Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore is expected to be suspended two games during the 2025 season as part of self-imposed sanctions by the university for the sign-stealing scandal centered around former staffer Connor Stalions.
A person with knowledge of the situation but not permitted to speak publicly on the manner confirmed the news Monday to the Free Press.
ESPN’s Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel report the suspensions will take place in Week 3 and Week 4 — home against Central Michigan and on the road at Nebraska — during which time Moore will be held out of any team-related activities.
Michigan hosts New Mexico on Aug. 30 to open the 2025 season, Moore’s second as coach, then visits Oklahoma on Sept. 6 in Week 2. Moore is an Oklahoma alum and played two seasons on the Sooners offensive line (2006-07), playing in 14 games at guard. He earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from the school in 2008.
Moore could be considered a repeat offender under NCAA regulations, having been suspended for the 2023 regular-season opener by Michigan for his role in contacting recruits during a COVID-19 recruiting dead period.
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The report also states Moore could receive more penalties related to recruiting violations, which comes shortly after former staffers Jesse Minter and Steve Clinkscale each accepted separate show causes from the NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions for their recruiting transgressions during their tenure.
The NCAA could further punish Moore beyond the school-imposed sanction, for the advanced scouting investigation.
“As you know, we will not comment on an active NCAA case,” program spokesman Dave Ablauf said in a text message to the Free Press.
Moore was one of seven staffers from Michigan’s 2023 national championship team accused last August of violating NCAA rules. He was Michigan’s offensive coordinator that season, and served as gameday head coach for four of the six games coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for.
Moore reportedly deleted 52 text messages with Stalions, the former Wolverines analyst, a Level II violation, on the same day in October 2023 that media reports indicated Stalions was the man behind an illegal off-field sign-stealing operation.
Moore’s deleted texts were recovered through a “device imaging” and he “subsequently produced them to enforcement staff,” according to the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations draft last year, reported by ESPN.
At the time when asked about the matter, Moore said, “I look forward to them being released” but that he could not comment further on the matter.
The school still faces a potential Level I violation from the NCAA, per the NOA draft obtained by ESPN last summer, for a pattern of non-compliance, after the draft showed Stalions allegedly was in charge of scouting, “at least 13 future Michigan opponents on at least 58 occasions between 2021 and 2023.”
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The university imposed a suspension on Harbaugh for the first three games of the 2023 season in relation to recruiting violations happening under his watch. That case has run its course, with U-M currently on probation for that investigation until April 9, 2027, having been hit both with recruiting penalties and fines.
In an unrelated move, university president Santa Ono revealed Sunday he will be leaving Michigan to become president at the University of Florida.
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Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
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