Sherrone Moore details his approach to holding players accountable in WCSX interview

As a head coach, Sherrone Moore carries himself almost like a loving parent. He prefers a more humanistic type of approach to coaching over the militaristic "tough love" that has often populated coaching staffs throughout history.

When that method can get challenging is when players make mistakes, or worse, when those errors cost the team a game. The Wolverines came dangerously close to that last Saturday in a narrow, last-second 24-22 win over Northwestern. Had Dominic Zvada's final field goal attempt not sailed between the uprights, the Wolverines' five turnovers would've hung over them more than they did in the aftermath of victory. Moore understands, as he explained in a new interview with Jim O'Brien on 94.7 WCSX, that he needs to balance doing what it takes to win the game -- in this case, taking a struggling player off the field -- with maintaining the kind of confidence they need to not only correct their mistakes but deliver in critical situations.

"As the coach, the No. 1 thing you want to do is see them be successful, right?" Moore said. "So you want to see the outcome of the game be what it was and win the game. But the process to get there, it takes time, it takes work, and in that process is a game. And there's plays in there, there's decisions, there's plays, there's fundamental things that you see them do in practice. But then you get to a game, it's completely different, especially when you're dealing with 18-year-old -- we've got a lot of 18-year-old kids playing right now. But it's also the job of me to hold them accountable.

"It's not the tough part, because that's the job that I've signed up for and what I like to do, the accountability part. But the hardest part is seeing the disappointment on their face when something happens, when a mistake happens, because no kid wants to have a mistake, no kid wants to throw an interception or fumble the ball or have a turnover. No kid wants that. No kid wants to miss a block or tackle. That happens. So as a coach, you have to internalize and figure out the best ways to get them to do the positive piece, or not turn the ball or not miss the block or tackle. That's our jobs as coaches, to do that as a collective effort, and then ultimately to help us win games and win the game."

It appears that Moore instilled winning confidence in his players over the course of the season, based on how Michigan finished the game. Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood recovered from a two-interception game with an 11-play, 50-yard drive to set up the game-winning field goal over the final two-plus minutes of regulation. He most notably picked up two third downs, one with a 21-yard pass and another with a 9-yard run on third-and-5. It goes to show that the first 58 minutes, however sloppy, can be canceled out if you come through when it really matters. Not every team is capable of such mental toughness, but Moore's Wolverines seem to be.

"What I do think, the resolve, what it taught us about our players, especially our quarterback, that they have immense resolve," Moore continued. "That last drive to go win the game, you've got to have some ice in your veins, to step up in the pocket, third-and-10 and deliver a corner [pass] to another true freshman to get us and keep us going, and to tuck the ball on third-and-5 and slide down to get us in position to get a field goal, that takes some guts. I tip my hat to all our players and coaches for how they handled that game, because it was a special moment."

Michigan has one more game on its slate before a highly anticipated Thanksgiving weekend showdown with Ohio State, as they'll head to Maryland to take on the Terrapins Saturday at 4 p.m. EST, with pregame coverage starting at 1. You can hear the full "Coffee With The Coach" interview on "Big Jim's House" every Thursday morning at 8:05.