Media Reacts To Sherrone Moore’s Two-Game Suspension 

The never-ending saga that is Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal took another interesting turn on Monday when news broke of the Wolverines likely suspending head coach Sherrone Moore for the third and fourth games of the 2025 season as a self-imposed punishment in the sign-stealing case. 

Moore’s suspension is the latest domino to fall in a controversy that dates all the way back to the 2023 football season and has since captured the attention of college football fans — and especially Ohio State fans — across the country. 

With Michigan’s self-imposed suspension of Moore being revealed and the NCAA’s investigation into the sign-stealing scandal nearing its end, Buckeye Sports Bulletin took a look at how local and national media reacted to news of the punishment and what this means for the program moving forward.

(To read BSB’s Bobby Gorbett’s column on the Moore suspension, click here).

“The Michigan Wolverines have pushed back strenuously against the NCAA and the Big Ten in defending their honor in the great Connor Stalions caper. Yet they keep having head coaches suspended. Funny how the pugnacious stances of the last 18 months have worked out. 

“ESPN reported Monday that Michigan is suspending Sherrone Moore for two games this upcoming season. That’s an apparent backtrack from the combative, “grossly overreaching” and “wildly overcharging” tenor of the school’s January response to the NCAA’s notice of allegations against the program, which charged the Wolverines with major violations. Makes you wonder what was in the NCAA’s response to the Michigan response, which marked the final step before a Committee on Infractions hearing that sources tell Sports Illustrated is scheduled for June 6–7 in Indianapolis.

“But even if Michigan is at least partially acquiescing to the COI’s likely insistence that Moore face significant punishment, the Wolverines still possess a flippancy that is impossible to ignore. The school is suspending him for the third and fourth games of the season, against Central Michigan and at Nebraska, while clearing him to coach the first two, against New Mexico and at Oklahoma. That is, to say the least, unusual. Unless suspensions are specifically tied to conference games (this one isn’t), they almost always occur at the beginning of the season.

“Both the Oklahoma and Nebraska games are big deals, but ESPN noted in its story that Moore is an Oklahoma alum. Apparently that’s supposed to matter in terms of administering a suspension? Like, the school can’t derail the nostalgia tour and hurt his feelings by making him miss that game? Is this middle school or high-stakes, semi-professional football?

“Or could it be that the last thing the Wolverines want to do is play their opening road game of the season, against an SEC opponent, with a true freshman quarterback (if Bryce Underwood wins the job) and an interim head coach?

“Moore is making in the neighborhood of $6 million a year, and if returning to his alma mater is important to him, he could pay his own way during the offseason, rather than Michigan manipulating his suspension around that game. This seems like one last attempt by the university, while retreating from a previously entrenched position, to engage in some rear-guard action. The Wolverines seem to remain unserious about the Stalions saga and only grudgingly accept major sanctions.”  — Pat Forde, Sports Illustrated

“Michigan is making a wish and rolling the dice by self-imposing a two-game suspension on head coach Sherrone Moore. The wish is that this — along with some recruiting restrictions — will end Moore’s part in the Connor Stalions scandal. The gamble is that the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions still might not think the penalty is severe enough.

“Moore will miss the Central Michigan and Nebraska games. If you’re looking at the schedule and wondering why he’s missing games three and four instead of games one and two, look more closely at the logo of the week two opponent. Michigan plays at Oklahoma, which happens to be Moore’s alma mater. And because this is a school-imposed suspension and not an NCAA-imposed one, the school can place it wherever in the schedule the school chooses.

“In this case, it creates the funniest possible outcome. Moore misses a game against Central Michigan, the team Michigan sign-stealer extraordinaire Stalions moonlighted for in week one of the 2023 season when the Chippewas opened against Michigan State. It also creates a not-so-funny (for Michigan) scenario in which Moore misses the Big Ten opener against what should be an improved Nebraska team. And this suspension will be different that the ones former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh served in 2023. Back then, the rules allowed the suspended coach to work during the week of the game. Now? Moore isn’t allowed at meetings or practice those two weeks. …

“So why do this now? Michigan is closing in on a Committee on Infractions hearing that will focus on the Stalions scandal — but also loop in some unrelated recruiting matters. Behind the scenes, Moore’s team has spent months trying to craft a negotiated resolution with the NCAA enforcement division. Former Michigan assistants Jesse Minter and Steve Clinkscale just removed themselves from the broader case through negotiated resolutions. …

“This is a calculated risk, though. The hearing will take place before the football season, but given the usual timeline of these cases, the COI wouldn’t hand down a judgement until sometime during the season. Michigan would appeal any penalties it disagrees with, and it’s safe to assume the school would disagree — at least initially — with any further suspension of Moore. The length of the appeals process would push any further suspensions into the 2026 season. 

