Sherrone Moore Reveals What He’s Learned About Himself This Season On WCSX

What has Sherrone Moore learned about himself as a head coach this season? That he's thinking naturally like a head coach these days.

Moore has done a lot of learning on the job in his early years as Michigan Wolverines head football coach, and before that as the interim coach. Part of being a young, inexperienced leader is to learn how to coach players the best way yourself, and to evaluate your team as seasons go on, and as you transition from year to year.

Moore revealed to Jim O'Brien on 94.7 WCSX Thursday morning that he took time to reflect on the past few years during Michigan's bye week. He came to the realization of how far he himself has come along in terms of knowing what he wants out of the team, and whether he's getting it.

"There was a moment on Saturday, I was in the building by myself, and coaches were on the road, coming back from recruiting, players were out, and I got a chance to just kind of reflect on the year and where we're at, what we need to do, how we need to get better," Moore said. "And really, what I learned about myself is just how much more I understand the quote-unquote 'process,' and what it actually is and what it actually feels like, and what you think practice is supposed to feel like, when it's good versus not, and the difference between a younger team and an older team.

"There's so many different things that you learn as you're a head coach, and you learn it in adverse situations. You learn how your team reacts. I feel like we've done a really good job of knowing adversity has struck, or we've had a down game, bouncing back, I feel like we've done a really good job there as a staff. I feel in the past two years, you know, going through last year, at one point, we're 5-5, and it's like, 'Man, the sky is falling down,' from the outside. But within the walls of Schembechler Hall, the guys stayed together and finished out the season well. It just feels like there's a great feeling right now with the staff, the players, the camaraderie."

Moore acknowledged that this version of the Wolverines is far different from the deeply experienced, championship-ready team he coached under Jim Harbaugh during their 2023 triumph. And that's part of coaching in college football, too: every year truly is a new experience, and sometimes you have to change the way you observe the players on the field, despite wearing the same uniforms.

"Practice in '23, when those practices were good, it was almost like perfection," Moore said. "They were good practices because the guys were older and there's no mistakes. It's almost like you want more mistakes now, with this younger team, and not the false hope of, 'Oh, this practice was so good because there was no mistakes, because they knew exactly what to do. That generally just doesn't bode well for us. We need to have those mistakes and growing pains within practice, because that means we're going as hard as we possibly can, and then by the end of the week, you fix them, and you're in a much better place.

"It's felt like that's kind of how it's progressed this year, and it feels really good. Our guys come back from the bye week, they've been outstanding, and they're in a really good place."

Michigan gets back to game action on Saturday against Northwestern, in the third-ever battle for the newly established George Jewett Trophy. Kickoff is set for noon EST at Ryan Field.