New allegations have been made about former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore’s “inappropriate relationship” with a staff member, which led to his termination and arrest.
A report published by the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday, December 23, spoke to more than a half dozen people — including “former staffers, high-ranking university officials, members of the athletic department, women Moore messaged online and parents of players” — about the final months of Moore’s tenure at Michigan, which all came crashing down on December 10.
Moore, 39, was fired after an investigation uncovered a relationship between the former head coach and a staffer, which some within the football program said was a poorly kept secret.
“It’s a really weird dynamic, one of those things where everyone knew but no one wanted to say it,” another former Michigan staff member said. “She sat right in front of his office. Her desk was right in front of his office, like, 2 feet in front of his.”
The staffer said there was “so much tension and weird, erratic behavior and immaturity and stuff going on.”
“I don’t know if it was because of a guilty conscience … but clearly there was something going on,” the staff member added.
Another source said, “Guys over there on that side of the building [where Moore’s office was] 100 percent knew about it. They can deny it all they want, but there’s too many things that happened. If you didn’t know, you’re an idiot — it was too obvious.”
Things had allegedly gotten so fraught within the program that some parents started to take notice. One player’s father told the Free Press that group chats with other parents started popping up after Michigan’s loss to the University of Southern California on October 11.
“Parents said similar things … the challenges in terms of ‘What are we doing?’ It was almost like there wasn’t a focus,” the parent said. “If there were distractions, that would make sense [why it feels as though] your eye’s not on the goal. … You’re focused on other things instead of moving toward people to a playoff spot, you weren’t focused on that.”
Interim football coach Biff Poggi pushed back on the narrative that everybody at Michigan knew about Moore’s infidelity, telling reporters he and the entire staff were “shocked” when the allegations were made public.
Still, a high-ranking university official said Moore “wasn’t even speaking to his coaches over the last recent couple weeks” before he was fired.
Shortly after he was fired, Moore allegedly broke into the apartment of the staff member with whom he had an affair, with the woman claiming he threatened to harm himself and her with kitchen knives he pulled out of one of her drawers.
Moore has admitted to having a years-long relationship with the woman but denied any physical violence or threatening her.
The former coach has been married to his wife, Kelli, since 2015, and the couple share three daughters, including one born earlier this year.
During a court appearance on December 12, Moore was charged with one count of third-degree felony home invasion, one count misdemeanor stalking related to a domestic relationship and one count misdemeanor breaking and entering.
Moore posted a $25,000 bond and was ordered to wear a GPS tracking device, as well as dropping all contact with the staff member.
He is due back in court on January 22.
