Everything Sherrone Moore said on Inside Michigan Football pre-Michigan State

On what the last week was like with ‘tough conversations’

Oh, it was challenging. But it’s part of the job. Part of the role that you have to have as the head coach and all the coaches and players. But you’ve got to take those challenges head-on. You can’t beat around the bush. You can’t wait.

When you see something, you’ve got to say something. So I thought the response from our team, our coaches, our players was immediate. Started on Sunday with the coaches when the players got here. On Monday, with the players and the coaches. And they responded as soon as we hit the practice field. Tuesday was one of our better Tuesdays.

And same thing with Wednesday. Wasn’t always perfectly clean. But the intent, the physicality was there. So you thought that we had a good chance to win based on those two days.

On determining when the time is right to have conversations

I think you just have a feeling. You have a feeling within the building, within the players, within the coaches, that you just have to have those conversations. But it wasn’t something… I always say great families, all great families have conflict. I have a conflict with my family. I’ve always had conflict with… Even in 23, there was conflict. There was things you had to get sorted out and made sure you attacked.

But at the end of the day, when you leave those rooms, you’re all together. And I felt like when we went on the field on Saturday, we were as connected as any time we’ve ever… As we played here this past year. So it was good to have those conversations and get after it. But it made us better. It really did.

On how to sustain the performance against Washington

Urgency. Urgency is the word. Complacency is a plague that’ll eat you alive. And it’ll take away your edge. And I’m just going to stay on the same path as I was last week. Kind of on a little bit of a war path. And make sure that we continue to do all the things we need to do and all the little things. But you can’t be satisfied with the way — you could be happy about it, but you can’t be satisfied.

On the difference with the defensive front this week

Those guys did an unbelievable job of just playing the technique, doing their job. We built run walls. When you hold a team like that to 40 yards, 40-something yards rushing, that’s pretty incredible, especially when the quarterback accounted for 400-something yards the week before.

And we did an unbelievable job of keeping that back, who I think is one of the top 10 backs in the country. We honed him in and didn’t have any explosive runs at all. So I think it all starts with that, stopping the run. Because if you can stop the run and keep a team one-dimensional, it’ll help you a lot on defense.

On whether avoiding slow starts on defense was a point of emphasis or was it better play all around

Yeah, I think better all around. But it was definitely an emphasis. We talked about that on the Friday night meeting about starting fast. But you do that, and sometimes it doesn’t happen. So I think it was more of the emphasis that we had in the week of the fundamentals, the technique, and doing it from the start, the start of practice on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And that carried over into the game.

On how Jaishawn Barham’s comfort has grown

I think this game, he played his best game. He played his most complete game as a run defender and a pass rusher. And that was really his biggest piece because in the USC game, I don’t think everybody, nobody played their best game, obviously.

So he definitely stepped up. And I think to the credit of him and all the leaders in that room, the defensive room, they just did a really good job of honing in on little things and taking care of each other. And the communication was outstanding throughout the game of the changes or things they saw. And that’s what you need to have. You know, it’s got to be like that all the time. I felt like the team, just in general, was so connected throughout the game.

On how Barham leads

Not a lot of talking. Not a lot of words, yeah. No, by his actions a lot. And then if he says something, it’s a sentence. But that sentence means a lot. You know, whether it was you get off on the sideline, he just tells the whole team, hey, keep that energy up.

You know, keep that, you know, we need that energy to stay up right where it is. So he didn’t need to say much. He just looks at you, and you kind of get the message.

On the production from the linebacker group

Just unbelievable job. First starts with Coach BJ and what he’s done, great job coaching them, and Coach Wink putting them in position. But those guys are always up here. They’re always studying. And they’ve all just gotten better and better. You can see the growth from Ernie, shoot, from whenever he got here in 22 or 23 until now.

And then he’s just climbed the ladder and gotten better and better. And then, you know, sometimes I forget Cole Sullivan is a second-year player. He’s a redshirt freshman, and he’s out there making these plays over and over and over again. He’s just a guy that’s going to continue to get better.

And then Jimmy Rolder, I mean, he’s always had this ability. But now he’s been healthy and he stayed healthy. And he just continued to do what we saw in the early times. But he plays so hard. I mean, he plays so hard. He’s so physical. So the impact that those guys are making is enormous.

On how he’s seen the defense evolve

I think the biggest pieces that you see is that each guy, even when a guy can’t play, they see they got to get back fast. Because those guys that are playing, they’re all making plays. And they’re all playing at a high level.

