Chris Messner remembers the dancing. James Patton remembers the leadership. Alan Bowman remembers the fire.

Each had a story to tell about Michigan coach Sherrone Moore, who played at OU in 2006 and 2007. Messner was a teammate of Moore’s on the Sooners’ offensive line. Patton was Moore’s offensive line coach. And Bowman? The Oklahoma State quarterback was a backup for two seasons at Michigan, where Moore served as offensive coordinator before he was promoted recently to head coach.

Moore, who’s never been a head coach until now, is taking over the defending national champion Wolverines. Moore acted as an interim coach when Jim Harbaugh was suspended, but with Harbaugh off to the Los Angeles Chargers, the 38-year-old Moore is captaining one of college football’s prestige programs.

“He believes that there’s nobody in the country that can beat Michigan, and I think the players believe that because he believes that,” Bowman said. “It starts with him. He brings the energy every day.”

Sherrone Moore enrolled at OU 18 years ago in January 2006. Moore was a junior college transfer, having been a two-year starter at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas — 35 miles from Moore’s hometown of Derby, just south of Wichita.

Listed at 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds, Moore played in 14 games for the Sooners in his two seasons, mostly as a backup guard. The Sooners were Big 12 champs in both seasons, with back-to-back Fiesta Bowl losses to Boise State and West Virginia.

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While Moore’s Sooner career was unremarkable, Messner rejected the assertion that Moore didn’t play a big role.

“Everybody’s got a role on a team, and for me, looking back, Sherrone was always the teammate — it doesn’t matter if it was a good day, bad day, he was bringing people together,” said Messner, who teaches and coaches at Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa. “Always in a good mood. Always had a smile on his face.”

And forever dancing.

“I always ask him when he’s gonna break out his dance moves,” Messner said, “because that’s one of the things I notably remember him for at OU, whether it was pre-practice, in our stretch lines, we’d call somebody out and they’d start dancing. Sherrone was one of those guys.

“He’d surprise you because you had no idea he could move like that.”

Little things like that — building camaraderie and making football fun — foreshadowed Moore’s career.

“He had all the qualities of being a coach,” said Patton, OU’s offensive line coach from 2006-12.

Patton, now the offensive line coach at his alma mater, Miami (Ohio), looks for three qualities in every player he coaches: smart, tough, accountable.

“Three things that I think make guys like Sherrone,” Patton said. “... When he spoke, everybody listened.”

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Bowman, set to return as OSU’s starting quarterback in what will be his seventh college season, has seen a little bit of everything from his stops at Texas Tech, Michigan and OSU. He’s been coached by all sorts of personalities.

“Coach Moore is one of the more passionate coaches I’ve ever been around,” said Bowman, who appeared in seven games at Michigan in his two seasons. “The best thing Coach Moore does is get those guys to believe in him, believe in what they’re doing and then set them up in places where they can execute at a high level.”

Going from Lubbock, Texas, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, was a shock in more ways than one for Bowman.

He remembers practicing in the indoor facility one day because it was 15 degrees and snowing.

Meanwhile, Moore and his offensive linemen were outside.

“Smashing each other in the freezing cold,” Bowman said. “I’m like, ‘Where the hell am I? Like, what?’ That’s just the mentality that he’s instilled in those guys. It’s no surprise he is where he is.”

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Michigan coach Sherrone Moore impressed during time with OU football