ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan has quite a mess on its hands.
The storied football program is yet again reeling from scandal, this time with once-promising coach Sherrone Moore at the center of it.
Moore spent Wednesday night in jail after being fired earlier in the day for what the school said was an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. His ensuing arrest was related to an assault investigation, for which Moore is expected to be arraigned on Friday.
The development has left college football's winningest school suddenly searching for a new coach — again.
“I’m so disappointed,” former Michigan defensive end Larry Stevens told The Associated Press. “This prestigious university and everything we’ve done through the years for Michigan, you just don’t jeopardize that. I can’t wrap my head around this."
A snapshot of recent history might show great success for the program that has bested its archrival, Ohio State, and declares itself the “The Victors,” a fitting moniker for the 2023 season's national champions. Underneath those feats, however, there's been multiple scandals the school will have to contend with as it courts its next coach.
“Everybody who knew has to go because how many times do we want to be on SportsCenter for scandals?" Stevens, who played for coach Lloyd Carr from 2000-2003, asked in a telephone interview. "What we built, who we are, our legacy, how we’re viewed in the world, that matters to Michigan men. These activities turn us into the laughingstock of college football.”
The NCAA put Michigan's football program on probation less than four months ago, stemming from a sign-stealing scandal, and Manuel has said penalties will cost the department more than $30 million.
Matt Weiss, who previously shared offensive coordinator duties with Moore at Michigan, was charged with hacking into the computer accounts of thousands of college athletes to find intimate images. A judge entered a not-guilty plea for the former Baltimore Ravens and Michigan assistant coach earlier this year.
And now, the Wolverines are scrambling to find a new leader for their shaken football team while navigating the fallout from firing Moore.
“We always heard from Lloyd that the expectation is for the position,” 1997 Heisman Trophy-winner Charles Woodson told the AP. “And for (Moore) with the role he played with his family and as head coach with assistant coaches and with the players, he did not fulfill the position.”
Michigan will be looking for a third coach in four years, shortly after a busy cycle that included Lane Kiffin leaving playoff-bound Mississippi for LSU.
Moore led the 18th-ranked Wolverines to a 9-3 record this year after going 8-5 in his debut season.
The 39-year-old Moore, who is married with three young daughters, did not return a message from The Associated Press seeking comment before he was taken into custody.
“I’m sad for all the families involved,” former Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said in a telephone interview.
Climbing the ladder
Moore’s coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Louisville in 2009 before moving on in 2014 to Central Michigan, where he caught then-Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s attention. Harbaugh hired him in 2018 as tight ends coach for the Wolverines.
Moore was promoted to offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2021, when the Wolverines bounced back from a 2-4, pandemic-shortened season and began a three-year run of excellence that culminated in the school’s first national title in 26 years.
He was well-liked by players, who appreciated how often he smiled and engaged them in conversations about football and life.
“He is a dynamic, fierce and competitive individual who gets the best out of the players he mentors," athletic director Warde Manuel said when he hired Moore. "The players love playing for him and being with him in the building every day.”
Big break
Moore made the most of his first opportunity to lead the Wolverines, going 4-0, including a win over rival Ohio State, during the 2023 national championship season while Harbaugh served two suspensions for rules violations.
That helped to put him in a position to be promoted when Harbaugh returned to the NFL to lead the Los Angeles Chargers in January 2024.
“The only person I would want to do the job,” Harbaugh wrote in a text message that month. “I have 100% conviction that he will make us all very proud!!!”
Players on the team at the time, including former running back Donovan Edwards, privately lobbied Manuel to hire Moore.
“If anybody deserves it, it’s him," Edwards said then.
Previous trouble
Moore was punished twice by the NCAA for rules violations. He was suspended for two games this year as part of self-imposed sanctions for NCAA violations related to the school's high-profile sign-stealing scandal. The NCAA added a third game to the suspension, which would have kept Moore off the sideline for next season's opener against Western Michigan.
Moore previously deleted an entire 52-message text thread with former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, who was at the center of the team’s sign-stealing operation. The texts were later recovered and shared with the NCAA.
Moore also served a one-game suspension in 2023 due to recruiting infractions.
Short stint
His debut season in 2024 got off to a rough start before rallying to win the last three games, including against the second-ranked Buckeyes and 11th-ranked Alabama in a bowl, to finish 8-5 overall and 5-4 in conference. His biggest win might have been landing heralded quarterback Bryce Underwood, one of the top recruits in the country.
Moore led the Wolverines to a 9-3 record this year, including a 7-2 mark in the Big Ten. They finished the regular season ranked No. 18 in the AP Top 25 with a Citrus Bowl bid against No. 14 Texas on Dec. 31. The program's four-game winning streak against archival and defending national champion Ohio State came to an end.
Moore signed a five-year contract with a starting base salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university will not have to buy out the remaining years of his contract because he was fired for cause.
Looking ahead
Without a coach in place for next season, the team may lose players in the transfer portal this winter and donors who help fund revenue-sharing and NIL deals may hesitate to invest in the once-proud program.
While former coach Jim Harbaugh, who was penalized by the NCAA for rules violations, did lead the Wolverines to that 2023 national championship — their first since 1997 — they are not far removed from some lackluster years.
Harbaugh started 0-5 against Ohio State as coach of the school he once led as a quarterback. The program crumbled following Carr's retirement in 2007 under Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke before Harbaugh eventually turned it around.
Michigan has to pick up the pieces again and search for a coach — while the school is also looking for a new president — as it attempts to bounce back from its latest scandal.
