Michigan fired football coach Sherrone Moore for cause on Wednesday, Dec. 10, alleging Moore had "an inappropriate relationship with a staff member," the school announced in a release.
Later Wednesday, Moore was reportedly detained by police. According to ESPN's Dan Wetzel, police in Saline, Michigan "assisted in locating and detaining Moore" and turned it over to Pittsfield Township for an investigation into potential charges.
It's the latest scandal for a program that, after building a general reputation for fair play in its over 150-year history, has had to weather controversy recently.
Here are eight other scandals and infractions that have rocked U-M football over its history:
2023-25: Connor Stalions' sign-stealing
Michigan football received arguably the biggest punishment in the history of the program on Friday, Aug. 15, when the NCAA handed out its penalties for the Conor Stalions sign-stealing scandal.
The program was put on a four-year probationary period and ordered to pay fines that could amount to $30 million, though it also avoided a potentially devastating postseason ban. Moore was also given a one-game suspension by the NCAA, to be served in the first game of 2026 (against Western Michigan, in a game originally scheduled for Germany but moved back to Ann Arbor). That was in addition to a program imposed two-game suspension during the 2025 season. Moore sat out Weeks 3 and 4 of 2025, with assistant Biff Poggi taking the reins in wins over Central Michigan and Nebraska. Poggi is now once again serving as the interim coach.
2023: Jim Harbaugh's FIRST 3-game suspension
Before missing the final three games of the 2023 regular season, head coach Jim Harbaugh sat out the first three games – covering the Wolverines' entire nonconference slate – with a school-imposed suspension after the NCAA delivered a draft notice of allegations. The violations included in-person recruiting contacts and tryouts during the NCAA-mandated COVID-19 dead period and exceeding the number of allowed coaches participating in both “on- and off-field coaching activities," according to the NCAA.
After a negotiated resolution to the allegations broke down, leaving Harbaugh open to more severe punishment, Michigan opted for a three-game ban, announced in 2023.
“While the ongoing NCAA matter continues through the NCAA process, today’s announcement is our way of addressing mistakes that our department has agreed to in an attempt to further that process,” U-M athletic director Warde Manuel said in a release Monday. “We will continue to support coach Harbaugh, his staff, and our outstanding student-athletes.
The school also gave Sherrone Moore a one-game suspension for his role in the impermissible contacts with recruits.
In August 2024, the NCAA handed down punishments for the program: Probation for three seasons (2025-27), as well as a fine for Michigan and recruiting penalties, as part of a deal between the NCAA enforcement staff, Michigan, and "five individuals who currently or previously worked for its football program."
2023: OC Matt Weiss fired for hacking, privacy invasions
Just a few weeks after Michigan was eliminated from the College Football Playoff with a loss to TCU, the Wolverines fired offensive coordinator Matt Weiss with a terse statement: “After a review of University policies, the athletic department has terminated the appointment of co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss," Manuel said in a statement released on Friday. "Consistent with university policy, we will have no further comment on this personnel matter.”
Weiss, who had been U-M's offensive coordinator for one year, following a season as quarterbacks coach, had been placed on leave earlier in January after the University of Michigan police received a "report of computer access crimes" that occurred in Schembechler Hall from Dec. 21-23, 2022. According to the U-M Police log, a university employee informed police about the incident on Jan. 5, 2023, and numerous reports surfaced that authorities were seen in marked and unmarked vehicles at Weiss' Ann Arbor home a few days later.
The FBI charged Weiss with hacking into the computer systems of more than 100 universities and spying on the data of more than 3,000 athletes, mostly women. Weiss faces 14 counts of unauthorized access and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft in a case that is still ongoing.
Weiss is also being sued in a class-action complaint from women accusing Weiss of hacking into their accounts and stealing personal photos. The original lawsuit was filed on March 21, with at least 74 women eventually joining with lawsuits against Weiss, the university, its board of regents and Keffer Development Services, a software and data storage company. Harbaugh and former University of Michigan president Santa Ono were added to the lawsuit in June 2025. Another 48 people currently or previously affiliated with the university were also added to the amended suit, including U-M interim president Domenico Grasso, former president Mark Schlissel and athletic director Warde Manuel.
2010: Rich Rodriguez's practice infractions
Former U-M coach Rich Rodriguez only spent three years at the helm of the program, but he left Michigan football with a stain — albeit a mostly forgettable one.
The NCAA ruled ahead of the 2010 season that Michigan was not in compliance when it exceeded its practice and workout times allowed during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. The University imposed sanctions on itself in May of 2010 as a result.
Rodriguez was fired in January of 2011, though mostly because of his 15-22 career record and not necessarily because of the infractions.
1995: Gary Moeller's resignation
Former Michigan coach Gary Moeller had a 44-13-3 record at Michigan, but resigned a week after tapes of a drunken outburst at a suburban Detroit restaurant were released in May of 1995.
Though the program had great success under Moeller, including a 38-31 win over Washington at the 1993 Rose Bowl, the coach's behavior was one the University decided it couldn't support. His assistant Lloyd Carr took over the program ahead of the 1995 season, and two years later led Michigan to a national championship.
1969: Bo Schembechler and Dr. Robert Anderson
This one isn't related specifically to the football program, but to U-M's athletic department as a whole.
Dr. Robert Anderson, who served as a doctor at the University from 1968-2003, was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of U-M athletes and students during his time with the University.
One of those students (not enrolled at the University) was Matt Schembechler, son of legendary coach Bo Schembechler. In 1969, Schembechler's first year as coach, Matt (then 10 years old) told his father that Anderson had sexually assaulted him. According to Matt, Bo did nothing about it.
Other former U-M players like Daniel Kwiatkowski and Gilvanni Johnson held a press conference with Matt to detail the allegations. In 2022, the University settled with the sexual assault survivors for $490 million.
1937: Harry Kipke fired
Harry Kipke, who coached the Wolverines from 1929-37, was fired after the 1937 season for five main reasons per an article from the Chicago Tribune, three of them for reasons that were considered unsportsmanlike.
One was an allegation that Kipke was promising summer jobs and guaranteed wages to incoming freshmen. Another was Kipke allowing for summer practices (banned by the Big Ten's rules at the time) and the last was Kipke's association with Harry Bennett, the controversial right-hand man of Henry Ford.
1906: Withdrawal from the Western Conference
Fielding Yost, the school's first legendary coach, joined Michigan in 1901 after coaching Stanford in the 1901 season. Michigan became a juggernaut under Yost, going 55-1-1 in his first five seasons and outscoring opponents by a total score of 550-to-0 in his first season in 1901. The NCAA recognizes Michigan as either outright or co-national champions each year from 1901-04, marking the first national titles for the program.
Yost was later accused by Stanford preisdent David Starr Jordan of paying players, going against the spirit of amateurism of the day. Though by 2025 standards, those accusations can be considered relatively tame.
As a result of the heat that Yost faced over his first few years as coach, Michigan withdrew from the Western Conference in 1907 and played as an independent school until it returned to the conference in 1917.
You can reach Christian at[email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's history of scandals: 8 other controversies