What they're saying about Sherrone Moore, Michigan football after Big Ten Media Days

Michigan Wolverines football head coach Sherrone Moore took the stage at Big Ten Media Days last week, along with graduate safety Makari Paige, senior fullback / tight end Max Bredeson and senior running back Donovan Edwards. Here’s a look around the internet at what they’re saying about the Wolverines coming out of the event.

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Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press: More glory — or potentially peril — awaits Sherrone Moore, Michigan football this season

As Moore saw it, the Wolverines weren’t going anywhere; they would still be in the hunt for the sport’s biggest prize.

“We’re not going to stray away from the goal of trying to win it all every year,” Moore said Thursday at Big Ten media days. “When you’re at Michigan, that should be your goal.”

At the very least, that has now become the expectation of the Wolverines’ demanding fanbase.

This is the burden Moore inherited, which has left some wondering whether he is that lucky of a guy after all.

The spotlight on Moore figures to be harsh as he aims to replicate what [former Michigan head coach Jim] Harbaugh just accomplished. Skeptics are already on the lookout for the first slip-up or an initial warning sign that indicates some level of regression within the program he helped Harbaugh nurture. They are, in essence, waiting for him to stumble on the biggest stage and reveal his vulnerabilities.

The possibility of that happening certainly exists, considering Moore’s path is littered with obstacles that are both concrete and abstract. After years of drawing criticism for laughably weak schedules, the Wolverines face a daunting slate of games, including matchups against Texas, USC, Washington, Oregon and Ohio State in the first year of an 18-team Big Ten. The Buckeyes, the hated adversary Moore and Harbaugh teamed up to beat each of the last three years, spent this past offseason plotting their revenge by augmenting a richly talented roster with a slew of coveted transfer additions.

Austin Meek, The Athletic: Ohio State is desperate. Michigan is not. What comes next for the Wolverines?

The Buckeyes are desperate. Michigan is not. The idea that the Wolverines can afford to coast in the wake of a national championship is anathema for Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s first-year head coach.

“There’s no honeymoon year,” Moore said. “We’re ready to attack. There’s no time off. There’s no, ‘Let’s take a step back.’ That’s not our goal. We know what we want to do, and we know how to attack it. I’m hungrier than ever.”

The Wolverines want to win again in 2024, but for Ohio State, it’s more like a primal need. Moore is just getting started at Michigan. Ohio State coach Ryan Day, who spoke Tuesday, probably won’t be back here next season if the Buckeyes lose to Michigan in November. In that sense, he’s in exactly the same position Jim Harbaugh was in three years ago.

That was the year Harbaugh came to Indianapolis and told a story about climbing a mountain with his family. That final push to the summit became a metaphor for a coach who lost his first five games against Ohio State and needed a turnaround season to save his job.

“We’re going to do it or die trying,” he said.

Michigan put everything into beating Ohio State and turned the rivalry on its head. Throughout the Wolverines’ three-year run of dominance, there was always something else to chase: an undefeated regular season, the first CFP victory, the program’s first national championship in 25 years. Now that every single box has been checked, Michigan has to figure out what comes next.

Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire: Opinion: Ryan Day is delusional about recent Ohio State losses to Michigan football

Ohio State never led in The Game last year. And the previous two years were blowouts. But last year, despite the game being closer than the previous two iterations, Michigan still led wire-to-wire (there was a brief tie), but it had its arm tied behind its back. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten, and the Wolverines had their offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, Sherrone Moore, pulling triple duty, acting as the interim coach. They also lost their best offensive lineman, Zak Zinter, with the game very much in doubt.

Sometimes, close losses is just how the cookie crumbles. In fact, before Jim Harbaugh took over, Michigan lost most of the recent contests to the Buckeyes by a slim margin. 2016, 2013, 2012, 2006, 2005, 2002, and 2001 were all Wolverine losses by one score. In most of those, Michigan did enough to win — but it didn’t.

That’s how rivalries turn around. [Former Ohio State coach Jim] Tressel took over in 2001 and won close ones for OSU against Lloyd Carr every year but 2004 and 2007 (Michigan won in 2003).

Additionally, Day doesn’t appear to understand how or why Michigan has won in the past three years. While there have been accusations and open insinuations that it’s all about [former analyst] Connor Stalions and his alleged sign-stealing scheme, the reality is Michigan won in the trenches.