So, you know, like, man, I can’t be out long, you know, because I might not get my spot back or I might get a chance. I might play less reps. So I think those guys are, you know, they’re all feeding off of each other, which is good, but it’s going to help us in the long run.

On Troy Bowles and Chase Taylor’s progression

They just get better and better. Troy Bowles and Chase, both high impact on special teams. And I think it gets lost in the sauce sometimes, how important special teams is. We put a high emphasis on it, not only for our team and the success of our team, but for our players, for them to see what it looks like for the next level. Because a lot of those guys, unless you’re a first-round pick or O-lineman or D-lineman, you’re going to play special teams. So those guys have to understand the importance of it.

Those guys, two specifically, have done an unbelievable job in special teams and playing football on the field and game-type scenarios. So that has now allowed them to get more comfortable in the game-type scenarios on defense.

On whether he is looking for more production on special teams

You always want that. The kick return game is a little harder because most kickers nowadays just kick it out. And it’s hard to get the kick returns that you always get, you used to get. I know that’s just part of the game now.

The punt return game, you’d like to, but just punters can be inconsistent. And sometimes you get high hang time. Sometimes you don’t. So you’ve got to scheme it up a little bit to get those returns. And I think probably, I don’t know, I’d have to do the research on how many punt returns for touchdowns are in college football this year versus years past. There’s probably less. But the biggest thing you want is just to keep, continue the field position battle, and win that.

On how the secondary fared going up against Washington

I mean, ultimately, besides the one long pass to Boston, really well. I thought Zeke Berry, playing really well. Jyaire Hill’s playing outstanding.

And all those guys are really responding, and thought we’re going to have Rod and B Hill, and then those guys don’t play. Mason Curtis, T.J. Metcalf, Jordan Young, all those guys, Elijah Dotson, Shamari Earls, all those guys step up and play along with the guys that are already playing. It’s huge for us.

On Evan Link’s knee injury

Yeah, learned that, you know, he had a knee injury. Learned that it’s not as serious as we thought. That there’s a chance for him to come back this season. Later in the season, I think he will. So we’ll take that week by week and see how it may. But we definitely dodged a bullet.

On what he saw from Blake Frazier’s play

Yeah, overall, the first thing I saw was that he wasn’t ever scared of the moment. And I think that’s huge, especially for a young guy to go in a Big Ten game against a really good football team. He was ready for the moment. He embraced it. And I think having those reps as an extra offensive lineman really helps. And it gives you that confidence that you can do it.

I think he needed to take some of those hits and win some and lose some, which you don’t want to lose, especially on those third and fourth downs. But I think overall, he just got better and better as the game went and got more comfortable.

On whether Frazier is the expected starter moving forward

Yep, for sure.

On who the extra OL will be with Frazier in the starting lineup

Yeah, Brady Norton is probably a guy that will move in to be the extra lineman as we go through, because we’ll still do some of that stuff as we go. We’ll look to see if we’ll move some other guys. Nate Efobi obviously has played and started.

So we’ve got some other guys that will definitely use in those positions.

On the OL play against Washington

Yeah, overall, pretty pleased with it. The biggest things that stand out to me are those short-yardage plays that we got to fix. But I think there’s growth. There’s definite growth. And when you pause the film in the second half, and you see a redshirt freshman left tackle, redshirt freshman right guard, a redshirt freshman right tackle, a true freshman quarterback, a true freshman receiver, and a redshirt freshman running back, it gives you a lot of hope for the future and what it can be and what it will be. But I look at that from an overall standpoint, but we’re looking at the now to make sure we get the best players. And those guys played pretty well.

On adding to a young player’s plate each week without overloading them

I think it’s helping them with things that we’ve repped throughout training camp, throughout the fall, because there’s definitely plays that we’ve repped that we haven’t used, or have used, and different ways to do it. So it’s doing that. And then just the packages are smaller.

There’s not as much as you would do if you had an older group. But then we got to help them with those things. The game plans will reflect that.

On what goes into his decisions to punt it vs. going for it on fourth down

First thing’s field position. You always think about where are you on the field, and then how is your defense playing in relation to where you are on the field. So at that point, I think we were on our own 27.

You know, you get it, you’re great. You don’t get it, you got an offense that’s really potent that now is on the 27-yard line or the 26-yard line, and you just gave them a great opportunity. So it’s not, you know, you’re danged if you do, and then if you don’t get it, then you got a problem, you know, and you put the defense in a bad position.

So you got to play complementary football, and I know that’s a risk that I’m willing to take when we cross the 50. And sometimes on the minus side, depending on where it is, depending on the score and how we’re playing and how the defense is playing, you’ll take those risks, but obviously it panned out well for us after that.

