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Michigan replaced one cheater with another, shredding its once impeccable reputation
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- Michigan replaced one cheater with another, shredding its once impeccable reputation
In the long, illustrious history of dumb, Michigan hiring Sherrone Moore ranks near the very top.
You want dumb? Let me show you dumb.
Michigan fired Moore for cause after two seasons Wednesday, mere months after he was suspended for a second time by the NCAA for cheating — while working for Jim Harbaugh, the coach Michigan sold its soul to protect from NCAA investigators during a national championship run in 2023 while he was cheating.
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We don't know yet if Moore cheated as the Michigan head coach. On the field, anyway.
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel released a statement saying there was, "credible evidence that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member" — and that's why Moore was fired for cause .
Isn't that just a nice, neat bow to wrap up this colossal failure of a coaching hire.
So what have we learned from all this, kids?
If you're Harbaugh and the most beloved alum in Michigan football history, you can do just about anything as a coach and the university will defend you at the cost of its reputation — and a $30 million fine from the NCAA.
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If you're Moore and a former Oklahoma offensive lineman, even a victory over Ohio State in your first season can't buy you time when you've proven, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you can't cheat without getting caught.
At anything, apparently.
Now watch how quickly Michigan turns on Moore. Watch how stories and anecdotes leak that Moore was never the right guy for the job in the first place.
How Michigan panicked because it wanted to keep the momentum of the Harbaugh years — which brought unprecedented success and, finally, the ability to beat Ohio State again. They couldn't turn their back on Moore ― also suspended by the NCAA for his role in violations during the pandemic season of 2020 ― the loyal Harbaugh assistant who steered Michigan to three critical victories to finish the 2023 regular season while Harbaugh was suspended for three games.
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So Michigan knowingly replaced one cheater with another, and went further down the rabbit hole of shredding its once impeccable reputation. Because, you know, he beat Ohio State.
I can almost understand allowing yourself to be publicly flogged for protecting Harbaugh at all cost. It's the mean media's fault, right?
No one believes the media, the fake news, so they must be wrong about Harbaugh and his knowledge of Connor Stalions' advanced scouting scheme that helped turn Michigan under Harbaugh from a good team that couldn't beat Ohio State, to a great team that did multiple times and eventually won a national title.
If it had nothing to do with cheating, Central Michigan wouldn't have admitted that while coach Jim McElwain wasn't a co-conspirator, he was "responsible for his staff's actions" in allowing Stalions on its sideline with CMU gear in an effort to disguise himself while scouting CMU's game against Michigan State.
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If it had nothing to do with cheating, the NCAA wouldn't have suspended Moore for three games for his part in the scheme ― one game that was deferred to 2026.
If you don't think it was cheating, my name is Ford and I've got an Edsel to sell you. Speaking of dumb, and Michigan.
If I've said this once, I've said it a thousand times: Harbaugh would never, ever, ever allow a "low level" staffer (as the Michigan PR machine quickly labeled Stalions) on his sideline to scream at his assistants about the other team's play calls — while his assistants then changed their play calls in response — without knowing the complete ins and outs of the Stalions scheme.
Moore, of course, was the key assistant in that scenario. He was the offensive coordinator, the heart of the unit that had to figure out how to score points on, and beat, Ohio State.
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Just in case Michigan doesn't know this yet, or refuses to admit it, that means Moore was cheating, too. That and the fact he deleted 52 text messages from Stalions shortly after the advanced scouting scheme was unearthed by the mean media — you know, the people who obviously lie.
So we'll just stick this under-qualified, two-time cheater of an assistant coach into one of the Top 10 jobs in college football, and hope for the best. What could go wrong?
Raise your hand if you're shocked. If you just can't believe what you're reading.
Who among us — except the brilliant minds at Michigan — couldn't see this coming from Kalamazoo?
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Unfortunately, it takes something like this to bring everything into focus. To sharpen the senses, eliminate PR nonsense fed to the masses, and elevate truth.
To make it very clear that Michigan made this move one week after national signing day. After letters of intent (and NIL deals) were signed, and everything was moving forward for 2026 and beyond.
If you think the university didn't know it was firing Moore the moment it lost to Ohio State in late November — because you can't fire a guy who beat Ohio State in both seasons, no matter the cheating — you're the same person who thinks Harbaugh knew nothing.
Which would put you at the top of the list of dumbest dumb in the history of dumb.
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Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA Today Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB .
(This story was updated to add a video.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan fires Sherrone Moore, reputation takes another big hit
