ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan fired football coach Sherrone Moore on Wednesday after finding evidence of an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member," a stunning end to his short, up-and-down tenure that saw the Wolverines take a step back on the field after winning the national championship and getting punished by the NCAA.
“This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy, and UM maintains zero tolerance for such behavior,”
athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement.
The announcement did not include details of the alleged relationship. Moore, who is married with three young daughters, did not return a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The 39-year-old Moore was 9-3 this year after going 8-5 in his debut season.
He signed a five-year contract with a base annual 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 Moore's contract because he was fired for cause.
College football’s winningest program is suddenly looking for a third coach in four years, shortly after a busy cycle that included Lane Kiffin leaving playoff-bound Mississippi for LSU.
Moore, the team's former offensive coordinator, was promoted to the lead the Wolverines after they won the 2023 national title. He succeeded Jim Harbaugh, who returned to the NFL to lead the Los Angeles Chargers.
The 18th-ranked Wolverines (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten) are set to play No. 14 Texas on Dec. 31 in the Citrus Bowl.
Biff Poggi, who filled in for Moore when he was suspended earlier this season, will serve as interim coach.
Moore, in his second season, was suspended for two games this year as part of self-imposed sanctions for NCAA violations related to a sign-stealing scandal. The NCAA added a third game to the suspension, which would have kept Moore off the sideline for next year’s opener against Western Michigan.
Moore previously deleted an entire 52-message text thread on his personal phone with former staffer Connor Stalions, who led the team’s sign-sealing operation. The texts were later recovered and shared with the NCAA.
Just a few years ago, Moore was Harbaugh's top assistant and regarded as a rising star.
Moore, who is from Derby, Kansas, didn’t start playing football until his junior year of high school. He played for Butler County Community College in Kansas and as an offensive lineman for coach Bob Stoops at Oklahoma during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
His coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Louisville before moving on to Central Michigan, where he caught Harbaugh's attention. Harbaugh hired him in 2018 as tight ends coach.
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 worked his way up within the Wolverines' staff and filled in as interim coach for four games during the 2023 championship season while Harbaugh served two suspensions for potential NCAA rules violations.
Moore also served a one-game suspension during that year related to a recruiting infractions NCAA case.
Earlier in the 2023 season, Michigan State fired coach Mel Tucker for cause after he engaged in what he described as consensual phone sex with an activist and rape survivor. In 2012, Arkansas fired coach Bobby Petrino due to a sordid scandal that involved a motorcycle crash, an affair with a woman who worked for him and being untruthful to his bosses.
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