On keeping emotions out of a tough decision

Yeah, I mean, I think it can be hard, but you think about the overall thing, what’s best for the team, what’s best for the program, and you can’t worry about the outside noise. I think, remember, we were saying, they’re going to be mad at me, but we got to punt this. Guys, I’m not doing that.

Everybody in the staff, like, yes, absolutely. And the percentages say you can, but yeah, it’s just, you don’t get it, then there’s a problem, especially when you didn’t get it earlier in the game, you know, the confidence that you’re doing it. So you got to refigure after the game of what you want to do, and we’ll be better after that.

On what more he expects from Andrew Marsh

A lot. Just, he’s going to continue to do the things he’s been doing. I mean, the catches and the plays he’s made are the stuff we’ve seen in practice.

The one-handed catch, it’s kind of routine. He just reached out and grabbed it. The big play he made against USC, it’s just kind of what he does. He keeps making plays, keeps showing up. Got to be better with ball security. Sometimes that ball gets a little loose, even though he made somebody miss, and then the ball went over the top.

I was like, bro, uh-uh. I told Bell, like, we got to, he’s like, I already know. So there are so many things he’s good at, but there’s always room for improvement. But the kid is dynamic, and we’ll keep getting him the football.

On whether Marsh is self-aware about his mistakes

Oh, yeah. Especially when it’s me, because it’s usually the same thing. So, but, you know, you don’t just harp on it about it. You just let him know. You coach him, because he’s in the game. He’s in the zone, and he’s playing, making plays. So you don’t want to overcoach it.

On having another playmaker helping Bryce Underwood

Yeah, I mean, I think it helps a lot when you got a guy you know that’s just going to make the plays. And that throw probably wasn’t the best throw. He kept it away from the defender. When you watch the throw again, you see it live, you’re like, oh, okay. And then you watch it again, he’s rolling to his left. There’s a defender to the right of Andrew, and he throws the ball away from him so Andrew can catch it.

Andrew catches it with one hand. So you talk about two great plays by two great young players. So it helps, it helps tremendously.

On where he’s seeing Underwood grow mentally

Yeah, he just has a really good job of feel and of awareness of where people are, especially in coverages and space, and trying to throw guys open and put it in different spots. He’s got a good feel, he’s got great feet. We got to keep working on his footwork and his drops and all those things to make it perfect to where he wants to be, where we want it to be.

But you just see glimpses, and you keep seeing him put it together. And that was his most complete game.

On Jordan Marshall’s performance

Yeah, I mean, Jordan, there’s no blinking of an eye when Jordan’s in the game. We felt like we got, like we said before, 1A, 1B. And obviously, Justice has a different ability because of the breakaway speed and what he’s shown.

But when Jordan’s in there, man, it’s hard to tackle him. You’ve got to really wrap up, and you’ve got to continue to bring your feet because if you don’t, he’s not going down with an arm tackle.

On how close Justice Haynes was to playing against Washington

He was close. We got to the game, practiced on Thursday a little bit, did more on Friday, and wanted to give it a shot, warmed up a little bit, and it just didn’t feel right. It felt like he could go, but when it doesn’t feel exactly what it needs to be, we don’t err on the side of letting those kids play.

On what the MSU games means to the program and whether it still matters in recruiting battles

Yeah, huge part. Respect for Coach Smith, him as a coach, what he’s done with the program, what he’s done in the past with his programs. But this game, records don’t matter. Nothing matters. They don’t like us. We don’t like them.

But I got so much respect for them and their program and what they are and who they are. So it’s going to be a big challenge. We’re going to their place. It’ll be rowdy. It’ll be at night. So it means everything. We’re going to put everything we have into this game, and there’s no looking at a record or a score or what last year was or the year before. We got to focus on beating this team.

On the conversations he’s having with his players about activity between the whistles

Yeah, we’re definitely going to have a nice, long conversation about the extracurricular activity, the talking before the game, the talking after the game, the talking during the game, and just playing football. Don’t worry about all the other stuff. If that happens on their part, then they do it.

But we’re not going to engage in anything extra because that’s not going to help us win the game. It’s just going to distract us from doing it. So worry about what we can do between the whistle to execute our job.

And that’s it.

On instilling a playoff mindset in his players

Yeah, we talked about last week was a playoff game. And this week’s no different. Every game really is. So for us, we just have to, the same edge we had, there can’t be any complacency in the program, and anybody from Gary to the strength staff, to the training room, to us, everything has to be urgent. Not panic, but urgency is the key.