the year but posted big numbers in the College Football Playoff loss to TCU. The Wolverines threw the ball 34 times and McCarthy racked up 343 yards through the air, but Moore is not exactly using that as a jumping-off point for this season.

“We know we threw the ball more and all that, but we lost the game,” Moore said. “That’s in the back of the mind every single second when we walk in the building. What could have been, what the motivation is. So we understand, we already knew what J.J.’s capabilities were, but it’s just motivation for the future and what we’re gonna do.

“We did whatever we needed to do to win at that time. And that’s what we felt was best. So going through the air was the process. So for us, it is motivation because, at the end of the day, we lost the game. So doesn’t really matter how good it looked at the end. You looked at the scoreboard, we didn’t win. That’s what we want, we just want to win.”

Relationship continues to grow with J.J. McCarthy

Moore is the sole play-caller for the Michigan offense now, which means even more one-on-one time with McCarthy. The two have always been close dating back to McCarthy’s high school days, and the relationship continues growing.

“J.J. and I have always been close,” Moore said. “I was part of his process while he was coming out of high school, so I’ve known him since he was a freshman. We’ve always been close-knit. And we were super close last year and it’s just grown and grown and grown every day. So there really hasn’t been a crazy maturation of a relationship because we’ve all been really close.

“But to watch him and his progression, his confidence after being a full-year starter has been something really cool to see. You can just see his confidence. You can see his bravado, you can see how he carries himself, the control, the command of everything he has in the offense. It’s turned up to that next level you would think it would, just excited to see him just keep progressing and keep growing.”

Michigan’s new quarterbacks coach earning praise

Michigan has new leadership in the quarterback room with former analyst Kirk Campbell, who was elevated to the full-time job following the departure of Matt Weiss. Moore and Campbell had plenty of work together last year and that is another relationship that continues to grow in Schembechler Hall.

“I’m a big fan of Kirk,” Moore said. “Kirk actually worked hand-in-hand with me a lot last year. So it was easy for me to know. And he has already gained the trust of everybody in the building. For [Jim Harbaugh], it was pretty easy. Coach saw it and understood what his value was to the program. So it was very easy for us to make that change for us to be successful.”

Campbell has not shied away from being vocal on the field and using the opportunities for live instruction. In the past, the quarterbacks may have gone through practice and been evaluated after the fact. Campbell is giving the Michigan passers real-time feedback.

“It feels like he’s like me on the field coaching the quarterbacks. He’s ripping them, it’s great. I love it,” Moore joked.

“He does a really good job. He’s extremely detailed. He works extremely hard. He’s on top of them. He corrects them. He coaches them extremely hard. But just like I do with the linemen, he loves them hard. And they know, they understand that it’s not the tone. It’s the message and they’re responding. They’re responding well, and they’ve just taken off and he’s done an incredible job with them.”