The Michigan Wolverines football program is still dealing with residual effects of the sign-stealing scandal from years ago. Now, head coach Sherrone Moore will be impacted.
Moore's second season as Michigan's head coach will get out to a disjointed start as he's expected to be dealt a university-imposed two-game suspension in Weeks 3 and 4, according to ESPN's Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel.
The self-imposed sanction is yet another punishment stemming from the scandal that was investigated thoroughly in 2023.
Here's why Moore will be unavailable for at least two games in 2025.
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Sherrone Moore suspension, explained
Moore will be suspended for Weeks 3 and 4 of Michigan's 2025 season. He will coach the Wolverines' season opener against New Mexico and their Week 2 visit to Oklahoma, Moore's alma mater.
Moore will not be available to coach practice or games in Week 3 vs. Central Michigan and Week 4 vs. Nebraska.
The self-imposed sanction gets ahead of potential fallout from the scandal while also allowing Moore to coach at his former stomping ground. Here is more on the decision from the ESPN report:
"Moore's suspension ties back to Moore allegedly deleting a thread of 52 text messages with [Connor] Stalions, a former Michigan staffer at the heart of Michigan's alleged sign-stealing scheme," Wetzel and Thamel reported.
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The punishment comes less than a year after the NCAA cited Michigan for 11 violations, six of which were Level 1 violations. The self-imposed punishment comes as the university and the NCAA are working toward a resolution.
ESPN added that "the texts were 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."
Moore already served a one-game suspension in Week 1 of the 2023 football season but could be subjected to another punishment depending on the resolution reached by Michigan and the NCAA.
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Michigan sign-stealing allegations, explained
On Oct. 18, 2023, the NCAA informed Michigan that it was investigating whether the team scouted opponents in person in an effort to steal signs.
Sign stealing is allowed if it is not done using electronics to relay information to players or coaches. However, programs cannot send anyone to scout a future opponent. In-person scouting has been banned since 1994.
According to Yahoo, two of Michigan's opponents reported to the NCAA that they were concerned about the Wolverines potentially stealing signs.
That led observers to unearth a curious halftime interview by Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, whose Scarlet Knights faced Michigan in September.
"There are some things going on that aren't right as well, so we'll talk about how to handle it," Schiano told the Big Ten Network with Rutgers trailing, 14-7, at halftime.
Who is Connor Stalions?
Stallions was a defensive analyst at Michigan from May 2022 to October 2023. He currently serves as the offensive coordinator at Belleville High School in Belleville, Mich.
Stalions is a retired captain in the United States Marine Corps and was considered a "low-level staffer" at Michigan, but he reportedly is a central part of the NCAA's probe into the football program.
"It was known in the building that [Stalions] spent much of his time deciphering opponents' signals, often watching television copies of opponents' games," according to ESPN.
Michigan suspended Stallions with pay on Oct. 20, 2023. ESPN reported Oct. 23 that Stalions bought tickets "for more than 30 games at 11 Big Ten schools over the past three years." ESPN's Dan Murphy further reported that Stalions bought tickets on both sides of Ohio Stadium for the Week 8 Penn State vs. Ohio State game, but they went unused after word of the investigation broke.
On Nov. 3, Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel reported that Michigan had fired Stalions.
The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach added that Stalions "allegedly refused to cooperate with any internal or external investigations or discussions regarding the alleged scouting and sign-stealing scheme."
Dan Treacy contributed to this report.