Sherrone Moore was fired Wednesday as head coach at Michigan after the university said it found "credible evidence" that the football coach had been involved in an "inappropriate relationship with a staff member."
The shocking news came just days after Moore had spoken with reporters as the Wolverines began to prepare for the Citrus Bowl later this month, and seemed to catch the entire college football world by surprise.
Biff Poggi was named interim head coach by Michigan.
Sherrone Moore Getty Images
"U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately," Michigan announced in a statement. "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."
The university did not elaborate on the details of what its investigation had uncovered, but it was clearly enough to make the decision that Michigan came to on Wednesday afternoon.
Moore is married and has three daughters.
A clause in Moore's contract stated that Michigan had the right to terminate him if "Conduct by the Head Coach which offends against public decency or morality, as shall be determined by standards prevailing in the community or which results in, or in the reasonable determination of the University could result in, material injury to the reputation, interests or obligations of the University or the Program," the Detroit Free Press reported.
Moore had taken over as head coach in January 2024 after Jim Harbaugh led the Wolverines to a national championship before departing for the NFL to take over as head coach of the Chargers.
Moore led the program to a 16-8 record during the past two seasons at the helm in Ann Arbor, which included going 8-5 in 2024 and a victory in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama .
The Wolverines went 9-3 this season and ended the 2025 campaign with a 27-9 loss to rival Ohio State , which now will stand as Moore's final game as head coach of the program.
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore celebrates with kicker Dominic Zvada (96) after an extra-point kick. AP
Moore was the Wolverines' acting head coach for the final three games of 2023 while Harbaugh served out a three-game ban related to the sign-stealing scandal that rocked college football that year, leading to three straight wins for Michigan to end the season. Moore had also served as interim head coach for one game earlier in the year as Harbaugh served a suspension related to recruiting violations.
The Wolverines are slated to play Texas in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31.
It's unclear how long the university had been looking into the relationship between the football coach and the staff member, but Moore had been doing media interviews as recently as Tuesday, when he held a press conference and did a one-on-one interview with WXYZ Detroit.
CBS Sports reported that donors to the program had become aware of the allegations against Moore recently and had started to tighten the purse strings on contributions.
News of the university's inquiry had started to spread over the past few days and had also led to growing concerns among Michigan football staffers over their futures, with one telling the outlet, "It's hard to ignore."
