Before Sherrone Moore got into coaching...
Tackling the playing career of Michigan's new football coach
Many fans can conjure images of Jim Harbaugh in a Michigan or Colts or Bears uniform scrambling out of the pocket and throwing downfield. His playing career was well known, especially to Michigan fans.
Harbaugh’s replacement at Michigan played too, but what do we really know about Sherrone Moore’s time in a helmet and pads?
That was the question that got me started working on a story that published today on MLive.com:
Tackling the unheralded (but impressive) playing career of Michigan coach Sherrone Moore
Next week, Moore will begin his first season as Michigan’s head coach when the defending national champions welcome Fresno State to Michigan Stadium.
For my story, I interviewed a whole bunch of Moore’s former teammates and coaches. I started where Moore started: at Derby High School in Kansas. I then talked to folks from Butler Community College -- Buco juco, as it’s so wonderfully known. And finally, I talked to people from the Oklahoma Sooners, where Moore transferred for his final two seasons.
It wasn’t easy tracking all these people down. Some are still coaching, so I could go through those teams’ media relations department (some were more helpful than others). I kept using free or $1 trials of whitepages.com to get potential phone numbers for some of these guys. Or I’d reach out via social media. Sometimes one former teammate would share contact info for another. I called the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority police phone number to get in touch with a former Butler teammate who was working in the K-9 explosive detection unit there. I got former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops for 5 minutes before he boarded a plane. And eventually, after gathering enough to write the story, I got Sherrone for 10 minutes to confirm some stuff and provide a few details only he would know.
What struck me is how nearly everyone I spoke with mentioned Moore’s positive attitude. He had an infectious smile, multiple people told me, and he was a great teammate. He arrived at Oklahoma as a junior college transfer with just two years of eligibility left. From what I’ve been told, Moore was unique among those players in that he didn’t get to start -- the offensive line at OU his years was LOADED -- but he still stayed positive and was willing to help the team in any way possible. He never missed a practice, and he’d gladly enter the game late in the fourth quarter of a blowout. Apparently not all transfers had that same approach.
Now, were there some former teammates he rubbed the wrong way? Maybe. Several didn’t return my calls or texts; one specifically said he was declining to speak for “personal reasons.” Obviously that could mean anything; he could have had stuff going on in his own life. But maybe he had nothing nice to say about Sherrone and therefore didn’t want to be interviewed.
It’s impossible for me to know. I set out to write a story about Moore’s playing career and I think I captured it pretty well. What I found most interesting is that despite, while playing, Moore displayed traits that would make a good coach, he never actually considered being a coach until his playing career was over.
Anyway, the story is up on mlive.com now and I hope you’ll read it. Thanks.
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What I’m listening to
How did I not have this section on here from the start? This week it is replacing “What I’m reading” since I’m about one-third of the way through a book and will wait until I finish to share more. Anyway, here are a couple of songs I’m enjoying at the moment:
“Lucky” by Halsey, mostly because it samples two great songs: Britney Spears’ “Lucky” (with the chorus lyrics) and Monica’s “Angel of Mine” (in the production)
“Close to You” by Gracie Abrams, which I may or may not have discovered because Abrams may or may not be opening for the biggest artist in the world on a tour I may or may not be attending this fall. The hook really builds and I love the line, “Now your mouth is moving, cinematic timing.”
That’s all I’ve got. Have a great rest of your week.