Michigan injury update: Availability report released for Central Michigan

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines have released their Big Ten-mandated availability report for the Week 3 game against Central Michigan (noon, Big Ten Network) on Saturday. Key among the designations are updates on senior tight end Marlin Klein and graduate safety Rod Moore, both captains on the team. They have been listed as questionable.

Additionally, 12 players are out, headlined by starting guards Giovanni El-Hadi and Brady Norton. Nathan Efobi and Jake Guarnera are expected to play in their place. Starting safety Mason Curtis will also miss Saturday’s game.

Here’s the full report for this week:

OUT

QB Davis Warren
RB Donavan Johnson
RB John Volker
RB Micah Ka’apana
OL Giovanni El-Hadi*
WR I’Marion Stewart
DB Tevis Metcalf
LB Jaydon Hood
OL Andrew Babalola
OG Brady Norton*
EDGE Devon Baxter
WR CJ Charleston
CB Caleb Anderson
S Mason Curtis*

QUESTIONABLE

QB Mikey Keene
TE Marlin Klein*
DB Rod Moore*
DB Zeke Berry*
DB Shamari Earls
LB Ernest Hausmann*
DT Ike Iwunnah

*Denotes two-deep player

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore weighs in on suspension, operation

Saturday’s game will be notable in that it is the first of a two-game self-imposed suspension for Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore in response to the NCAAs investigation into an advanced scouting scheme from 2021-23. Stepping in for Moore will be associate head coach Biff Poggi, who will wear the main headset while the coordinators and position coaches handle their duties as normal.

“Yeah, we’ll operate as a collective unit,” Moore said during his Monday press conference. “Chip [Lindsey] will handle the offense, Wink [Martindale] will handle the defense, JB [Brown] will handle the special teams. But the overall operation coach, Biff Poggi, will stand in as interim. And it’ll flow like normal. Obviously, I won’t be on the sideline but how we handle game days with Chip handling the offense, and Wink handling the defense, and JB handling the special teams. We’ll pull the same, and our players, they’ll be ready to go.

Moore was able to coach and be with the team this week until midnight Saturday, where he will now be sidelined and away from the building through the Nebraska game week, which ends at midnight on Sept. 21.

Poggi is the former head coach at Charlotte from 2023-24 and has experience managing the game. This is his third stint in Ann Arbor with the Wolverines, first joining in 2015 and again in 2021-22 with former head coach Jim Harbaugh.

“Obviously, he’s been in the program before,” Moore said. “He was a huge help for me when I was an o-line coach at first, and just a general feeling of how the program goes. The knowledge of the players specifically, was huge. And then, obviously, his experience as a high school head coach, as a head coach. But just in general, his love for the players, importantly, his knowledge of everybody in our building, and keeping the cohesion in the building was huge. And I also wanted our coordinators to be able to do what they do, and continue their jobs as they go through the season. Let me come back and let there be no hiccups, and not have to do anything extra. And I think that’s gonna be important, so that they can do that at a high level.”