Is Sherrone Moore Legit Or Michigan's Fall Guy?

By Kyle Golik

With all due respect to Sherrone Moore , this isn’t to rain on his parade or his achievement of becoming the first African American head coach in Michigan football history. Does his advancement that took place back in January, when Moore received a five-year $27.5 million contract to be the head coach at Michigan, was Moore set up to be the fall guy?

I asked in my headline as part of the question I am trying to answer is Moore legitimate? I feel part of the question of legitimacy in regards to Moore’s resume speaks for itself. After spending nearly a decade rising the coaching ranks at Louisville and Central Michigan, Moore arrived in Ann Arbor and rose through the ranks of Jim Harbaugh’s staff. Moore was an integral part of The Joe Moore Award-winning offensive lines in 2021 and 2022. After Moore gained more control of the offense as the coordinator, Michigan’s offense improved to the point where they were amongst the best rushing attacks in the nation and had an efficient passing attack where JJ McCarthy was the first Wolverine quarterback truly to shine under Harbaugh.

After you add in Moore’s substitute head coaching time, similar to what Ryan Day had to do for Urban Meyer at Ohio State, Moore was absolutely the best option Michigan had after Harbaugh’s departure to the Los Angeles Chargers. While Moore may have been Michigan’s best option, it doesn’t escape him from the other part of legitimacy. That part is Moore biting the bullet for Harbaugh, Michigan, and Michigan’s next coach depending on what the NCAA does next in the Connor Stalions espionage scandal.

Let’s acknowledge something first and foremost, Harbaugh lived in the gray areas and fringe areas of the NCAA rule book. Whether it was the satellite camps, the sleepovers, the impermissible contact during the COVID-19 dead period, and now the Stalions episode, Harbaugh wasn’t afraid to push the envelope ... until he knew he couldn’t get away with the crime. The flirtations with the NFL following Harbaugh’s resurgence were known after the 2021 season. Harbaugh knew he pushed that envelope more and more. To me, Harbaugh’s actions and his staff’s actions during Harbaugh’s time as head coach, between 2015 and 2023, tell me there was a lawlessness and lack of respect for the rules in the culture Harbaugh cultivated.

If we are to believe the potential draft of the Notice of Allegations from the NCAA’s Committee of Infractions, Michigan is in for a world of hurt if the NCAA can execute this. That is the big if.

But what leaked is disturbing on Moore’s front of him deleting 52 text messages with Stalions on the day Stalions was accused of his illegal scouting of opponents. It isn’t a crime to be friends with an alleged criminal. It isn’t a crime for Moore to have texted Stalions about a plethora of things personal and even to an extent professional in nature. Moore committed a violation that most of us would already be terminated for at our jobs if we were caught doing the same action, albeit he's asking to get the messages leaked .

Even before Moore has a game as the official head coach of Michigan without the interim tag, he has created his own cloud of mystery. What isn’t a mystery is Moore is as culpable as Harbaugh, Stalions, Partridge, and others who participated in the espionage.

When Harbaugh was called on the carpet, Harbaugh took zero accountability for his actions. Harbaugh’s attorney Tom Mars analogized it “like being in college and getting a letter from your high school saying you’ve been suspended because you didn’t sign the yearbook.” I feel Mars did what he was paid to do in his best interests for Harbaugh, but it didn’t help Harbaugh’s name or reputation.

What I can tell you, Harbaugh cultivated a culture of win at a costs, rules be damned. Moore was part of a staff that relied on illegal scouting and other espionage tactics to win football games. Now Moore has to clean up a mess that he helped create, but a lot of those who had heavier involvement are now gone.

It isn’t impossible for Moore to be successful, but to ask a first-time head coach to maintain what Michigan accomplished the last three seasons, with the NCAA sights targeted on them as well as Big Ten foes who felt cheated, it seems like an impossible situation for Moore.