Michigan’s secondary may be built around a familiar formula this fall, and Jay Hill sounds eager to lean into it.
The Wolverines’ defensive coordinator has put together a scheme he says bears a strong resemblance to the one Michigan used during its 2023 CFP National Championship run, and the two safeties at the center of it are graduate Rod Moore and junior Chris Bracy. If the idea is to create confusion, disguise coverages and force offenses into mistakes, Moore and Bracy look like the kind of tandem that can make it work.
“Schematically, I think it’s very similar,” Hill said Wednesday. “A lot of the similarities are coverages, similarities in just how we want the execution to be. I hope it looks like the 2023 defense.”
Moore is the name that stands out first. On that 2023 defense, he finished with two interceptions and 38 total tackles.
He fits the free safety role, the one that calls for range, awareness and the kind of football IQ that lets a player act as the quarterback of the defense. After spending recent years dealing with a turbulent stretch and putting in work from the film room and from the sideline, Moore is being eased back in carefully this fall.
He says he feels healthier than he has in the past few years, but the coaching staff is still keeping him on a limited snap count as they bring him back into the rotation.
Bracy, meanwhile, has been the more active presence in camp. The Memphis transfer has flashed playmaking ability all summer and Hill has noticed the ball production.
“He’s just one of those guys that just makes plays,” Hill said. “It seems like every scrimmage, Chris Bracy’s had an interception.
So the bigger the stage, the better he’s played. I’m hoping that continues in games.”
Bracy’s résumé at Memphis backs up that reputation. Last season he broke up 10 passes and added an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also finished with 81 tackles, including 9.5 for loss, giving Michigan a safety who can bring physicality as well as turnover punch.
That combination should make him the strong safety next to Moore, with more responsibility against the run and in coverage against tight ends. The pairing makes sense stylistically, too.
Moore is the steady voice, the player who can steer the back end. Bracy brings the straightforward execution and the knack for showing up around the football.
Both safeties also point back to the same thing when describing why this defense has looked the way it has in camp: Hill’s system.
“Just playing my role inside the defense,” Brady said Aug 24. “And that’s what this defense does. It creates turnovers, puts you in position to make plays, and puts you in the right spot.”
Michigan’s 2023 defense finished third in the nation in turnover margin, and Hill wants this group to chase that same kind of disruptive identity. With Moore and Bracy in the back end, the Wolverines have two safeties who fit that vision - one built on experience and command, the other on production and physicality. The challenge now is turning that offseason fit into something that carries over once the games start.
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