Michigan to investigate athletic program in wake of Sherrone Moore scandal

The University of Michigan plans to look inward after its football scandal.

In the wake of the firing of head coach Sherrone Moore, the university is bringing in law firm Jenner & Block to investigate the school’s athletic department and its culture, ESPN reported Saturday.

Per the outlet, Jenner & Block also handled the investigation into Moore, who was fired for cause after the school said it found “credible evidence” of an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member.”

That same day, Moore was arrested after he allegedly broke into the home of the staff member, and during an argument, grabbed butter knives and threatened to kill himself.

Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

On Friday, he was charged with third-degree home invasion, a felony.

He was also hit with two misdemeanors — stalking and breaking and entering.

Prosecutors said during the arraignment that the staffer had ended things with Moore, who is married with three children, on Monday, but the ex-coach had allegedly continued to call and text her.

The home invasion charge comes with as many as five years in prison if Moore is convicted.

In just the past few years, Michigan’s football team has dealt with a number of scandals.

In 2023, then-head coach Jim Harbaugh was handed a self-imposed three-game suspension over recruiting violations he committed during a restricted period in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s the latest on former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore

• Michigan football coach jailed on suspicion of assault after shocking firing over ‘inappropriate relationship’
• Inside Michigan coach’s ‘strange’ behavior before his firing for ‘inappropriate’ relationship with staffer, shocking arrest
• Michigan fires head coach for ‘inappropriate relationship’ in college football bombshell
• Who is favored to replace Sherrone Moore after Michigan firing?

Later that same year, Harbaugh agreed to sit out the final three games of the regular season after the Big Ten found that Michigan — led by former staffer Connor Stalions — ran “an impermissible, in-person scouting operation over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition.”

Harbaugh, who left for the NFL after Michigan won the 2023 national championship, was handed four- and 10-year show-cause orders for the recruiting and sign-stealing scandals, respectively.

Harbaugh, when asked on Friday about the scandal surrounding Moore, his now-fired successor, said he was “still processing that.”

Sherrone Moore was charged on Friday in Michigan. Washtenaw County Court

In March, former Michigan assistant coach Matt Weiss allegedly gained access to various online accounts of about 3,300 mostly female college athletes.

He is facing 24 counts of unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft after prosecutors allege he intended to download “personal, intimate photographs that were not publicly shared.”