Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore broke his silence on the ongoing NCAA investigation that has led to scrutiny about his own potential involvement in the sign-stealing scandal.
ESPN’s Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel reported on August 4 that Moore is in danger of a show-cause penalty from the NCAA after potentially deleting 52 text messages to ex-Michigan staffer Connor Stalions.
During an August 13, 2024, press conference, Moore gave his first public comments since ESPN linked Moore directly to the investigation. Moore offered a prepared statement before adding, “I’ll just say this: I look forward to them being released.”
In his prepared statement, Moore emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and he could not go into details about the report.
“Really the statement is, we’re cooperating with NCAA fully,” Moore noted. “[We] have in the past, will in the future. We’ll continue to do that. So, really right now, it’s an ongoing case, and we need to preserve the confidentiality of the preceding.”
The NCAA Alleges Sherrone Moore Deleted Texts the Same Day Connor Stalions Was Accused of Stealing Signals: Report
Michigan HC Sherrone Moore on reports of deleted text messages to Connor Stalions:
“All I can say is I look forward to them being released.”
(via @anthonytbroome)
Stalions began his work with the Michigan program as a volunteer assistant before officially joining the staff as an analyst in May 2022, Thamel and Mark Schlabach reported for ABC News in October 2023. The former Michigan staffer ultimately resigned in November 2023.
ESPN reported that the NCAA draft to Michigan included evidence that Stalions pretended to be a Central Michigan coach, working his way onto the sideline as a viral video showed.
It’s like a college football edition of Where’s Waldo.
Was that Michigan staffer Connor Stalions on the Central Michigan sideline at Michigan State?
Central Michigan is looking into it.
Moore would have been Michigan’s offensive coordinator at the time of the text messages to Stalions. Jim Harbaugh was the Michigan head coach before returning to the NFL this offseason to become the Los Angeles Chargers coach.
“New Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore is one of seven members from the 2023 football program accused of violating NCAA rules in a draft of the NCAA’s notice of allegations obtained by ESPN,” Murphy and Thamel wrote on August 4.
“The draft, which could be subject to change, states Moore could face a show-cause penalty and possibly a suspension for allegedly deleting a thread of 52 text messages with former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions in October 2023 on the same day that media reports revealed Stalions was leading an effort to capture the playcalling signals of future opponents,” Murphy and Thamel wrote.
“The draft states that the texts were later recovered via ‘device imaging’ and Moore ‘subsequently produced them to enforcement staff.’ Moore is accused of committing a Level 2 violation, according to the draft,” the ESPN insiders detailed.
Former Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh Will Not Serve as an Honorary Captain
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore told the media that Jim Harbaugh will NOT be an honorary captain for Michigan’s season opener
One of the other notable tidbits from Moore’s press conference was the coach’s revelation that Harbaugh will no longer serve as an honorary captain during Michigan’s Week 1 matchup versus Fresno State.
“Yesterday he called me and told me that [he] didn’t feel that he could leave his team [Chargers],” Moore explained. “In true Coach Harbaugh fashion and wanted to be in the foxhole with his team and not want to make it look like he was going to take a deep long bow.
“So, he’s not going to make it for the game. But we’re going to have some of our guys that are there. And then, Jack and Jackie Harbaugh [Jim Harbaugh’s parents] are going to take his place. So, super excited about that.”
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Michigan Football’s Sherrone Moore Drops Bold Message on 52 Deleted Texts