What Michigan's Sherrone Moore, Wink Martindale said on 'The Pat McAfee Show'

ESPN’s Pat McAfee broadcasted his ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ live from the field at The Big House Friday, ahead of No. 10 Michigan Wolverines football vs. No. 3 Texas Saturday afternoon. Head coach Sherrone Moore and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who McAfee called an “NFL icon” for his 20 years of experience in the league, joined the host for an extended interview.

Here are some highlights from the conversation:

Moore on how he feels about his Michigan team

“It’s been great. I love my team. I love our coaches, everybody is having a lot of fun and we’re going to try in every way to get better, every day. We’re excited for this great opportunity in this great stadium tomorrow, and we’re going to have some fun.”

Moore on Michigan’s quarterback situation being a talking point

“When you lose a guy like J.J. [McCarthy], that’s always going to be the story. But we feel really good about the guys in our room. We had a really good week of preparation, so I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Moore on Michigan reloading with new faces

“The best part about it … you look at the O-line, there’s only one guy that’s a redshirt freshman that’s starting. Everybody else are juniors and seniors. It’s guys that weren’t necessarily the starters last year or the full-time starters, but they’ve all played a lot of football, have a lot of experience. All the guys that are playing had an opportunity last year to go play.”

Martindale on if he has an advantage now going against college offensive coordinators

“Like I always say, it’s all relative. To answer your question, first of all, yeah, I feel good about it. But like [Texas head coach and offensive play-caller Steve] Sark[isian], he was in the NFL. You see a different flux … look at this offense this weekend, there’s an Alabama run game to him with Dolphins motion and passing game to him. So you can see who he’s been visiting with and who he’s gotten to. And he’s from the Shanahan tree, so you see that, as well.”

Moore on if Michigan wants to make a statement that ‘we aren’t going anywhere’ by beating Texas

“We’re approaching it like a big game. We know it’s a great opponent. We’re excited about the atmosphere. But any big game that we’ve had, that we’ve been involved in, especially about the last few years, it’s always about our preparation and what we’ve done to get here. We’ve had a great week of practice, and excited before tomorrow.”

Moore on how often he talks to the team and what his message has been this week

“We have a team meeting at the beginning of the week. I try not to have meetings every single day. I think that can kinda get monotonous. I let them hear from their positions coaches, let them hear from the coordinators. 

“I’ll have a message for them tonight, which will be for our ears only. It’ll get real. I have a message for our team that I want them to hear from me. But we’ll just be ready to go.”

Martindale on joining the Michigan staff

“It’s been great because of the culture that’s already here, established, that’s been here. I had a leg up on it, because I worked for Coach Jack [Harbaugh] down at Western Kentucky, where we won a national championship, and then obviously with John [Harbaugh] for 10 years, when we all met back in ‘96.

“I had an idea of the culture, and then as I’ve told everybody, Sherrone and I started talking on the phone from two friends that connected us, and it was a conversation where I wasn’t offered anything. The first hour, I hang up the phone, and I looked over at my wife — we were down in Florida — and I said, ‘I want to work with this guy.’ He’s a real dude. He’s a guy!

“The thing that jumps out to me is he wants to elevate everyone — coaches, players, especially the players. You ask him how many times he talks to the team. He talks to the team in a team meeting, like he said earlier, but he’s always talking to the team — by position groups, on the field, he’ll come and sit in meetings. And the thing that you can see, if you have experience, is how the kids react to him when he’s in the room and when he’s around them. I think that’s pretty cool.”

Moore on how often he talks to former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh

“I talked to him during training camp probably every week. I try to talk to him once a week. I know he’s got his own thing going on, but he always offers tips and things. He asks me questions of what I need and always says he’s available.

“I talked to him right before the last game, because obviously he couldn’t be there but he was super stoked that his dad and mom could be there. I always catch tidbits from Coach Harbaugh.”

Moore on what the game against Texas will come down to

“It’s gonna come down to time of possession. It’s gonna come down to the line of scrimmage, who’s gonna be more physical. And playing penalty-free football and really securing the football. We gotta get it and keep the football.”