Sherrone Moore Fired by Michigan, AD Warde Manuel Explains Violation of U-M Policy

In a shocking development, Michigan fired head football coach Sherrone Moore after just two seasons at the helm on Wednesday.

"Following a University investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member," the school said in a statement. "This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy."

ESPN first reported Moore had been fired.

Michigan first hired Moore as its head coach ahead of the 2024 season after Jim Harbaugh left to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Moore was the team's offensive coordinator during the 2023 season and also filled in as the interim head coach when Harbaugh was suspended multiple times. One of those games was against rival Ohio State, which the Wolverines won and parlayed into an eventual College Football Playoff national championship.

Michigan struggled with consistency in his first season and lost five games, although it surely felt better about its 8-5 record by ending the campaign with another win over the Buckeyes and a ReliaQuest Bowl victory over Alabama.

Expectations were high heading into 2025 after that impressive closing stretch, especially since Moore was bringing in highly regarded quarterback Bryce Underwood. Underwood was a 5-star prospect and the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Yet he dealt with inconsistency in his freshman season while throwing for just nine touchdowns and six interceptions. The overall offensive issues were apparent in the Wolverines' three losses in 2025, as they scored 13 points against Oklahoma, 13 points against USC and nine points against Ohio State.

Ohio State held Underwood to just 63 yards passing as the Michigan offense failed to find the end zone in a 27-9 loss.

That turned out to be Moore's final game as the head coach, meaning the program now has to begin the process of finding a new one after many of the nation's top candidates were already hired by other schools earlier in the coaching carousel.

Moore finished with an 18-8 record as the head coach. He was also penalized by the NCAA as part of the laundry list of Level I and Level II NCAA violations the Wolverines accumulated over the course of three seasons' worth of cheating allegations.

The NCAA announced Moore was suspended for three games, two of which came from Michigan's self-imposed penalties. It also referenced him when explaining why the program could have been given a multiyear bowl ban.

"As a result of Michigan's most recent infractions case, three parties—Michigan, Harbaugh and Moore—fall within the legislated window to trigger repeat violator status," the NCAA explained. "Michigan's repeat violator status, coupled with its Level I-Aggravated case classification, is sufficient grounds for a multiyear postseason ban. However, the panel determined that a postseason ban would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program."

Michigan will play in a bowl game this season and is scheduled to face Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31.