What a better way to start one's day than reading the latest news coming out of Ann Arbor. According to ESPN's Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore will be suspended for two games during the upcoming 2025 college football season, a self-imposed punishment for his role in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal two years ago. Curiously, though, the suspension won't start in Week 1 — instead, it seems like the school let Moore choose exactly which games he'd miss.
Moore will not be leading the Wolverines in Week 3 vs. the Central Michigan Chippewas, nor vs. the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Week 4 to commence Big 12 play. Moore will be allowed to coach in Michigan's season opener vs. the New Mexico Lobos in Week 1 before taking on his alma mater Oklahoma in a pivotal non-conference game in Week 2 in Norman. This is incredibly selective, to say the least.
The reason for Moore's suspension has everything to do with him allegedly deleting a 52-message text thread he had with Stalions. Keep in mind that Moore served as the interim head coach for four of the six games during which his mentor and predecessor, Jim Harbaugh, was suspended during Michigan's national title run in 2023 (once during Harbaugh's burger suspension, and then for the final three once the Stalions punishment finally dropped).
No matter how you slice it, this punishment put forth by Michigan is leaving everyone so unsatisfied.
Why Michigan fans should be wary about Sherrone Moore going forward
This is actually the second time Moore has been suspended at Michigan. He sat out the 2023 season opener vs. East Carolina for his role in the burgergate. Jesse Minter and Jay Harbaugh served as the interim coaches for the two other games Jim Harbaugh had to miss to start that season off. The whole thing is a mess, and it is not a good look for Moore at all.
Suspending him would seem to acknowledge some level of culpability, which Michigan fans are likely to push back against. But if that's true, how is this an appropriate penalty? Since when is picking and choosing your own suspension a meaningful punishment? Fans of the Wolverines will be upset that anything will come of what they view as trumped-up charges; fans of everyone else (hi, Columbus) will be upset at what they think is a slap on the wrist.
We are about to be two years removed from Harbaugh roaming the sidelines in Ann Arbor. With five-star freshman Bryce Underwood under center, this should effectively be Moore's team, through and through. Yet why do I still feel that Moore is not going to be long for Michigan? Well, the Wolverines are only going to be a borderline College Football Playoff team this season, and that is assuming everything goes their way.
The timing of the suspension is odd. To me, it feels like a safeguarding measure to prevent Moore from getting ripped to pieces should he lose to his alma mater in Norman, where he played guard for Bob Stoops in 2006 and 2007. Imagine Michigan losing that game and then backing it up two weeks later with a poor showing vs. an ascending Nebraska team. Would you be thrilled with a 2-2 record?
As we get further and further away from the Jim Harbaugh era in Ann Arbor, it feels like misgivings about that era still remain. Once again, this is the consequence of promoting a top assistant from within in major sports: Can he live up to the hype of replacing a legend, so to speak? I am willing to give Moore this year, but anything beyond 2027 seems reaching.
His only saving grace is for Underwood to become the superstar we all think that he can be one day.