In the afterglow of his greatest coaching achievement, when Michigan football celebrated its first outright national title since 1948 on a glorious January night in Houston, Jim Harbaugh wanted to get something off his chest at a postgame news conference.
“We’re innocent,” he blurted. “And we stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent.”
It was a defiant proclamation directed toward the legion of skeptics questioning the legitimacy of the Wolverines’ 15-0 run last season after it came to light in October that a former U-M staffer, Connor Stalions, was alleged to have orchestrated a years-long, off-campus scouting operation designed to steal the play signals of future opponents.
The scandal placed Michigan on trial in the court of public opinion, dampening the euphoria from its ascension as the best team in the sport. Now, months later, the program looks rather culpable based on an ESPN report detailing a draft notice of allegations from the NCAA, which hit Michigan with a Level 1 charge, the most serious kind, for a “pattern of noncompliance” and institutional efforts to obstruct the investigation.
It was troubling stuff that included a list of violations Harbaugh and six members of his staff were accused of committing — some that were unrelated to the Stalions saga. But perhaps the most shocking revelation involves the man currently in charge of the Wolverines.
MOORE TO COME: Glory — or potentially peril — awaits Sherrone Moore, Michigan football this season
Sherrone Moore, who was elevated from offensive coordinator to head coach following Harbaugh’s move to the Los Angeles Chargers this past winter, is alleged to have deleted a string of 52 text messages with Stalions on the same day news of the sign-stealing controversy first surfaced. The texts were eventually recovered, and Moore would later submit the entire batch to the NCAA enforcement staff.
Yet the optics from the alleged Level 2 violation are ugly and unsalvagable.
They appear even worse knowing Moore could be a potential repeat violator after he had already been enmeshed in a previous NCAA investigation into impermissible recruiting activities during the COVID-19 dead period. The findings from that probe eventually resulted in Moore serving a one-game suspension as part of a negotiated resolution he brokered with the collegiate governing body. The punishment this time could be more severe, according to the ESPN report. A show-cause penalty, on top of another suspension, is even possible.
The damage to Moore’s reputation may already be done, however.
As he enters his first season as a full-time head coach, the 38-year-old carries the stench of impropriety that has wafted through Schembechler Hall since the beginning of last season, when the program became embroiled in one smelly situation after another. But whereas Harbaugh, five on-field assistants and renowned strength and conditioning director Ben Herbert escaped the toxic odor by jumping to the NFL soon after they completed their championship quest, Moore stayed behind and has absorbed more of the stink.
He is now the face of a besmirched brand, leading a program that has already been saddled with a three-year probation and is facing the threat of more sanctions as it deals with the continued fallout from the Stalions affair. The road ahead for Moore figures to be tough as he aims to keep the reigning national champions on course. But in late July, at Big Ten media days, Moore seemed unconcerned by the potential obstacles the NCAA could lay in front of Michigan.
“Not worried about that,” he said with a hint of nonchalance.
Moore, it was clear, wasn’t looking for sympathy. Then again, it seemed rather obvious he wouldn’t get much beyond the outer limits of Ann Arbor.
After all, he is forever connected to one of the most sensational college football cheating scandals. So too is Harbaugh, who made a desperate attempt to declare his innocence on the night of his greatest triumph seven months ago. Back then, skeptics still saw a man who bore some guilt for everything that happened.
They see another when looking at Moore now. That has become the tarnished identity of Michigan’s head coach.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Sherrone Moore can’t escape stench of Michigan football scandals
