Michigan football continues to grapple with the fallout from past sign-stealing scandals. Following the controversies surrounding Connor Stallions and Jim Harbaugh, Sherrone Moore now faces his own challenges. Moore’s second season in Ann Arbor got off to a rocky start as he must serve a self-imposed two-game suspension during weeks 3 and 4. While the university aims to teach accountability through this restriction, Moore’s suspension has received more criticism than sympathy since it was announced. Detractors view it as a strategic move rather than a genuine punishment. The timing of the suspension is crucial and has raised questions. However, there is another aspect of the situation that is not looking promising for the Wolverines.
The core of the story regarding Moore’s fate centers on his alleged deletion of a 52-message text thread with former staffer Connor Stalions, who played a key role in the escalating recruiting scandal. This incident occurred at a critical moment, shortly after the scandal hit the headlines, leaving Moore with no choice but to accept the severe consequences. While the Wolverines are familiar with overcoming challenges, including the suspension of a head coach, this situation is particularly troubling for Moore. Jim Harbaugh, his predecessor, faced a three-game suspension from the Big Ten in 2023, which forced him to miss important matchups against teams like Ohio State and Maryland. However, the significant concern for Moore is that Harbaugh had certain escape clauses regarding those implications, a benefit that Moore does not appear to have.
Harbaugh led the Wolverines to a historic Natty amidst a tumultuous off-field catastrophe. Despite bearing a two-time suspension, he didn’t let his high-flying Michigan mission suffer. Certainly, to have your team on fire even in your absence speaks volumes of the iron gang you made. But wait, it was not even a complete absence.
“He’s not going to be involved in the day-to-day putting together of the game plan. Jim Harbaugh was able to do that. They changed the rule. They call it the Harbaugh rule now,” insider Chris Balas pointed out a rare disadvantage of Moore’s suspension. “I don’t know, but they probably should. So, clearly it didn’t work for them to keep Michigan from winning games without their head coach. So they’ve got to do something a little bit more to make it tougher.”
After missing games against Central Michigan and Nebraska, Moore will return to his position for the matchups against Oklahoma and New Mexico. The latter game holds special significance given Moore’s playing history at Oklahoma. Whether this is just a coincidence is up for debate. However, as Chris mentioned, having him back will energize the Wolverines, although it may not necessarily provide a boost. “And I think it would have been really helpful to have Sherrone Moore on the sidelines against Oklahoma. I think they would want to win that game for him. They might want to anyway, even if he’s gone,” said the co-host of the Wolverine podcast.
“When Jim Harbaugh wasn’t coaching, yeah, it was going to be a loss, but he had trained his guys so well and the team was so good that they could go on and win without him. Is this team in that position?” Chris added the million-dollar question that’s worth defining a team.
It’s a test of time, a test of patience, and more importantly, a test of culture and solid team bonding inside the Wolverines locker room. They need to escalate that 8-5 to a better turnaround, even if we keep aside the two-year-old championship hope. To have your head coach sit out against the season opener and the immediate follow-up is sick, psychologically if not technically. But you see, what is sicker? Not having your biggest gamble under the center in his debut season.
Will Bryce Underwood add to Michigan’s doomsday?
Michigan and Sherrone Moore went all in to solve their QB drama last year. After a lot of back and forth, Moore took full accountability for his lackluster portal effort after Harbaugh had gone and made a $10 million damage control. Bryce Underwood, the widely celebrated No. 1 overall recruit from LSU, agreed to join forces as Moore refused to give up.
Underwood had been firm in his commitment to Brian Kelly all along. He used to laugh at any social media trigger of his joining Michigan for a bigger paycheck. But in the end, he succumbed to Moore’s relentless effort and that, of course, the money. The former Tigers’ commit has already been making strides in practice. But the question is, how long?
Source: Imago
The rumors are swirling over the lore about Underwood choosing to depart from the Wolverines at the peak of the recurring sign-stealing controversy. The hint? He and his mother were reportedly seen in a fight in Baton Rouge. But these are nothing but smokescreen stories. Assuring the fans of a chill pill, James Yoder noted, “[These] are about as wild and, you know, kind of cherry-picked, insane rumors that you can only get in college football.” Regardless, Michigan needs to be on its toes, as Moore can still bag show-cause penalties or some other sort of punishment at the June 6-7 hearing.
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