Michigan assistant LaMar Morgan on Rod Moore: 'I don't know if he's replaceable'

Michigan Wolverines football defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach LaMar Morgan had to be impressed by safety Rod Moore during his first month-plus on campus, before the senior went down with a knee injury in late March that required a late-April surgery.

Moore has been rehabbing instead of practicing with his teammates, but he’s remained engaged, so much so that Morgan has been blown away.

“I’m big in my faith, and I told him that God doesn’t make any mistakes, so there’s a reason why you got what happened right now,” Morgan said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with Jon Jansen. “You gotta get through the smoke and you gotta keep working, and then when you come back on the back end, you’ll understand why this happened. Maybe it’s something that you need to work on mentally or your physical body, so that when you make this run in the NFL you’re ready to go.

“I think we just gotta keep the guy motivated, keep him around, have him in the offices all the time, ask him questions on game plans.”

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Michigan brought in four transfers in the defensive backfield after the conclusion of spring practices, including two safeties in junior Jaden Mangham (Michigan State) and graduate Wesley Walker (Tennessee). Morgan revealed that Moore is spreading his knowledge with the newcomers so that they’re up to speed.

“He’s gonna be meeting with the new transfers,” Morgan said. “I haven’t met anybody that’s gotten hurt that’s willing to come up here and meet with players, and they might not be able to play the first half of the season. That kid and his family have done a great job with him to do that. It takes a special person to do that.

“He hurt his leg, and the next day he’s in the front row of our meeting. I haven’t seen that in my career. I know I haven’t been coaching 40 years, but it’s just crazy the way he’s wired. He has a smile on his face, he’s in there right now walking on the treadmill, working on all these different things.”

Michigan possesses experience at safety, headlined by graduate Makari Paige, a 6-foot-4, 208-pound two-time All-Big Ten honorable mention standout. Graduate Quinten Johnson played a support role last season but is back for his sixth year, and Mangham and Walker have both been starters at previous stops.

However, Moore is a difference-maker with elite knowledge of the defense and high-level leadership skills. Having one person perform at the level he can isn’t realistic.

“We’re not going to replace him,” Morgan said. “It’s gonna be a group effort to replace Rod Moore. I would be naive to say just one player is going to replace him.

“But I do think if you look at who we brought in at the safety position along with Q and [sophomore] B-Hill [Brandyn Hillman] and [junior] Zeke [Berry] and all these guys, [junior] Kody [Jones] and all those guys that we have back there, we tried to bring in guys that have played a lot, because I do think experience matters. Even if it’s a limited role, you know you have experience, you know what you’re going to get.

“But us replacing Rod, I don’t know if he’s replaceable.”

LaMar Mogan ‘never been in a program’ with a culture like Michigan’s

The incoming transfers — Mangham, Walker and graduate cornerbacks Aamir Hall and Ricky Johnson — have sought out Moore, junior corner Will Johnson and others as resources, understanding that the Wolverines are a player-led operation.

“Like these transfers that we got in here, they’re excited to hear how Will, Makari, Rod — I mean, Rod is going to be a coach for right now until he gets back — they want to learn from our players,” Morgan stated. “They have said that multiple times. I’ve never been in a program where it’s that heavy, where players coming here want to see what your routine is day in and day out.

“That’s kinda that expectation: We’re gonna let our leaders lead, the players that come in the program know that. The players also know if you’re a walk-on or not, if you’re the best player you’re going to play, we’re going to play as many players as we can, we’re not going to put a player in the game one play before they’re ready. And that’s how I try to develop the room. That’s kinda what I try to do.”

Johnson has set the tone in that regard this offseason, according to Morgan, his teammates and even the head man himself, Sherrone Moore. Johnson — a former five-star recruit who was named a first-team All-American by Sports Illustrated last season — has immense talent, but he also has the habits that not only have helped him develop but rub off on his teammates.

“I think the thing that’s unique about this place and especially Will Johnson is, of course he’s talented,” Morgan said. “My wife is a big football fan, my mom is not that much — she just supports her son — but she can watch football and say, ‘Dang, Will Johnson is a good football player.’ But I don’t think people realize all the work that he does to get to there — all the film study, what he does with his body, all the extra work he does, stretching, yoga, pilates, all this pre-practice routine that the kid has. It’s unbelievable. 

“If I go to a pro practice and you’re watching these vets, that’s how he acts here. The coaches before me, the strength staff before me, they have done a really good job there. But I also think these young guys, they learn a lot from coaches, but they really learn from peers. And that’s why Michigan is unique, because the players, with our guidance, run the program. It’s not just them, but I’m saying under our guidance, we have to make sure we develop leaders.

“I’ll give you an example: If we’re having a good day or a bad day, I can definitely get after the kids. When I first get here, I kinda want to wait and see if a kid is going to jump him or if it’s going to have to be me all the time. If it’s gotta be me all the time, that gets drawn out and you lose the sense of urgency. But when the player can pull all the guys together, like [nickel back] Mike [Sainristil] used to do or Mike [Barrett] at linebacker last year used to do, then kids respond to that. 

“I always try to make sure that you’re leading as a coach, but you also have to make sure that you let those guys like Makari and Rod and Will and those guys lead as well. That’s where the expectations in the group are with those guys. And I think the young guys respect our players here. They’re still your peers, right? I know [defensive coordinator] Coach Wink Martindale has been coaching forever, and Wink probably thinks I’m his peer because we work together, but I haven’t experienced all the things that he’s done yet, so I still think of him as a mentor. Our players here are the same way with some of these older players.”