Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore is set to return to his alma mater this weekend, as the Wolverines will face the Oklahoma Sooners in a marquee matchup Saturday night.
Moore was an offensive lineman at Oklahoma in the mid 2000s and still has ties to several coaches in Norman, including head coach Brent Venables, who was the defensive coordinator for the Sooners during Moore’s time there. However, during his weekly meeting with the local media on Monday morning, Moore downplayed his return to Oklahoma and remained
focused on leading Michigan to a win.
“(Oklahoma is) a great place, but this is all about our kids. It’s not about me or a return to home for me,” Moore said. “It’s about the players and trying to win the game. There’s no emotional attachment to it because I’m emotionally attached to the players at Michigan. These guys are who I’m emotionally attached to more than anything so that’s all I’m worried about.”
Moore was a guard at Oklahoma from 2006-07 and won back-to-back Big 12 championships, so he’s familiar with the environment Michigan will endure. Now in his second season as the Wolverines’ head coach, Moore is preparing to lead Michigan into hostile territory against a program that helped shape his coaching foundation.
“It’s a night game and an SEC environment so it’s going to be loud, but we have played in loud environments before,” Moore said. “Matchups like this with blue blood programs going at it on a national stage is why you want to come to Michigan. Playing against Oklahoma, one of the winningest programs in college football, is huge for us. It’s cool to be a part of it.”
Cornerback Zeke Berry also spoke of having to deal with the difficult atmosphere at Oklahoma.
“We just have to stay level-headed — no matter how crazy that environment is, we have played in similar environments,” Berry said. “You just go out there and play Michigan football, stay confident and trust each other. We come here to play in games like this. We have the mentality to go in there, play physical and fast defense from the first snap to the last.”
During his time at Oklahoma, Moore learned a lot from legendary head coach Bob Stoops, who had a lasting influence on his coaching approach. Moore was also there with Venables and current offensive analyst Kevin Wilson, among other current coaches on staff.
“Bob is one of my biggest mentors. There’s a lot of respect and love I have for coach Stoops,” Moore said. “Bob coaching players hard and loving them is one of the things I remember. When you stop loving and learning is when you should probably stop coaching. He was always very humble and wanted to learn, so that’s something that I take from him.”
While the return to Norman will surely bring back fond memories for him, Moore’s sole focus is on his current team and doing whatever it takes to help Michigan win. Moore knows what it will take for the Wolverines to go into Norman and earn a hard-fought win, and his familiarity with Venables should help prepare the offense for Oklahoma’s defense.
“I’ve known Brent for a long time and I have a lot of respect for the people on their staff. I know they’re going to be fast and fundamentally-sound,” Moore said. “They’re going to tackle as well as they can, so it’s our job to make them miss and be explosive on offense. We just have to do things to counteract his thought process so that’s what we intend to do.”
