Sherrone Moore speaks on how new roster rules, 12-team CFP could affect Michigan
ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines are taking on a new look under head coach Sherrone Moore entering his first season on the job. The change at the top also signifies a new era of college football with changes to roster construction, the 12-team College Football Playoff and more.
The Michigan head coach is doing more than just adjusting to a new job. He is also tasked with leading the program into the next iteration of the sport. Rosters are set to expand soon to 105 scholarship spots in 2025-26 but Moore says caution should be exercised in building a team moving forward.
“I think you’ve got to be really careful on what you do,” Moore said on Tuesday. “You’ve got to be precise in your evaluations of who you pick and who you bring on your roster and what you do. And you’ve just got to be smart and research and bring in the right guys, which we’re going to continue to do. So for us, it’ll be an evaluation of the guys that are on the team, an evaluation of the guys that we’re going to bring in. And, you know, whenever that final verdict of this is what it is and this is what happened, we’ll make the decision on how we need to do that internally.”
Year-to-year, that makes for a larger chunk of the roster to account for than ever before. There could be challenges that arise, but Michigan prefers to have more qualified scholarship guys that can earn an opportunity for playing time.
“But you always want… for us, the more the better,” Moore said. “We’ve always had a lot of guys, and the walk-on programs are huge around the country. So always a benefit of that. But there’s going to give opportunity for guys at different places. So I think it’ll work out for everybody.”
Moore on Michigan expectations, 12-team CFP
Michigan enters the 2024 season as a three-time defending Big Ten Champion and will look to make the push for a fourth-straight this year. However, there is no leaning on past achievements. All that the recent success has done is set a bar for what is expected inside Schembechler Hall.
“I think we always talk about the process,” Moore said. “We don’t really try to talk about the prize as much. Just getting better today will lead to more success tomorrow. So that’s all we’re concerned with. We know what the goals are. We know what the aspirations are. I think when you’re at Michigan, you always want to win it all, and that should be our goal every year. But we’re just going to attack the process.”
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A national title last season has brought a lot of goodwill for Michigan fans in terms of what to expect this year. The Wolverines play as loaded a schedule as anyone in the country, which could provide for some grace in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee.
It does not matter, says Moore. The expectation for Michigan is to go out and win every game it plays.
“We’re never thinking about [losing games],” Moore said. “We’re going to try to prepare to win every game. That’s always a goal, always a goal for us. I think in fall camp you have to build the callous. You have to get better. You have to push each other. And you just got to be smart throughout the season of when you prepare, of how much hitting, what you’re doing, and just be smart in those regards. But it doesn’t really change anything in our mindset, because you’ve got to go win, because if you don’t win, you’re probably not going to get in. So that’s our mindset.”
The 2024 season gets underway for Michigan when it hosts Fresno State on Aug. 31 at the Big House. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
