ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WCMH) — Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore has been fired after two full seasons as the permanent head coach, according to multiple reports.
Moore was fired due to an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member,”, according to a reported statement by Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel. The statement said the university conducted an investigation and found evidence Moore broke the code of conduct, resulting in his termination.
“This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior,” Manuel said.
Moore has been part of the Michigan coaching staff since 2018 and became the head coach in 2024 after Jim Harbaugh left to become the Los Angeles Chargers coach in the NFL. The Wolverines were 17-8 with Moore as the head coach in 2024 and 2025.
The 39-year-old Moore signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university will not have to buy out the remaining years of Moore’s contract because he was fired for cause.
The team went 1-1 against Ohio State in those season as the Buckeyes beat Michigan 27-9 this season in Ann Arbor. Biff Poggi will serve as Michigan’s interim coach.
The Wolverines, who finished the 2025 season 9-3, are scheduled to play in the Citrus Bowl against Texas on New Year’s Eve. Ohio State is playing that same day in a playoff quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl against either Texas A&M or Miami.
The 39-year-old from Kansas was the Wolverines’ tight end coach for three seasons before becoming the co-offensive coordinator in 2021.
In the national title winning season in 2023, Moore had multiple games where he served as the acting coach as the program and Harbaugh faced controversy. It began with Harbaugh serving a self-imposed suspension for three games to start the season due to alleged false statements he made to officials investigating recruiting violations.
Harbaugh was then suspended for the last three regular season games, including against OSU, stemming from the program’s sign-stealing scandal. Moore coached the team to the victory over Ohio State in 2023 and the 13-10 upset win in 2024 in Columbus.
According to a statement from the university, the Wolverines have fired Moore for cause after two seasons, following an investigation that found “credible evidence” he “engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.”
Moore will finish his tenure with the Wolverines with an 18-8 overall record as the full-time head coach.
With the Wolverines set to finish their season against Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 31, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, associate head coach Biff Poggi will serve as Michigan’s interim head coach. Poggi previously served as the Wolverines’ acting head coach for two games this season while Moore served a self-imposed two-game suspension from Michigan for his involvement in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal.
Here’s what to know on why Michigan fired Moore:
Why was Sherrone Moore fired by Michigan?
Moore was fired by Michigan for cause after an investigation found the second-year Wolverines coach to have “engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.”
“U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately. Following a university investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior,” Michigan wrote in a statement.
“Biff Poggi has been appointed head football coach in an interim capacity, effective immediately.”
On the 5 p.m. ET edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” Adam Schefter reported that Michigan staffers learned that Moore was being fired before the team on Wednesday and that one staff member coach told Schefter he is “completely shocked by the situation.”
“It’s been a difficult situation for everyone involved in the program and are surprised (by it),” Schefter reported.
As noted by the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, there are currently no public details about the inappropriate relationship Moore had with a staff member that resulted in his firing.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on the 6 p.m. ET edition of “SportsCenter” that the reasoning behind Moore’s firing with cause has been “percolating at Michigan for the last couple of weeks.”
“This is something that’s been percolating at Michigan for the last couple of weeks. There was an initial flurry of speculation and an early investigation. That died down toward the end of the regular season,” Thamel said. “There had been a lot of uneasiness on the Michigan staff. The sources had told me Sherrone Moore had been acting strange, berating assistant coaches, not acting in a normal way.
“Things had quieted within the last couple of weeks, and obviously percolated back up within the last week. And look, (I’ve) been around this for a long time, it is rare that you get a statement like the one Michigan had, being as explicit as they are saying it was an inappropriate relationship with a staff member that led to Sherrone Moore’s firing.”
This all comes less than two years after Moore was named the successor to former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh in Ann Arbor, after Harbaugh left the Wolverines for a return to the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers. He left the Wolverines after winning the 2024 national championship.
The Wolverines were not able to sustain the success they had with Harbaugh under Moore despite going 18-8 overall in two seasons, as Michigan has missed out on the Big Ten championship and the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff the last two years.
Sherrone Moore buyout
Since Moore was terminated with cause, he will not be owed his buyout from the Wolverines.
Sherrone Moore contract
Moore was set to make $510,000 in base salary and $5.1 million in “additional compensation” this year according to his contract obtained by the USA TODAY Network. His $6.11 million total salary this season ranked 40th among the highest-paid coaches in college football, according to USA TODAY Sports’ database.
Sherrone Moore record
Here’s a year-by-year breakdown of Moore’s record at Michigan, as the Wolverines’ head coach:
- 2023: 1-0 *
- 2024: 8-5
- 2025: 9-3
* Served as interim coach
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