The firing of Sherrone Moore surprised some, but the fallout after surprised everyone.
There had been some rumors swirling about for the last few weeks about Sherrone Moore and some inappropriate behaviors. On Wednesday afternoon, those rumors were confirmed when Moore was fired for cause. University of Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel released an official statement explaining why.
U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately. Following a University investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.
Biff Poggi has been appointed head football coach in an interim capacity, effective immediately.
That development was surprising enough, but what happened after has shaken college football to its core.
Sometime during the day, Moore was fired. The exact time isn't known, but based on the next few events, it was before 4 pm.
At 4:10 pm, the police are called to Moore's mistress' apartment. The following details were released later on that evening.
The Pittsfield Police Department responded to the above location at the above date and time for the purposes of investigating an alleged assault. The Department has received multiple media requests for information. A suspect in this case was taken into custody. The incident does not appear to be random in nature, and there appears to be no ongoing threat to the community. The suspect was lodged at the Washtenaw County Jail pending review of charges by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor. At this time, the investigation is ongoing. Given the nature of the allegations, teh need to maintain the integrity of the investigation, and its current status at this time, we are prohibited from releasing additional details. Further details regarding the incident will be released as soon as permissible.
Since that information came out, we have learned that Moore went to the staffer's apartment, broke in, retrieved butter knives and kitchen scissors and threatened to kill himself. He was obviously behaving erratically and in a very threatening way.
After the arraignment, we learned of Moore's official charges and conditions for release:
He was charged with Home Invasion in Third Degree, Stalking & Breaking Entering or Entering Without Breaking. In order to be released, he must come up with a $25K bond, must wear a GPS tether prior to release & must continue mental health treatment, per bond.
He's also not allowed to have any contact with the victim and must remain in the state of Michigan.
Per the arraignment today, his next court appearance is January 22.
This entire situation is absolutely unbelievable. Moore went from making around $6 million per year with incentives to being unemployed in a matter of hours. And, because he was fired for cause, Michigan is completely off the hook when it comes to any kind of buyout or guaranteed money. Then, to make matters worse, he absolutely lost it and got himself arrested, which probably means he'll never coach again. Throw in the damage it certainly did to his marriage and his life as a father, and the entire development is just sad.