Source: Michigan begins query into athletic department

The University of Michigan has ordered an in-depth investigation into its athletic department’s practices and culture, focusing on how numerous scandals occurred and were handled in recent years, a source told ESPN.

The firing of football coach Sherrone Moore this week will receive particular attention.

The investigation will be led by Jenner & Block, a Chicago-based law firm that has done business with the school in recent years, including conducting an investigation into whether Moore had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

The Detroit News was first to report the investigation’s authorization.

The company opened an investigation earlier this fall into the conduct of Moore and a staff member after the university received an anonymous tip, multiple sources told ESPN. Moore and the staffer denied the relationship and there was not enough evidence to confirm it.

That changed Wednesday when, according to prosecutors in Washtenaw County, Michigan, the staffer told investigators it happened and presented corroborating evidence. The staffer had broken off the years-long relationship by Monday, prosecutors said, but became concerned when Moore sent a flurry of texts and calls that were not returned.

The university quickly fired Moore on Wednesday over the relationship. Shortly afterward, Moore went to the staffer’s apartment just outside Ann Arbor and, according to prosecutors, broke in, grabbed kitchen scissors and butter knives. He then threatened to commit suicide.

“I’m going to kill myself,” Moore said, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Kati Rezmierski. “I’m going to make you look. My blood is on your hands. You ruined my life.”

Moore, married with three children, was indicted Friday on three counts, including felony home invasion and misdemeanor charges of stalking in a domestic relationship and breaking and entering. Moore pleaded not guilty and a probable cause hearing was set for January 22, 2026.

Friday evening, after spending two nights in jail, Moore was released on $25,000 bail, a GPS monitoring system and orders to receive counseling.

This is the latest in a series of scandals that have hit both the athletic department and the university as a whole. It includes a federal indictment in March against former offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, who faces 24 charges of unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Michigan say Weiss led a massive, multi-year effort to access the personal accounts of thousands of NCAA student-athletes across the country. It is responsible for targeting specific female athletes to gain access to personal and intimate photographs and videos.

Some of the alleged crimes, according to the feds, occurred while Weiss worked at the school’s football complex, Schembechler Hall, from 2021 to 2022, and during a previous stint with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.

There have been other run-ins with NCAA rules, including the high-profile 2023 advanced scouting operation centered on former football standout Connor Stalions. The NCAA gave the program four years of probation and a fine of up to more than $30 million.

Former football coach Jim Harbaugh received numerous suspensions during his final years at the school for advanced scouting situations and recruiting violations. Harbaugh left to become head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers in January 2024. Moore, who was promoted to offensive coordinator to succeed Harbaugh, was also suspended twice by the NCAA. He still has to serve a one-game penalty, which was due to be served in 2026, for deleting a text message thread sent to the Stallions.

The series of scandals has shined a spotlight on the athletic department as a whole, including director Warde Manuel, an alumnus and former player for the Bo Schembechler-led Wolverines in the late 1980s. Manuel has been on the job since 2016.

A high-level meeting of university officials was held Thursday evening, sources told ESPN, leading to intense speculation about Manuel’s future, but he remains on the job. 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 situation to provide it through a confidential reporting system.

“Together, we will move forward with integrity and excellence, and reaffirm our commitment to serving the public good,” Grasso wrote.

Despite all the tumult, the Wolverines’ athletic department thrives primarily on competition, including the football program that won the 2023 national title. Currently, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are ranked in the top six nationally. Hockey is #1.

Meanwhile, the university has consistently set institutional records for the number of undergraduate applications in recent years, reaching 98,310 for the incoming class this year, according to federal records filed by the university. This is up from 79,743 in 2022, an increase of 18.9% in just three years.

Jenner & Block has a long-standing relationship with the university, including investigating an inappropriate relationship in 2022 between the school’s then-president, Mark Schlissel, and a university employee, which led to Schlissel’s removal.