The University of Michigan has commissioned a full investigation into the practices and culture of its athletic department, focusing on the number of numerous scandals that have occurred and its handling in recent years, a source told ESPN.
The firing of football coach Sherron Moore this week will be a particular focus.
The investigation will be handled by Jenner & Block, a Chicago-based law firm that has dealt with the school in recent years, including investigating whether Moore had an inappropriate relationship with an employee.
The authorization for the investigation was first reported by The Detroit News.
Multiple sources told ESPN that the company opened an investigation earlier this fall into the conduct of Moore and an employee after the university received an anonymous tip. Moore and the employee denied the relationship and insufficient evidence has emerged to confirm it.
That changed on Wednesday, when the employee told investigators in Washtenaw County, Michigan, according to prosecutors in Washtenaw County, Michigan, that it had actually happened and provided corroborating evidence. The employee on Monday broke off the years-long relationship, according to prosecutors, but became concerned when Moore sent a series of unanswered texts and calls.
The university immediately fired Moore on Wednesday over the relationship. Shortly after, Moore went to the employee’s apartment outside Ann Arbor and, according to prosecutors, broke in and grabbed kitchen shears and some butter knives. Then he threatened to kill himself.
“I’m going to kill myself,” Moore said, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Katie Rezmierski. “I’ll make you watch. My blood is on your hands. You ruined my life.”
Moore, a married father of three, was charged Friday with three counts, including felony home invasion and misdemeanor counts of stalking in a domestic relationship and breaking and entering. Moore has pleaded not guilty, and a probable cause hearing has been set for January 22, 2026.
Friday evening, after spending two nights in jail, Moore was released on $25,000 bail with GPS monitoring and ordered to receive counseling.
This is the latest in a series of scandals that have hit the athletic department and the university as a whole. The decision includes the March federal indictment of former offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, who faces 24 counts of unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft.
Prosecutors from the Eastern District of Michigan allege that Weiss conducted extensive efforts over the years to access the personal accounts of thousands of NCAA student-athletes across the country. He is accused of targeting specific female athletes to access personal and intimate photos and videos.
The feds say some of the alleged crimes occurred while Weiss was working inside the school’s football facility, Schembechler Hall, from 2021 to 2022, and during a previous stint with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
There have been additional run-ins with NCAA rules, including the high-profile 2023 advanced scouting process centered around former football recruit Connor Stallions. The NCAA hit the program with four years of probation and a fine that could reach more than $30 million.
Former football coach Jim Harbaugh was handed several suspensions in his final years at the school for advanced scouting status and a recruiting violation. Harbaugh left to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers in January 2024. Moore, who was promoted from offensive coordinator to succeed Harbaugh, has also been suspended twice by the NCAA. He still owes a one-game penalty, which was scheduled to take place in 2026, for deleting a series of text messages sent to the Stallions.
The series of scandals has cast a spotlight on the athletic department as a whole, including director Ward Manuel, an alum and former player for Bo Schembechler’s Wolverines in the late 1980s. Manuel has been working in this position since 2016.
A high-level meeting of university officials was held Thursday evening, leading to intense speculation about Manuel’s future, but he remains in his position, sources told ESPN. The university would owe Manuel, 57, who signed a new five-year contract in December 2024, about $6.75 million if it fired him without cause.
On Thursday, interim university President Domenico Grasso, in a letter to the campus community, asked anyone with knowledge of Moore’s condition to come forward through a confidential reporting system.
“Together, we will move forward with integrity and excellence, reaffirming our dedication to the public good,” Grasso wrote.
Despite all the turmoil, the Wolverines’ athletic department mostly thrives on competition, including the football program’s national title win in 2023. The men’s and women’s basketball teams are currently ranked in the top six nationally. Hockey is No. 1.
Meanwhile, the university has consistently set institutional records for undergraduate application numbers in recent years, reaching 98,310 for this year’s freshman class, according to federal filings from the university. This is up from 79,743 for 2022, an 18.9% jump in just three years.
Jenner & Block has a long-standing relationship with the university, including, in 2022, an investigation into an inappropriate relationship between then-school President Mark Schlissel and a university employee that led to Schlissel’s removal from his position.