Michigan Players Feel 'Betrayed' in Wake of Sherrone Moore Scandal

Amid the fallout from the cheating scandal and the subsequent arrest of former Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, the Wolverine players he left behind are feeling “betrayed.”

Moore was arraigned Friday afternoon and charged with home invasion in the third degree, stalking, and breaking and entering after breaking into his mistress’s home and threatening to kill himself after she revealed the nature of their illicit relationship to university administrators.

In an interview on Monday, Michigan interim coach Biff Poggi told reporters how his players are struggling with the new reality of life without the man who recruited most of them.

“It has been a tumultuous time,” Poggi said. “A lot of … first disbelief, then anger, then really, what we’re in right now is the kids, quite frankly, feel very betrayed, and we’re trying to work through that.”

The chaotic upheaval surrounding Moore’s departure has prompted a broader investigation into Michigan’s athletic department. While investigators pursue the who, what, and why of the circumstances around the Wolverines’ former head coach, Poggi, the program’s current head coach, has spent his time dealing with bewildered and shocked players and trying to keep new signees from decommitting.

“Lot of telling them that you love them, but showing it, because words are cheap, and that takes a lot of time. What it really takes is you being willing to listen,” he said.

“It’s been complicated. I want to listen to them. I want to understand what the kids are feeling and what their parents are feeling, and so a lot of listening, and there’s been a wide range of emotions, and we are going through those steps,” he added.

“It’s been complicated. I want to listen to them. I want to understand what the kids are feeling and what their parents are feeling, and so a lot of listening, and there’s been a wide range of emotions, and we are going through those steps,” he added.

“They’re not over yet, and I don’t expect them to be over for a while. The mandate that Warde Manuel gave me as the athletic director when he asked me to be the interim coach was to love and take care of the kids, and so that’s what I’m spending all of my time doing.”

Poggi’s first opportunity to see the effects of his efforts will be on December 31, when the Wolverines take on the Texas Longhorns at the Citrus Bowl.