Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was handed three charges, including felony home invasion, by the Washtenaw County (Mich.) Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, two days after he was fired by the university for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Moore has been charged with home invasion in the third degree, stalking and breaking and entering or entering without breaking.
The most serious of the charges is home invasion, which punishable by up to five years in prison. Moore is accused of “unlawfully entering the victim’s residence to commit the crime of stalking and committing that crime while in the residence.” The charges of stalking and breaking and entering are both misdemeanors. Moore is set to be arraigned at 1 p.m. ET.
Moore, 39, was fired with cause from his position on Wednesday, with athletic director Warde Manuel saying the termination was the result of an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member.” The shocking end of Moore’s tenure after just two seasons as coach was just the start of the story, as he was in police custody mere hours later.
How the industry is reacting to Michigan firing Sherrone Moore: ‘Didn’t think it was actually going to happen’
Richard Johnson
Moore was detained by the Saline (Mich.) Police Department before being turned over to Pittsfield Township police “for an investigation into potential charges.”
The Pittsfield Police Department said in a statement that officers responded to a location at 4:10 p.m. on Wednesday “for the purposes of investigating an alleged assault.” A suspect in the case “was taken into custody” and brought to the Washtenaw County jail pending review of charges. The incident, police said, “does not appear to be random in nature.” Moore, at the time, was not named in the statement.
While the situation surrounding Moore’s relationship with the staff member and subsequent firing was a surprise to the public, it was “the worst-kept secret,” CBS Sports reported Thursday. One high-level Michigan booster told CBS Sports that “everybody in the program has known this the last two seasons,” and that Schembechler Hall was “swarming with lawyers” earlier this month.
Moore was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach after Jim Harbaugh departed Michigan to coach the Los Angeles Chargers on the heels of the Wolverines winning the national championship. In two seasons at the helm, Moore led the Wolverines to a 16-8 record.
Michigan finished the regular season with a 9-3 record and is set to play Texas in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31. Associate head coach Biff Poggi was appointed interim coach while the university looks for Moore’s replacement.
