Former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore had been acting “strange” prior to his stunning firing Wednesday for an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member,” according to ESPN.
College football reporter Pete Thamel said this situation had been “percolating” for the last few weeks.
“There had been a lot of uneasiness on the Michigan staff, sources had told me Sherrone Moore had been acting strange, berating assistant coaches, not acting in a normal way,” Thamel said Wednesday on “SportsCenter” after Michigan axed its coach in his second season.
There was an initial investigation — per Thamel — that had calmed toward the end of the regular season, with Michigan last playing Nov. 29 in a 27-9 loss to rival Ohio State.
However, Thamel said it started boiling again over the past week and resulted in what he described as a “rare” move by Michigan.
“It is rare that you get a statement like the one Michigan had, being as explicit as they are, saying it was an inappropriate relationship with a staff member that led to Sherrone Moore’s firing,” he noted.
Michigan’s statement cited cause for firing Moore, which means the Ann Arbor-based school will not have to pay Moore his buyout clause.
CBS reported that several prominent donors “cooled” on aiding the program while the allegations came to light, although it did not list when this cooling happened.
Moore went 18-8 spanning his two seasons as head coach, including this year’s 9-3 mark and a victory in the lone game he coached in Jim Harbaugh’s place during the 2023 season.
“U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately,” Michigan said in its release. “Following a University investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”
Several hours after the school fired him, Moore was detained in Michigan.
The Saline (Mich.) police department informed ESPN it had detained the 39-year-old before turning him over to the Pittsfield Township police department for “investigation into potential charges.”
The Pittsfield police department said in a statement that it investigated an alleged assault at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday and took an unnamed suspect into custody.
Moore was in custody at Washtenaw County jail, pending the charges being reviewed by the county prosecutor, and the Pittsfield police department said the investigation was ongoing.
“The incident does not appear to be random in nature, and there appears to be no ongoing threat to the community,” the statement from the Pittsfield police department read.
Moore and his wife, Kelli, are parents to three children, Shiloh, Solei and Sadei.
The couple married in 2015, one year after their 2014 engagement, and Moore has mentioned his wife in social media posts.
“Happy three year anniversary to my life partner and best friend. So proud of you and all your accomplishments,” Moore wrote on July 3, 2018. “I am so happy and blessed beyond measure to call you my wife as the man upstairs leads us to live through him. Love you soo much and excited about what the future holds for us! #skforevermoore #bestfriends #Lifegoalsmeet.”
