The Michigan alleged sign-stealing saga now has a new chapter as head coach Sherrone Moore is getting ready to pay his price to the university. It has been announced that Moore will serve a two-game suspension in the upcoming 2025 season, which is self-imposed by the university itself, all related to the Connor Stallions' advanced scouting scandal.
The second-year Michigan head coach is set to serve his suspension in games No. 3 and No. 4 against Central Michigan and Nebraska. During this suspension, Moore will also not be allowed to partake in any team-related duties during those weeks. There will also be additional recruiting-related penalties handed down to Moore.
The suspension, coming in games three and four, will give Moore the opportunity to coach against the Oklahoma Sooners, his Alma Mater, in the second game of the season.
Moore's involvement in this scandal and the reason for his punishment dates back to when he was the offensive coordinator for the Wolverines and allegedly deleted a thread of 52 text messages between himself and Stallions.
Michigan is expected to suspend coach Sherrone Moore two games during the 2025 season as a self-imposed punishment in the advanced scouting case, industry sources tell me and @PeteThamel. https://t.co/C4mejOKSQZ
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) May 5, 2025
This punishment may not be the end for Sherrone Moore
While Michigan is taking care of things on its end with this entire situation, the NCAA could still impose its own punishment on Moore, and it could even come before the 2025 season starts. If the NCAA does give out a punishment, it is expected before the season starts, which means Michigan could lose its head coach for more than two games if they go the route of suspension.
Head coaches being suspended isn't something new for Michigan football. Back in the 2023 season, former head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was the head coach for the Wolverines when the news of the scandal broke, was suspended for three games in the middle of the season, one of them being against Ohio State. Moore stepped in as the interim head coach, which made the decision for Michigan very easy when filling Harbaugh's position after the National Championship.
The alleged sign-stealing scandal broke in October of 2023, the same day that it is thought Moore deleted those threads of text messages between himself and Stallions. In an August 2024 Notice of Allegations, the NCAA cited Michigan, the Wolverines received 11 violations, some of them being Level I violations or worse.
This is not the first suspension that has been imposed on Moore by the university. Moore also served a one-game suspension during Michigan's season opener in 2023 for a previous NCAA case.