Everything Michigan HC Sherrone Moore said during his pre-New Mexico press conference

Opening Statement

It’s packed. It’s hot. Let’s go. You guys excited? I’m very excited. I’m elated. Just thank you guys for being here. Appreciate it. Excited for this game week. This camp has been outstanding. The boys are in a really, really good place physically, mentally, emotionally. They’re just excited to hit somebody else. It’s been a long camp. We’ve been in what we like to call the bunker. No social media challenge. I put on the players, the coaches. I really wasn’t on it until like last week, and then I’m back off of it again. It’s kind of good not to be on it. I kind of feel good about that. But it’s been a really good camp. I feel like we built some good depth and answered some questions from position battles and things like that. So we’re really excited to go from there. You guys want me to answer the questions? Just answer it. Okay. And so, yes, Bryce Underwood will be our starting quarterback. I’ll confirm that. He’s earned the opportunity. It was not given to him. All the other quarterbacks had a really good camp as well, really thought Jadyn Davis has really come along and taken the next steps. He’ll be the two behind him, and he’s done a really good job. But Bryce took the necessary steps and really took the position, took ownership of his abilities and took ownership of the team and became a leader on the team and a guy that guys look to. So just did the things the right way and used his skill and never tried to do too much for a young guy, very mature beyond his years, and he’s still only 18 years old. So he’s going to make mistakes, but that’s what we’re here for, coaches and players. We’re all going to support him as he goes on this journey. We go on this journey together. But he’s earned that job.

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On what he told Bryce Underwood and the team about his first start

Yeah, told them all yesterday. Told them all yesterday. He was as calm as he always is. I think his dad was a little bit more excited and more emotional about it than Bryce was. And, you know, he was very happy, though. Bryce is a very even-keeled kid. He doesn’t get up too high or too low. But he was very excited about the opportunity, and he said that’s why he came here, you know, to be that guy and not given the opportunity because he earned it. So Dad said he might shed a tear on Saturday. I’m sure he will. I’m sure Mom will, too. But he’s definitely earned the opportunity.

On whether he’s seen a freshman like Underwood and when he knew he would start

Probably halfway through camp. Figured that this guy’s pretty good, think this guy might be the guy, and hit a scrimmage. And I think it was the first time we went into the stadium. He made a couple throws, and I just looked at Chip, and he just nodded at me and looked at Coach Poggi, who was behind me, and was like, yeah, I think this is the guy. But you wanted to see him do that every day, every practice, every time we went into the stadium. And have I seen a freshman like him, quarterback? Not that I could imagine, not that I could think of. He’s only, what, the fourth freshman starter quarterback here? So not very many.

On the offensive line starters

Evan Link will start at left tackle. Geo, one of our captains, will start at left guard. Greg Crippen will start at center. You know, the right guard spot, Brady Norton, looks like he’ll start right now with Nate Efobi, who is going to play as well. And right tackle will be Andrew Sprague. So I feel like we’re in a good place with those guys. And we’ve got guys behind him that can play, you know, Lawrence Hattar, Jake Guanera, Blake Frazier. You know, Blake Frazier’s going to play. So we feel like we’ve got good depth in that group.

On Andrew Babalola’s injury

Yeah, yeah, he had a knee injury, and he’ll have surgery, season-ending knee injury. So praying for him. He’s in good spirits, though, and that’s what we’re worried about. So he’s in good spirits, and we’ll take care of him, and he’ll come out stronger than ever.

On other aspects of his game that earned Underwood a starting job

One, you put him in adverse situations, and he responds. Doesn’t really, you know, never makes the same mistake twice. Even if he makes a mistake, it doesn’t come back, and it’s the same thing. You’re like, oh, dude, we got to go through the scan. That didn’t happen. And when you have the other teammates around you talking about him, especially on defense, and them coming up to him and saying, hey, good job, but, you know, having those conversations, then you kind of know. I mean, he just talks to everybody. He assimilates with everybody, offense, defense, DBs, D tackles, O-line, D-line. When you feel like somebody gravitates and he’s got the team, then you feel like you got your quarterback.

On whether he expects Rod Moore or Hogan Hansen to play in the opener

We’ll see. They’re trending really well. Both of those guys are. So, Hogan’s practicing, Rod’s practicing, but we’re not going to rush if we don’t need to. Make sure to take it on their time and the doctor’s time. But they’re both in a good place, so we’ll see.

On Mikey Keene’s status

Yeah, he’s working back, and he’s looked better the past couple days. So, we’ll see how he looks today.

