Michigan’s Sherrone Moore facing two-game suspension in 2025 season
Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore will serve a university-imposed two-game suspension during Weeks 3 and 4 of the 2025 season, according to ESPN’s Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel.
The self-imposed sanction stems from the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the program in 2023.
Moore will coach Michigan’s season opener against New Mexico and their Week 2 visit to Oklahoma, his alma mater. He will not be available for Week 3 against Central Michigan or Week 4 against Nebraska.
According to ESPN, “Moore’s suspension ties back to Moore allegedly deleting a thread of 52 text messages with [Connor] Stalions, a former Michigan staffer at the heart of Michigan’s alleged sign-stealing scheme.”
The texts were recovered through “device imaging” and Moore later produced them to enforcement staff. He’s accused of committing a Level 2 violation.
Moore previously served a one-game suspension in Week 1 of the 2023 season but could face additional punishment depending on the resolution reached between Michigan and the NCAA.
This latest action comes less than a year after the NCAA cited Michigan for 11 violations, six of which were Level 1 violations.
## Michigan sign-stealing allegations, explained
The NCAA informed Michigan on October 18, 2023, that it was investigating whether the team scouted opponents in person to steal signs.
Sign stealing itself is allowed in college football, but only if done without electronics to relay information. In-person scouting of future opponents has been banned since 1994.
Yahoo reported that two Michigan opponents reported concerns to the NCAA about potential sign stealing.
This brought attention to a curious halftime interview by Rutgers coach Greg Schiano during their September game against Michigan.
“There are some things going on that aren’t right as well, so we’ll talk about how to handle it,” Schiano told the Big Ten Network with Rutgers trailing 14-7 at halftime.
## Who is Connor Stalions?
Stalions worked as a defensive analyst at Michigan from May 2022 to October 2023. He now serves as offensive coordinator at Belleville High School in Michigan.
The retired Marine Corps captain was considered a “low-level staffer” but reportedly played a central role in the NCAA’s investigation.
“It was known in the building that [Stalions] spent much of his time deciphering opponents’ signals, often watching television copies of opponents’ games,” according to ESPN.
Michigan suspended Stalions with pay on October 20, 2023. ESPN later reported that Stalions bought tickets “for more than 30 games at 11 Big Ten schools over the past three years.”
ESPN’s Dan Murphy reported that Stalions purchased tickets on both sides of Ohio Stadium for the Week 8 Penn State vs. Ohio State game, but they went unused after news of the investigation broke.
On November 3, Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel reported that Michigan had fired Stalions.
The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach added that Stalions “allegedly refused to cooperate with any internal or external investigations or discussions regarding the alleged scouting and sign-stealing scheme.”
Dan Treacy contributed to this report.
