Michigan star safety Rod Moore is out with injury, will need surgery
A long-rumored blow to the Michigan football defense was confirmed on Wednesday.
Rod Moore, a senior safety who has started since the second half of his freshman year, suffered a serious injury earlier this spring. Though new defensive backs coach Lamar Morgan declined to get into specifics on his injury, he did tell reporters Wednesday afternoon in Ann Arbor that Moore is out and will need surgery.
“Let me talk about Rod right quick,” Morgan began. “The guy gets injured, then the next day he’s the first guy in the front seat in every meeting. He hasn’t missed anything. He’s asking questions. He’s just unbelievable, but that’s the culture that we have here.
“He’s gonna be here every day at practice, coaching and stuff like that with us. … I hate that he got hurt, but I’m really excited about his future. … I’m not going to get into the exact on the long-term (prognosis) with Rod, but I know one thing, whatever’s in front of that kid, he’ll be better. Whenever he gets back on the field, he’ll be better than the last time he was on it.”
Moore, a 6-foot, 198-pound safety, was a staple on the backline of U-M’s defense last season. And though the entire coaching staff on that side of the ball was turned over this past offseason, Moore was already earning high praise in the early days from some key figures.
Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who had been coaching in the NFL for the past two decades before joining U-M this past winter, compared Moore to one of the best to do it this century at the next level.
“He reminds me of Eric Weddle,” Martindale said when he met with media prior to the start of spring practice. “And he was one of the smartest safeties I’ve ever coached. And so I called Weddle and told him about it.
“Smart-wise, football knowledge-wise, all that . ... That’s exciting to me because there’s a lot of checks that have to be made on the field, and it’s like, well, the head pieces, the ear pieces coming in now, which is great because that’s what I’m used to. There’s still signals going to be going on. Rod is like, ‘If they go hurry up, what should we do?’ Call the defense. You can’t be wrong. He’s that smart.”
A two-time All-Big Ten selection, Moore has played in 37 games with 27 starts, which includes last season when he finished with 38 tackles with one for loss and a pair of interceptions.
Many thought he was a candidate to join his 18 teammates who were at the NFL combine, but like fellow safety Makari Paige, he opted to come back to U-M for a final year. The depth will now be tested after Keon Sabb, the third safety in the rotation, transferred to Alabama a few months back.
The most likely replacement is Quinten Johnson, a sixth-year defensive back, another player with a ton of experience. Though they didn’t say he was out for the year explicitly, nobody in the program is sugar-coating what the loss of Moore means for the team.
“Rod is a very unique player,” Morgan said. “He’s a leader, he’s at every practice, he’s coaching. You know, we’re gonna miss him, it’s one be hard for everybody here. … but once he gets back and does all the things he needs to do to get back, he’ll be here coaching and doing stuff like that.
“Whenever he has to get the surgery and all that stuff, we’ll be behind him, the whole program and everybody is excited about that.”