ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is expected to suspend coach Sherrone Moore for two games next season to address allegations that he failed to cooperate in the NCAA’s sign-stealing investigation that rocked college football during the Wolverines’ championship season under Jim Harbaugh in 2023, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Moore is expected to miss the Wolverines’ third and fourth games — home against Central Michigan on Sept. 13 and at Nebraska a week later —and all athletic-related duties during those weeks, they said.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the school’s proposed self-imposed sanction has not been announced. It has also not been finalized, according to a third person with knowledge of the situation, also speaking on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing. ESPN was the first to report the expected suspension.
The NCAA investigation into impermissible in-person scouting and sign stealing by Michigan hung over the second half of the team’s unbeaten season in 2023 and is still looming over college football’s winningest program.
The NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but it does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team’s signals. Records from other Big Ten schools showed former staffer Conor Stalions bought tickets to games involving future opponents, sending people to digitally record teams when they signaled plays.
Stalions initially was placed on leave by the school and later resigned. He did not participate in the investigation.
Last August, the NCAA alleged in a notice relating to its sign-stealing investigation that Moore violated rules as an assistant under Harbaugh, who served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its own investigation into the allegations after the two wound up in court.
Moore was accused of deleting text messages with Stalions before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has said he has and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation.
Moore served a one-game suspension during the 2023 season related to recruiting infractions and filled in as head coach for four games last year when Harbaugh was punished by the school and the Big Ten.
The NCAA previously put Michigan on three years of probation, fined the school and implemented recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in a recruiting case and banned Harbaugh from coaching college football for four years.
Michigan opens the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and at Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman.
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