Michigan DB Rod Moore discusses out-of-the-blue phone call from Jay Hill, health status, plans for season

Michigan Wolverines football graduate safety Rod Moore is set to play for his third head coach and fourth defensive coordinator in his sixth season of college football. It’s been a long journey, but the Dayton, Ohio, native is nearing 100-percent health coming off a torn ACL two years ago.

“I’m feeling the best I’ve felt since March 27, 2024 — that’s the exact day I tore my ACL,” Moore said in a recent interview with Jon Jansen on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast episode released Wednesday. “I’m feeling great. It took three surgeries, but now I’m feeling like I haven’t felt since the past two years.

“I’m out moving around, running straight line, back feeling fast again. And it’s just a matter of getting the coordination back under my feet. I didn’t really understand this, but when you come back off of an injury like that and go through three surgeries, your body forgets how to do certain things. There have been times where I was frustrated because I was like, ‘Dang, I used to be able to do this.’ But now it just takes time to get it back.”

The 6-foot-0, 198-pounder has to go through a 30-minute “prehab” routine to get himself ready to hit the field, but he fully intends on being a star for Michigan this fall. He also has the chance to become the first-ever three-time captain in program history.

“It would mean everything to me. It meant everything to me when I was a one-time, first-time captain, and then repeated it for a second year,” Moore remarked. “But it’d be crazy. There are only five or six people that have been two-time captains.”

Moore, who appeared in three games last season, highlighted by an interception against Wisconsin, before shutting it down due to more knee pain, was planning on being a full participant with his Michigan teammates beginning June 1.

“June 1st, we come back off of May, a discretionary period in May,” he noted. “But I’ve got to hit it running in June. I have to be full-go, being able to participate in all the workouts, which I fully anticipate doing. It’s just getting healthy, staying healthy and just dominating the entire summer and coming into fall camp day one just going.”

Jay Hill: ‘I like the way you move’

He’s bonded well with his new defensive coordinator, Jay Hill, who spent the last three seasons in charge of the BYU defense.

“Honestly, I can say I got lucky, because a lot of coaches don’t really go back and look at players that used to be here, older players that are coming off injuries,” Moore said. “I can say that this coaching staff, they took the time to really learn who I was, especially Coach Hill.

“He called me one day out of nowhere — I think it was probably a week after he got here — and he was like, ‘I like the way you move.’ I’m like, ‘Dang, you back there watching the ‘23 film?’ And he told me how he can’t wait to get me back, and to be honest, it’s probably been the first time in my college career that I’ve felt I had the support and the needs for a coach to want me healthy.

“He’s exhausting every option to get me healthy and pushing and helping the trainers and being involved in my rehab, rather than in this world if you’re not available it’s like, OK, next guy up. It’s been very special.”

Playing football makes Rod Moore feel ‘alive’ again

Making an impact in a winged helmet for even only three games last season was meaningful, and Moore is looking forward to a full campaign this fall.

“It was super special,” the Michigan safety said. “We started at Nebraska, that was the first game back. I only played nine plays, but I felt alive again. This is the thing that I do. I’ve been doing this since I was in first grade.

“That year of ‘24, that was my first time ever sitting out a whole year of my life of any sport, and it was kind of hard. But you learn to be grateful for the game of football and the grind and the strain of it. Sometimes before, you kind of take it for granted and be like, ah, this is hard. But you miss doing that type of stuff, being out there with the guys.

“Especially being out there at The Big House in the second game against Wisconsin. Being out and then coming back, I forgot how it felt to play in The Big House, and it was just like a surreal moment again.”

There are less than 100 days to kickoff, and Moore can’t wait to touch the banner and help Michigan capture victory over Western Michigan.

“All of it, to be honest,” Moore said of what he’s looking forward to this season. “Starting off, it’d be me, my last year. I’m about to lay everything out there on the table.

“But when you talk about the schedule, there’s so much opportunity. I’m trying to go 12-0 — that’s what I’m trying to do — but even if you win 11, 10 games, our schedule is so strong that you still have an opportunity to go anywhere you want to do.

“But as a team, I’m just looking forward to seeing how [sophomore quarterback] Bryce [Underwood] has changed. Going through the spring the way he’s been practicing and seeing how this new team is coming together, the different offense and the different defenses and different players and transfers that we have, I’m just excited to see it, especially the receiver room. It’s probably the first time that I’ve been at Michigan that we have a full, complete receiver room, from the starters to the backups, that can come in and ball still. I’m just looking forward to that.”