On the defensive position battles

Yeah, I mean, the defense is another story. It’s like there’s just so many guys that could play. Like, you don’t blink if this guy’s out there versus this guy’s out there. We’re going to roll guys. There’s going to be a lot of different numbers, different people out there. So, defensive tackle, there’s going to be five or six, six or seven guys that can play at once. And nickels, it’s going to be interchangeable. So, I think that’s still working itself out as we go through the week of different guys that will play in different situations.

On whether Chip Lindsey will be in the booth or on the field

He’ll be upstairs.

On having someone on the field working with Underwood

Coach Josh Sinagoga, he’s our assistant quarterback coach. He’ll be down there. And then, obviously, I’ll be down there and any support he needs. But, you know, Bryce will go straight to the phones after anything or put the headset on and talk to Chip. But, yeah, Chip likes to call from upstairs. So, he’ll be up there.

On the concern level of not having a string of home games to start the season

Kind of like away games, a little change up.

On the running back rotation

Yeah, I mean, right now it’s 1A, 1B with Justice and Jordan. So, we’ll see who practices the best this week. And that’ll be the person that’s first. But they’ll both play. They’ll both play a lot. And, you know, right now, RB3, it’s between three guys. But Jasper Parker’s really taking the turn to possibly be that guy. But you’ve still got Micah and you’ve got Bryson. So, all three of those guys will practice this week and see what we’ve got.

On whether he feels he needs to protect Underwood from the hype

I mean, I think within the game plan, you’re always going to try to make sure he doesn’t do too much and make sure whatever it is we need to do to win, that’s what we’re going to do. But as far as the media piece, he’s dealt with media his whole life. I think since he’s been like 14 years old, he’s been one of the best players around, best players in his neighborhood. So, he’s pretty humble and pretty, you know, but he’s confident. He’s like a confident guy. But when he’s around his teammates, he’s as humble, as hardworking as anybody you’ve ever been around. So, that’s all we’re going to do. Just make sure we take care of him on game days.

On the interim head coach for weeks three and four

No, I got a pretty good idea, but we’ll discuss that internally. And when that comes up, we’ll make that known.

On whether he expects to see Jadyn Davis in the game and how much leeway Underwood has to make mistakes

He’s the starting quarterback, so we’re going to be patient with him and let him play. Like I said, he might make a mistake and want to still build his confidence as well. He is a confident guy, but he’s 18 years old and he’s a true freshman. So we’re going to do everything we can to put him in a position to be successful.

On whether he expects Davis to play

Yeah, we’ll see.

On Max Bredeson choosing to live with Underwood

Yeah, I think that’s huge. You know, Breddy came up to me and told me when I was talking about roommates and everything. I was initially going to set him up, I think, with Marlin, and he’s just like, I want to be with Bryce. I was like, what? He’s like, I want to be with Bryce. I was like, why? He’s like, just, yeah, let’s get that done. I was like, okay, cool, you’re captain. We can do that. And just started thinking about it. I was like, oh, okay, got it. The messaging, the things that they talk about every night, the leadership qualities that Breddy has, he just wants to imprint to Bryce. He has it. He doesn’t say, as far as Bryce, he doesn’t say too much, but he’ll say stuff when it’s needed, especially to the older guys, because he doesn’t want to cross that boundary yet. But now, as you’re the starting quarterback, you’ve got the leeway to do that. But he does a really good job of handling all that, and he’s got a guy like Breddy. He’s got guys like Gio, guys like Marlin, guys that are leaders that have played Crippen, that have played a lot of football, that understand it, so he can lean on them as well.

On what Underwood can do to handle the moment

Be him. That’s it. Be him. Don’t do too much. Just be yourself. Yourself is really good, and that’s all we need you to do.

On how the program has acclimated to Chip Lindsey

Yeah, it’s super important, and the players love him. They absolutely love him in every way. They respect him highly as a coach and as a mentor, as a leader, but they love him as a person, and they want to run through a wall for him. They play extremely hard for him, and it’s fun to be in the meetings and hear him talk to them and hear the responses and just the back and forth of the positivity. So it’s been great. Excited to see what the offense looks like. Obviously been in it, seen it. I think it’s going to be fun. I think it’s going to be exciting, but we’re still going to have our DNA of who we are and what we do just maybe a little bit differently.

