Michigan Knew About Sherrone Moore’s Relationship a Year Before He Was Fired

Two days before Michigan kicked off its 2024 season against Fresno State, athletic director Warde Manuel sat down with head coach Sherrone Moore for a conversation that, in hindsight, should have been a lot louder. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Manuel confronted Moore about his relationship with executive assistant Paige Shiver on August 29, 2024. And he wrote it all down on Michigan letterhead.

That handwritten note, obtained by the Journal, says Manuel told Moore that Shiver could not accompany him on team trips. It’s unclear whether Manuel discussed the relationship directly in that meeting or if he assumed it had already been addressed. But the timing is rough. A year and change later, Moore would be fired with cause.

The warning signs

The Journal’s reporting, by Corinne Ramey and Rachel Bachman, suggests the university had been tipped off even earlier. Officials were reportedly alerted to concerns about Moore’s relationship with the staff member more than a year before they actually cut him loose. That timeline raises obvious questions about how thoroughly Michigan handles complaints about its people.

Jenner & Block, a law firm brought in by the university to examine the athletic department’s culture after a string of controversies, reportedly found that Michigan’s response to complaints about Moore wasn’t good enough. The firm’s report also said it wasn’t clear who, exactly, was supposed to handle misconduct allegations inside the athletic department. Michigan has not released that report publicly.

A university spokesperson told the Journal that Michigan acted promptly once it learned of the relationship. They declined to say more because of ongoing litigation. They also made a point: Michigan fired Moore with cause in December 2025 after finding what they called “credible evidence” of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

A quick rise and a messy fall

Moore’s head coaching tenure was short. He spent four seasons as an assistant under Jim Harbaugh before getting the top job. In 2023, he served as acting head coach while Harbaugh sat out various suspensions — one of them tied to the Big Ten’s sign-stealing investigation. After Michigan won a national title and Harbaugh left for the Chargers, Moore was promoted. He became the program’s 21st head coach.

Two years later, he was gone. The timeline of complaints, the handwritten note, the law firm’s findings — it all points to a program that maybe didn’t act fast enough on a problem that was sitting right in front of them.