Sherrone Moore, Matt Weiss dish on early enrollees' progress
Michigan football is deep into its spring practice sessions now, which not only serves as a continuation for the guys on the roster. It also gives the mid-year freshmen that enrolled in the winter to get a head start on the rest of the class.
Seven of Michigan’s 13 early enrollees came in on the offensive side of the ball. Offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore likes what he has seen from all of them. Though, one named stood out in a crowded position group room.
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“Probably just the speed [is what I’m most impressed with], Moore said. “Especially those receivers — they’re fast, they can move, they can run, they’re strong. They’ve got great athletic ability. Excited to see them progress. Another early enrollee, Colston Loveland, he’s done an outstanding job. He’s playing on of the hardest positions to play, especially in this offense with all the stuff we do. So he’s done a really good job. He’s got all the physical tools — he’s big, he’s tall, he’s strong, he’s long, he can run. So watching him progress has been great.
“They’ve done a great job fitting into the offense and they just go about their business — they don’t get into trouble, they take care of things off the field, which helps them on the field to be focused and ready to go.”
Michigan’s freshmen getting used to jump
Michigan quarterbacks coach/co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss was a little more guarded in naming a player that has stood out. However, he did praise the group for how it has adjusted to the jump in speed and physicality.
“I think it’s a really hard thing to do to come into college and compete with in some cases 22-year old players when you’re 17 and should really still be in high school,” Weiss said. “So, I think anything they do is impressive. You’re thrown into a new system, you’re learning a whole new offense. Obviously, the physical jump and the jump in speed they’re getting used to.
“I’ve just been really impressed with their mindset, the way they’ve attacked it, that they’re not discouraged, I think we did pretty well when you look at the talent. I think there’s going to be some guys that are going to do some big things in a winged helmet in the years to come.”
Attacking a new year
It would be easy for Michigan to rest on its laurels coming off a Big Ten Championship. However, the staff knows the reset button was hit. A strong message was sent at the outset of spring camp.
“You can’t live on last year, because if you do, you’re gonna get beat,” Moore said. “So really, I told them the other day and I told the whole offense the other day, don’t be upset with the success you don’t get with the work you don’t do. So if you want to look back at what we did last year and think it’s automatically gonna happen, it’s not. I told them, I told the whole offense, this is how it’s going to roll. We just take it day-by-day and try to get better that day — just keep stacking them. It’s very cliche, but it is how we’re going to operate, because we can’t look at anything we’ve done in the past.
Moore does not see it being too difficult to replicate the chip on Michigan’s shoulder.
“You do it because you’ve got a target on your back,” he said. “You do when you’re at Michigan period, but especially with the year we had. All we can control is us and us getting better. I think that’s really how we have to do it. If we get better and better and better we’ll be where we want to be.”
