Sherrone Moore reveals how team culture will drive Michigan's 2025 success over adversity

USA Today

5 days ago

The Michigan football team in 2024 could have folded when the going got tough. And it got really tough.
The Wolverines lost in Week 2 to Texas but entered Week 6 with a 4-1 record, after two tough games against USC and Minnesota. But then, the maize and blue lost two straight to Washington and Illinois. A few weeks later, they lost two more in two weeks, this time to Oregon and Indiana.
5-5 going into the penultimate regular season game against Northwestern, Michigan got the first blowout win of the Sherrone Moore era, before shocking the college football world with wins over Ohio State and Alabama.
Speaking at Big Ten media days in Las Vegas, Moore says that it was about the mindset and culture of Team 145. And while that showed that they were able to stick together when the going got tough, that doesn't mean that will apply to this team. Even so, he's more confident in the makeup of his program.
"We go by this theory: don't let a speed bump become a roadblock," Moore said. "Last year, we hit a couple speed bumps, but we didn't allow those to become roadblocks. We overcame a lot of adversity and had a successful end to the year, but really we're not living on that. We know that's done, we know that's passed us, and our jobs now are to write a new story for what the University of Michigan and Team 146 is all about."
The offseason has been spent building out this group of Wolverines, and the motto has been "team over me." You can see the players wearing shirts emblazoned with that saying on social media during winter and summer conditioning. There are stars, yes, but their personal accolades have taken a back seat to group ones.
One positive from going 8-5 in 2024 is that those who return this year know what it's like to lock arms and stick together, even when the season feels like it's going off the rails. Moore says that mentality of being in brotherhood has permeated the locker room and that should pay dividends for the Wolverines this fall.
"I think lessons is the right word," Moore said. "We talked about that as a team continually that not losses but lessons. Take everything with a grain of salt, make sure you attack every moment, but really just stay in the moment. You can't worry about what happened yesterday; tomorrow's not owed to you, so everything we do is what we can do to get better now. It's not just the quarterback room, it's every room. We're a team; it's not one person that wins or loses a game, it's a team.
"So for us, we've done a really good job of being a cohesive unit, and like I said, team over me and gaining trust with each other and being arm in arm in this battle. So I think as a team we're just going to be a better team this year."
The season won't begin in earnest until August 30, when Michigan hosts New Mexico for the 2025 season opener. But the Wolverines will open up fall camp one month before that day with July 30 being the start date for official training.