Michigan’s new coach Sherrone Moore could face NCAA sanctions over the Connor Stallions scandal.
According to a report from ESPN, Moore is accused of deleting text messages to the disgraced former staffer on the same day that Stalion was exposed as the ringleader of a scheme to decipher teams’ play calls through advanced scouting. Michigan is awaiting official notice of charges from the NCAA in connection with the scandal, and Moore has been declared a draft pick.
From ESPN:
The draft, which is still subject to change, states that Moore could face a show-cause penalty and possibly a suspension for allegedly deleting a series of 52 text messages with former Michigan employee Connor Stalions in October 2023, the same day that media reports revealed that Stalions led an effort to record the play signals of future opponents.
The draft states that the texts were later recovered via device imaging and that Moore “subsequently presented them to law enforcement.” According to the draft, Moore is charged with a Level 2 violation.
Moore was Michigan’s longtime offensive coordinator and served as the team’s interim coach when Jim Harbaugh was suspended at the beginning and end of the season. Moore was promoted to head coach when Harbaugh left for a job with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Harbaugh’s suspension at the end of the regular season came from the Big Ten as part of its advanced scouting scheme. It is against the rules to scout teams in person, and Stalions had been going to future opponents’ games to read their signals.
According to the ESPN report, the NCAA also verified that Stalions was on the sidelines for Central Michigan for the Chippewas’ game against Michigan State in Week 1 of last season. Stalions was shown wearing CMU gear on the sidelines, though it remains unclear how he gained access to the team’s sideline and how and why he was wearing CMU gear.
Stalions was suspended and eventually resigned in November, as the scandal became the storyline of the 2023 college football season. Despite multiple suspensions for Harbaugh, Michigan went 15-0 and won the national title after defeating Alabama and Washington in the College Football Playoff.
Stalions has not cooperated with the NCAA investigation, but it won’t be long before college football fans get a chance to hear from him. He sat down with the Netflix series “Untold” for an episode about the Michigan scandal.