Scott Dochterman, The Athletic: Big Ten’s Tony Petitti ‘open-minded’ about assessing, expanding upon 12-team Playoff

[Big Ten commissioner Tony] Petitti believes the Big Ten is well positioned to place multiple teams in the 12-team Playoff but there’s a fear of a quality team getting left out.

“What I like the most about it is that we’re trying to start to change the definition of what success is in college football,” Petitti said. “This idea that (going) undefeated or (having) one loss is the only way to measure a great team is not fair. You could be really, really good and be 9-3 in the Big Ten. I’m optimistic that that’s the path we’re on.

“I’ve said this pretty consistently: the postseason and regular season have to work together. This is about the whole journey for the players and coaches to get an opportunity. It’s got to be about that. So I think this is a really great step.”

Five of the top 10 teams in the final CFP poll last December now are Big Ten members: defending national champion Michigan (1), runner-up Washington (2), No. 7 Ohio State, No. 8 Oregon and No. 10 Penn State. All five would have qualified for an expanded CFP last year, while the SEC would have sent four but had the top three teams ranked outside of the Playoff.

To best position itself based on criteria, the Big Ten plays nine league games and 16 teams schedule at least 10 contests against Power 4 competition. Among other power conferences, all 16 in the Big 12 face at least 10 power conference schools, while 11 in the ACC and only three in the SEC. But the SEC’s overall strength displayed by its championships (nine in the BCS’ 16 years, six of 10 in the four-team CFP) and the eye test often renders that measurement moot.

“We want to incentivize our schools to play great non-conference schedules,” Petitti said. “That’s a really important fabric of college football. We want to make sure that whatever postseason system we have is encouraging those types of matchups.”

The Big Ten is working alongside the SEC in developing its tiebreakers in qualifying for the league championship game.

“Does it makes sense to have criteria look the same? Petitti said. “They’re in the same situation with a large league, no more divisions, bringing the two best teams to the championship game.”

Michael Cohen, Fox Sports: With renewed sense of purpose, Michigan’s Donovan Edwards ready to seize opportunity

As Edwards enters his senior season, there’s an element of now or never if he wants to realize his immense potential and stabilize a career that has unfolded in fits and starts both on and off the field. A former five-star prospect and the No. 33 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class, Edwards was an in-state phenomenon from nearby West Bloomfield, Michigan, a northwestern suburb of Detroit. He had his choice of scholarship offers from blue-blood programs across the country — Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and USC, to name a few — and ultimately chose the Wolverines over the Buckeyes. His commitment was seen as one of the biggest recruiting wins former coach Jim Harbaugh ever had in Ann Arbor.

But Edwards’ road toward realizing that potential has been thorny, a head-scratching blend of breathless cameos and puzzling ineffectiveness, of injury woes and off-field gaffes, of heartfelt admissions about his mental health and a heroic performance in the national championship game against Washington, whose defense he shredded for touchdown runs of 41 and 46 yards in the first quarter of an eventual 34-13 win last January. It became increasingly difficult to ascertain the caliber of player he really was — or wasn’t.

Nick Kosko, On3: Paul Finebaum, Heather Dinich debate whether Michigan is a College Football Playoff team in 2024

Paul Finebaum: “I think they will compete for the playoffs. Sherrone Moore had a great year as an understudy, he got to coach in three or four big games. He dealt with the pressure. And I thought he dealt with it very, very well. This is a better team that I think everyone is giving credit to, the defense is outstanding. There’s some questions on offense.

“The schedule is the issue. That Texas game early in the season, they’re gonna have to turn that game because they can’t afford probably more than two losses unless they get very lucky. So I think they’re a legitimate playoff team. They are on the cutline, but hey better turn a game or two.”

Heather Dinich: “That seems about right. But that doesn’t mean they’re a playoff team and Paul glossed over the offense that only returns 24 percent of the offensive production from last year. That’s 132nd in the FBS. The struggle is real here in terms of reloading this team, but I think that they can be a fringe team. Who knows if there’s going to be a three loss team in the College Football Playoff? But they can lose three games: Texas, Oregon, Ohio State, maybe that road trip to Washington.”