ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan is expected to suspend coach Sherrone Moore for two games as a penalty for allegedly deleting text messages he exchanged with Connor Stalions, the former Michigan staffer at the center of an NCAA investigation into allegations of advanced scouting.
Moore is expected to coach the first two games, including a Week 2 matchup against Oklahoma, his alma mater, before missing games against Central Michigan and Nebraska in Week 3 and Week 4, a source briefed on Michigan’s plans confirmed. ESPN first reported Moore’s suspension, which has not been confirmed by the university or the NCAA.
“As you know, we will not comment on an active NCAA case,” Michigan spokesman Dave Ablauf said.
The NCAA accused Moore of deleting text messages he’d exchanged with Stalions shortly after news broke that Michigan was being investigated for impermissible advanced scouting. The text messages were later recovered and turned over to the NCAA. Moore hasn’t denied those allegations but said he looks forward to the text messages being released.
The broader case involving Michigan, Stalions and the NCAA continues to move toward a hearing in front of the Committee on Infractions, which is likely to happen at some point this summer. A reported draft of the NCAA’s allegations included charges against Stalions, former coach Jim Harbaugh, several assistant coaches and the institution.
Stalions, who resigned from his position at Michigan in 2023, is accused of coordinating a scheme to collect video footage of opponents’ signals shot from the stands using tickets he purchased. The NCAA alleges Michigan broke a rule prohibiting advanced scouting by collecting video footage from dozens of games involving future opponents.
Two other coaches named in the notice of allegations, former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and former defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, reached negotiated resolutions with the NCAA for recruiting violations unrelated to the sign-stealing allegations.
Clinkscale received a two-year show-cause order and acknowledged he did not fully comply when the NCAA questioned him about providing impermissible benefits to recruits and their families. Minter received a one-year show cause for communicating with a prospect before June 15 of his sophomore year of high school. Both coaches left Michigan after the 2023 season to join Harbaugh’s staff with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Harbaugh was suspended for three games by the Big Ten in 2023 for violations of the league’s sportsmanship policy related to the sign-stealing allegations. He also served a three-game, school-imposed suspension that season related to a separate NCAA investigation into violations of the COVID-19 dead period. Harbaugh’s suspensions applied to games only, but the NCAA Division I Council has since approved rules that expanded suspensions to all team activities for the week of the suspension. ESPN reported that Moore is not expected to coach in practice during his suspension.
Moore signed a five-year contract to become Michigan’s head coach last year. That contract protects Moore from being fired for cause for NCAA violations that occurred before it took effect as long as the university had “actual knowledge of the facts or alleged facts that are the basis for the violation prior to the execution of this agreement by all parties.”
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