On emerging players at CB3 and WR3

Yeah, corners, there’s a bevy of guys. It’s Shamari Earls. It’s Josiah Edmonds. It’s Jayden Sanders. We also moved Elijah Dotson to corner. So those four guys that are pushing, even pushing Zeke to go be that guy. Jyaire’s really cemented himself as corner number one, and Zeke obviously with experience in what he’s done. But those young guys, they’re really good. They’re going to be really, really good. So it’s fun to have competition and guys pushing guys so nobody can get comfortable. We always talk about growth and comfort don’t coexist, and that is a position they’re getting pushed every single day. Receiver-wise, Donaven McCulley, he’s had an outstanding camp, really excited about him. He earned the number one. He will be the number one guy. You go out there in 11 personnel day one, and it’s going to be Semaj Morgan. And then the other guy that’s really stepped up is Channing Goodwin. He’s really taken the next step to be that third guy. And then the next group behind him is Kendrick Bell, and Fred Moore, and Anthony Simpson, and Andrew Marsh. Andrew Marsh is going to play. Andrew Marsh is going to be our starting kick returner. Andrew Marsh is dynamic. He’s going to touch the football. Jamar Browder, another young freshman that’s going to be really good. Peyton O’Leary’s Steady Eddie that’s been out there. So we’ve got a really great group of receivers and deep group. I want to see them on game day. I want to see them with the lights and the action out there to see how they respond. But it’s going to be fun to watch.

On how to prepare for a team with 50 new players and what he’s seen from New Mexico

I think they’re going to be very well coached. I think they’re going to play sound, physical football. Coach Eck, actually, there’s a connection. So Coach Eck and I were both GAs for Dave Borbely. Dave Borbely is one of my closest mentors. He was the O-line coach at Louisville when I was coaching there. And Coach Eck, actually, and I don’t even know Coach Eck. He probably talked to Borbs about it. But he was his GA when he was at Colorado. And so there’s a connection there. So I know he’s going to be well coached. I know he’s going to have this team prepared. They run a ridiculous amount of trick plays. It’s kind of like we do, but I think a little bit more. So we’ve got to be ready for that. They’ve got a lot of transfers, and it starts with the quarterback that came over from Idaho. And he’s been in big games. They were at Oregon last year, and it was 24-14, I think. So it’s going to be a great challenge for our players, but we really just have to worry about not just the what but the how, how we prepare, how we practice, how we get ready for this game is going to be the most important piece.

On how he expects Underwood to handle the hype

I think he’ll embrace it. I think he kind of likes it. And I think he’ll also turn it into fuel. He doesn’t really get it into the point where he makes it about himself. I asked him a question like, what’s his goal? And it was just me and him. He said, do everything I can to help my team win. That’s it. That’s all you want to hear. And all those other things, I think everybody has individual goals, and they should have them. But ultimately, you should be about the team, and he definitely is about the team and wanting to make sure the team is at their best. So there is hype, but that’s what happens when you’re the starting quarterback at Michigan. You know, that’s what you ask for. So they all deal with it, and that’s why we’re all here to help them.

On Jadyn Davis getting the QB2 spot

Yeah, I mean, just his execution throughout camp of what he did on a day-to-day basis, not only how he studied and how he prepared, but how he practiced and the things that he did, the plays that he made in practice consistently, and then his leadership capabilities when he went in the huddle when he was with the offense, like how they reacted to him. And he did all the things possible in his power to take himself to make himself that number two position.

On his reaction to the NCAA ruling

Ready for New Mexico. All that stuff is just ready to go play. They can’t harp on that now, so I’m just ready to go play the game.

On how dramatically the offense can improve from last season

I guess we’ll see. I think we’ll be excited to see what we see on Saturday.

On fall camp surprises now that it has wrapped up

Continually say Cole Sullivan. He’s a guy that just keeps standing out. I think the other guy up front is Trey Pierce. Trey Pierce has taken steps to make himself as one of the top D-tackles and possibly an All-Big Ten D tackle. I remember I was in a defensive line meeting, and they all had their goals written up, and he said that was one of his goals. He’s taken himself and put himself in that position to do that, to be in line to one of the better D tackles in the conference. I’m really excited to watch Trey. I talked about the corners, the safeties. Brandyn Hillman has taken the next step. He’s a tone setter. He’s a tone setter all over the field, him and T.J. Metcalf. But Mason Curtis is another guy. They’re all over the place. It’s hard to pin down one, like I said. But probably in my mind, the guy that jumps out the most is the guy that’s been here is Trey Pierce. Trey Pierce has really taken those leaps that we needed him to be a guy.

On the vibe of the team heading into the season

They’re just ready, excited, and ready to play. There’s a chip on their shoulder for sure. For sure they’ve continually said, like, that is not the standard. That’s not how we play. And like Ernest Haldeman said to the team, we are starving. We are not hungry. We are starving. And we mentioned a reference that we talked about going back to his homeland and seeing people eat and how fast they eat because they’re starving. They’re not hungry. And I think our kids are starving. They’re starving to be successful, starving to be great. And I just can’t wait.