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Michigan safety Rod Moore walks toward the locker room as the team arrived off the bus ahead of the New Mexico game to open the season at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, August 30, 2025. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Could Michigan safety Rod Moore redshirt this season?

Originally posted on Michigan Wolverines on SI
By Seth Berry | Last updated Oct 30, 2025 4:30 PM ET

Michigan football graduate student safety Rod Moore made his long awaited return last month against Nebraska after suffering a torn ACL before the 2024 season, which marked 623 days between game action for the Wolverine captain.

However, despite playing at a relatively high level in his three games back against USC, Wisconsin and the Huskers, he hasn't played in either of Michigan's last two wins against Washington and Michigan State and is still working through issues with that knee, head coach Sherrone Moore told reporters at his presser earlier in the week.

"Just working through the knee, making sure that it’s 100%,” Sherrone Moore said on Monday. “Does some things in practice, does some movement stuff, but it’s not all the way there. I think that one week he had a lot of reps, put some work on it, so we’ll just see how he’s going this week.”

On Wednesday, defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan met with reporters and was asked about the concern level for Moore's status moving forward.

"Yeah, to me, I’m excited for Rod," Morgan said. "I think everybody’s being cautious with him right now. And I think he’s in great spirits. And I think we have a great medical team here. We just want to do right by the kid because he’s done such a great job here for us here. So I think he’s progressing the right way, running and all that stuff. We just want to make sure we do right by him. He has a bright future. He had a great career so far. I think his career is just getting started. So we’re just trying to do a good job and just making sure that he feels comfortable. He feels right when he gets back on the field. So to me, I think that’s just kind of what you got to do as coaches."

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Could Moore explore a redshirt?

Some have wondered, since the safety has had a couple of different setbacks in his recovery, if Moore will be able to return to the field at all this season, or if he does, when it will be if he returns.

If, for example, Moore doesn't come back until the Ohio State game in late November, it would potentially allow him to explore the possibility of receiving a medical redshirt from the NCAA.

That thought, however, according to Morgan, has not been discussed by the coaching staff as Morgan admitted he doesn't know if that would even be a possibility.

"Well, I thought he redshirted last year. So I don’t know if he could he can do that anymore," said Morgan. "He played as a true freshman. I think he played three games. I mean, he played three years straight. Then he redshirted last year. And then this year he would have to be like a — I don’t know how that works. But yeah, that’d be like a medical or something like that. I have no idea. I don’t think we have talked about that at all. You know, Rod was a high NFL draft pick three or two years ago. I think he’s chasing, you know, trying to get ready for the NFL, and also trying to have a senior season that propels him to have a great Senior Bowl. A great combine. I think that’s probably his focus."