The University of Michigan fired head football coach Sherrone Moore on Wednesday, December 10, citing “credible evidence” that he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, a move the school says constitutes a serious violation of university policy and justified his dismissal for cause. The decision ends Moore’s tenure after just two seasons at the helm and throws one of college football’s most storied programs into yet another high-profile crisis.

Image Illustration. Photo by Bruno Guerrero on Unsplash

A Sudden End to a Short, Volatile Tenure

Moore, 39, was elevated to head coach after the 2024 season, succeeding Jim Harbaugh following Michigan’s national championship run and Harbaugh’s departure to the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers. Michigan’s internal investigation concluded this week with athletic director Warde Manuel announcing that Moore’s conduct “constitutes a clear violation of university policy,” and that the school maintains “zero tolerance” for such behavior.

According to multiple reports, Moore compiled an overall record of 17–8 as head coach, going 8–5 in his debut season and 9–3 this year, with the Wolverines entering bowl season ranked No. 18 nationally. The 18th-ranked Wolverines finished 9–3 overall and 7–2 in the Big Ten, with a late-season loss to No. 1 Ohio State ending their outside hopes of returning to the College Football Playoff.

Moore signed a five-year contract in 2024 with a base salary of $5.5 million per year. Because he was fired for cause, Michigan does not plan to pay the roughly $12.3 million that would have remained on his deal, an uncommon but increasingly visible step in high-stakes college athletics where morality clauses and conduct provisions give universities leverage to avoid buyouts. The Associated Press reported that the university “will not have to buy out the remaining years” of the contract under the terms of his agreement.

Allegations of an ‘Inappropriate Relationship’ and University Policy

In its public statement, Michigan did not name the staff member involved or specify the nature or duration of the relationship, citing privacy rules and an ongoing personnel matter. The university said only that an internal investigation had found “credible evidence” that Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member and that such conduct breached institutional standards.

Like many major universities, Michigan’s policies restrict romantic or sexual relationships when a power imbalance exists, especially between supervisors and subordinates. The school’s Standard Practice Guide on employee–student and supervisor–subordinate relationships explicitly warns that such dynamics can compromise consent, expose the institution to legal risk, and undermine workplace equity. Similar policies at universities nationwide have led to discipline or dismissal of faculty and staff in cases where relationships violated those guidelines.

A Program Already Under NCAA and Public Scrutiny

Moore’s firing comes against the backdrop of broader controversy surrounding Michigan football. Earlier in 2025, he served a two-game self-imposed suspension as part of the school’s response to NCAA violations tied to a high-profile sign-stealing scandal. The NCAA later tacked on a third game to that suspension, which would have kept him off the sideline for the 2026 season opener against Western Michigan. The case centered in part on former analyst Connor Stalions, who left the program in 2023 amid allegations of orchestrating an off-campus sign-collection operation that triggered a wide-ranging NCAA probe into competitive integrity and in-game scouting.

Investigators later determined Moore had deleted a 52-message text thread with Stalions from his personal phone, a step that drew additional scrutiny from NCAA enforcement staff. The messages were ultimately recovered and turned over to the NCAA, according to reporting by the Associated Press and other outlets that have followed the saga closely.

The program had only recently emerged from another scandal involving former co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, who was dismissed in early 2023 and later charged in connection with accessing university computer accounts without authorization. As the NCAA and federal authorities increasingly police digital conduct and competitive integrity in college sports, Michigan’s string of headline-grabbing incidents has raised questions about oversight and culture inside one of the game’s most successful brands.

Historic Program, Uncertain Future

Michigan, widely recognized as college football’s all-time winningest program with more than 1,000 victories, is now searching for its third head coach in four years. The Wolverines crossed the 1,000-win mark during their 2023 national championship season, cementing their status atop the sport’s all-time wins list and amplifying the stakes around any leadership change in Ann Arbor.

In the near term, associate head coach and former Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi will serve as interim head coach, just as he did earlier this season during Moore’s suspension. Poggi is expected to lead the team into the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on December 31, where No. 18 Michigan is slated to face No. 14 Texas in Orlando, a matchup that suddenly doubles as an audition for both players and coaches amid off-field upheaval.

The coaching change lands at a delicate moment for roster stability, with the transfer portal window open and the early signing period for high school recruits fast approaching. In the 2024–25 cycle, more than 3,000 FBS players entered the transfer portal nationally, according to NCAA data, underscoring how quickly a program’s depth chart can shift when coaching uncertainty collides with expanded athlete mobility rights.

Financial Stakes and Reputational Damage

Beyond the sideline, the firing highlights the immense financial stakes surrounding major college football. Michigan’s athletic department reported more than $200 million in operating revenue in recent years, with football as the primary driver through ticket sales, media rights, and donations. The university’s 2023–24 financial report showed football alone generating well over $100 million in revenue, a figure in line with the sport’s leading blue-blood programs and indicative of how leadership scandals can ripple into fundraising and branding efforts.

Experts in collegiate governance note that dismissals for cause are often as much about managing institutional risk and donor expectations as they are about on-field performance. Research on athletics governance from the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics has warned that misaligned incentives in coaching contracts—heavy on performance bonuses but lighter on accountability language—can expose universities to reputational and financial harm when scandals erupt. Michigan’s decision to invoke a for-cause provision signals a hardening stance on off-field conduct in the wake of repeated controversies.

What Comes Next for Michigan and for Moore

For Michigan, the immediate priority is stabilizing the locker room, protecting its current recruiting class, and launching what could be a compressed but high-profile coaching search. The Wolverines will be seeking a leader capable not only of maintaining on-field success in an expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff era but also of reassuring skeptical faculty, fans, and donors that the program is committed to institutional standards as well as wins.

Moore, meanwhile, faces an uncertain future in coaching. Fired for cause, he leaves Michigan with a blemished record despite respectable on-field results and his role in helping guide the Wolverines through the tail end of the Harbaugh era. While some coaches have eventually resurfaced after off-field scandals, university hiring committees and search firms are increasingly scrutinizing personal conduct and past investigations as carefully as playbooks and win–loss columns.

Conclusion: Symbol of a New Era of Accountability

Sherrone Moore’s abrupt dismissal underscores a broader shift in college athletics, where winning no longer fully insulates high-profile figures from the consequences of personal misconduct. For Michigan, the move is both a crisis and an opportunity: a crisis because it continues a string of damaging headlines around a flagship program, and an opportunity because it allows the university to redefine expectations for its next coach in an era when transparency, policy compliance, and power dynamics are facing unprecedented scrutiny.