The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542609
FEBRUARY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 9 BY ANTHONY BROOME D ecember was a transformative time, not just for the Michigan football program, but for the U-M athletics department as a whole, with questions swirling about a culture of scandal and bad headlines in Ann Ar- bor. The latest was the abrupt firing of football head coach Sherrone Moore on Dec. 10 after evidence of an inap- propriate relationship with a U-M staffer came to light. Within hours, Moore was in police custody, and less than 48 hours later, he appeared in a white jumpsuit on video in Washtenaw County Court. Moore was arraigned in court after being charged with felonious third- degree home invasion and two misde- meanors: stalking in a domestic rela- tionship and breaking and entering. He reappears on Jan. 22 in a preliminary legal examination, where a judge will determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial with a felony case. "Personally, I've known him for seven or eight years, so it was difficult to see him, as a person, go through what he went through," athletics director Warde Manuel said of Moore at new football head coach Kyle Whittingham's intro- ductory press conference on Dec. 28. "But professionally, it was an easy de- cision to make because of the expecta- tions that we have for everyone on our side." M a n u e l, h oweve r, f i n d s h im se l f and his department in the crosshairs of a third-party investigation run by the Jenner & Block law firm as a full- fledged cultural and procedural analysis centered around scandals of the last few years. Since 2022 alone, U-M has been in the headlines for former men's basketball head coach Juwan Howard's altercation and suspension stemming from a post- game incident at Wisconsin, discrimi- nation and misconduct allegations with former hockey head coach Mel Pearson, alleged cyber crimes committed by for- mer football offensive coordinator Matt Weiss and multiple NCAA investiga- tions into the football program. Continued controversy within the football program is largely why U-M finds itself with its third head coach in four seasons. "Obviously, it has been five years of let's just call it what it is, a malfunction- ing organization where there's some- thing every year," interim head coach Biff Poggi said before the Citrus Bowl. "... I know what the athletic director has made very clear. He doesn't want any more of that." Manuel was unable to share any de- tails about the investigation during his scrum with reporters in Orlando, but said that he was a driving force in commissioning the investigation. "There's not much I can say [about the investigation]," Manuel said. "There's an investigation continuing into Coach Moore, there's a cultural evaluation around the department and so we will obviously know some facts. There are some things that are out there that I can't comment on that are untrue, and there may be some things that they find, but that's why we do an investigation, and I'm very open to that. We wanted the cultural analysis to be done to help us get better. "I asked the President to help with a cultural analysis and have somebody come in. So, yes, I am very supportive of that, because as a leader, I face re- ality. There are things that happen. I don't step away from it. Never have, never will. So, we need to get better, and that's part of it — getting somebody to come in and to assess." Whittingham said during his intro- ductory press conference that despite the uncertainty in the athletics depart- ment, he had no reservations about tak- ing the job. "The answer is no, I didn't have any hesitation," Whittingham said. "There are some issues, missteps that are be- ing taken care of, but the key is the core players here are rock solid. ... I've got no doubt everything is going to be handled properly. "I'm not close enough or knowledge- able enough and privy enough to exactly what's going on in the details, but I've got full confidence that we'll come out of this just fine. ... What I'm concerned with is the players." ❑ ❱ Inside Michigan ATHLETICS Inside The Fallout Of Sherrone Moore's Firing Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel recently over- saw the firing of Sherrone Moore and hiring of Kyle Whittingham to lead the football program, but the U-M athletics department remains the subject of a third- party investigation being conducted for the U-M Board of Regents by the Jenner & Block law firm. It will encom- pass a full-fledged cultural and procedural analysis, which was requested by Manuel. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL