Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore to serve two-game suspension over scouting scandal

Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore is expected to be suspended for two games during the 2025 season as part of the university’s self-imposed sanctions tied to the ongoing Connor Stalions advanced scouting investigation, sources told ESPN.

Moore will sit out Michigan’s Week 3 and Week 4 matchups against Central Michigan and Nebraska. During those two weeks, he will be barred from any team-related activities and will face additional, unspecified penalties related to recruiting. These sanctions were initiated by the university but could still be followed by further punishment from the NCAA. A final resolution is expected ahead of the 2025 season kickoff.
The timing of the suspension allows Moore to be on the sidelines for the team’s marquee Week 2 nonconference game against Oklahoma, his alma mater, after Michigan opens the season at home against New Mexico.
The penalties stem from the broader NCAA investigation into former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, who was accused in 2023 of orchestrating an illicit scouting network. Stalions allegedly dispatched associates to opponents' games across the country to record sideline signals, which he then analyzed to decode opponents’ playcalling.
According to a draft version of the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations obtained by ESPN in 2024, Michigan was cited for 11 violations—six of which were Level I, the most serious in NCAA classification. Moore’s involvement is connected to a separate, but related, Level 2 violation.
Moore, then the offensive coordinator, is accused of deleting a thread of 52 text messages with Stalions on October 18, 2023, the same day national media reports exposed Stalions’ alleged sign-stealing operation. According to the NCAA’s draft notice, investigators recovered the messages through device imaging, and Moore eventually provided the texts to enforcement officials.
This will be Moore’s second suspension in as many seasons. In 2023, he was held out of the season opener against East Carolina due to a different NCAA investigation. Now in his second year as head coach, Moore has guided the Wolverines through a turbulent period marked by multiple NCAA probes.
Despite the off-field challenges, Michigan has continued to recruit at a high level, recently landing No. 4-ranked pocket passer Matt Smigiel. The team is expected to remain a strong contender in the 2025 season, even amid lingering uncertainty around final NCAA rulings.