“Clearly Something Went Sour”: Michigan Scholar on Why Sherrone Moore’s Alleged Mistress Reversed Her Summer Story

The football program at Michigan simply can’t seem to avoid negative headlines. We thought former Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh’s sign-stealing scandal was bad. But this week, his successor Sherrone Moore, seemed to say- Hold my beer.

Moore is currently sitting in a Michigan jail—specifically the Washtenaw County Jail—after he was arrested as a suspect in an alleged assault. He has been there since December 10.

Before he got in that cell, Moore had been fired by Michigan for having what they deemed an “inappropriate” relationship with a staff member. And apparently, the investigation into Moore’s relationship with this staffer has been ongoing on since the summer.

This week, more evidence came to light, and it made Michigan’s decision to terminate Moore with cause a lot easier. However, back then, there was not enough evidence to take any major steps. In fact, both Moore and the staffer had said that there was nothing going on, as Bacon reported on Thursday.

“He and his employee… were investigated by the University of Michigan this summer. Both denied any relationship. But that story changed yesterday morning when she went onto the Hill, as we say, the administration office, with the receipts. The text messages, the emails, documents and so on,” John U. Bacon told Good Day Detroit.

“Laying out the details of their relationship and the conflicts thereof. And that, of course, resulted in Sherrone Moore being fired,” he added.

Bacon reports that Moore was fired by athletic director Warde Manuel in a one-on-one meeting just after noon on Wednesday. After Moore lost his job at the hands of this staffer, he broke into said staffer’s home, allegedly grabbed a knife, and threatened to harm both her and himself. Bacon also reports that Moore has seen multiple mental health professionals while he’s been held in jail.

Michigan’s athletic director could also be fired; players likely to transfer

Manuel now has a job to do: there is no one on the Wolverines’ staff prepared to take on Moore’s head coaching job. That means the athletic director will have to do a real search for a replacement.

However, it’s uncertain if Manuel will be allowed to conduct that search, as his job could also be at stake here. The school has brought in a Washington D.C. “white shoe” law firm to investigate the entire department. That probe will reportedly be very serious and likely decide on Manuel’s future, per Bacon.

Moore, who is unlikely to coach football again, Bacon notes, is very likely to be charged after this incident. As the journalist says, “there’s really no way to avoid that,” after you’ve gone through the looking glass and broken into someone’s home.

When asked what had changed for the employee (from the time that she and Moore both denied the relationship together, to this week, when she decided to spill the beans), Bacon was reticent to say too much because he didn’t want to speculate. However, he did give his opinion on why he thinks this latest development occurred.

“Clearly something has soured between those two to make her do this. Now what that was, is open to speculation. But clearly there was not a healthy relationship in any way at that point. And it, of course, almost got tragic last night.”

One aspect most have forgotten about is what Michigan’s players will do after these latest developments. They have a Bowl game, the Citrus Bowl against No. 13 Texas on New Year’s Eve, that they will need to prepare for. And with all the drama and media swarming around the campus right now, that won’t be easy.

Many players will hit the portal and leave, but many more are likely to stay to wait and see. Bacon said he has it on “good authority” that the program will hire a new head football coach as early as next week. Depending on who that is, more players may decide to stay or go.

All in all, this is certainly not the most shining era of Michigan football going on right now in the early-to-mid 2020s.