“Perhaps that’s what Michigan officials are banking on. If their gamble doesn’t pay off, they deal with a similar situation that they’ve deemed manageable, except one year later. Or maybe they simply hope two games, chosen at the school’s convenience, will be enough for the COI.” — Andy Staples, On3

“Like a hidden camera you don’t know is there, we cannot escape the sign-stealing saga centered around your 2023 national champion Michigan Wolverines.

“Jim Harbaugh is gone. Conor Stalions is gone. Nearly every significant on-field contributor from the team is gone. Yet the punishments remain.

“Michigan announced a self-imposed, two-game suspension for current head coach and then-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore. Moore will not only miss Michigan’s third and fourth games of the season against Central Michigan and Nebraska, but he won’t be allowed to be with the team during the week, either. That’s a difference from Harbaugh, who served multiple suspensions during the 2023 season but was able to lead practice. …

“The two-game suspension is very much in line with the slap on the wrist for which Michigan is looking. I mean, if Michigan were really taking this seriously and was scared of what the NCAA would do, it wouldn’t be allowing Moore the opportunity to pick when he’s suspended, would it?

“Yeah, perhaps it raised an eyebrow when you saw Moore was suspended for Weeks 3 and 4 and wondered why Michigan felt it was necessary to have Moore for the New Mexico game. The reason behind it is Michigan’s second game at Oklahoma. Not only is it a difficult game, but Oklahoma is Moore’s alma mater and the school didn’t want to punish their coach enough to force him to miss a game that’s so important to him. …

“Whether you think this punishment is too harsh or not nearly enough, I don’t care. I won’t bother trying to convince you one way or the other. Personally, I think Michigan’s done enough. Harbaugh served multiple suspensions in 2023, including the season-ending win against Ohio State. The team won the national title anyway. Now, Harbaugh’s in Los Angeles with a pointless show cause, Conor Stalions is the subject of a bad Netflix documentary, all the players are gone and Moore will serve a suspension this year.

“It’s time we move on. College sports are on the precipice of changes most of us couldn’t have imagined only 15 years ago when Ohio State coach Jim Tressel ended up losing his job because five players got free tattoos. I’d bet 15 years from now we’ll look back at Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal in much the same way.

“I can see it now. Peyton Manning’s son, Marshall Manning, will be nearing his 30th birthday and playing for the Tennessee Volunteers. They just beat Florida State in the SEC Championship Game (which was played in London) for their fourth consecutive SEC title and the College Football Playoff awaits. Will they get through all six rounds unscathed to claim another national title? And, if they do, will Marshall finally consider giving the NFL a shot or just retire and go into broadcasting like his father? Then somebody will mention the name Conor Stalions, and we’ll all laugh at how stupid the NCAA was.

“In all seriousness, if the NCAA decides to punish Michigan further, what purpose will it serve? It’s an institution whose very existence is threatened by foundational changes to college athletics. Would it not be better served to spend its time figuring out how to navigate the sports it governs through the future than wasting time deciding how players who had nothing to do with anything that happened be punished?

“Let this two-game suspension be the last of it so we can all get on with our lives.” — Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports 

“Remember every Michigan player, coach and even the school president posting “Bet.” on social media? Didn’t sound like a program admitting it did wrong, because it wasn’t a program admitting any wrongdoing.

“How the tables turn. That was Michigan sowing, making sure it was able to kick the ball off a few more times and hang a banner before it was time to reap. Now that the suits in Indianapolis are ready to talk punishments based on the facts of how Harbaugh chose to monitor his program — or let it slip into scandal — the Wolverines are ready to settle, come to the table and actually take some sort of responsibility for the integrity of the sport coming into question back in 2023.

“This isn’t some Ohio State conspiracy started by Ryan Day. And it’s certainly not conjured up by Buckeyes fans mad that Michigan has flipped the rivalry on its head in the last four meetings, three under the cloud of the sign-stealing and one in the aftermath — when the playing field seemed back to level.

“This is about a program that is finally coming to its senses, understanding that it did do something wrong on its way to a national title win. And one that knows more fallout is on the way when the committee on infractions meets in early June.

“Moore’s suspension won’t be the last of the punishments for all of this. The Wolverine On3’s Chris Balas reported Monday that other potential punishments could be “a 7.5 percent reduction in official visits for one year and a three-week prohibition on recruiting communications and unofficial visits, a reduction of in-person recruiting days” (just over 10 percent, so probably around 20 days). In addition, it’s been proposed that Moore will not be allowed to recruit on Friday nights during 2025 regular season road games and could receive a “letter of admonishment.”

“And nobody can erase what we all saw. Michigan went 15-0 and won a championship, its first outright, undisputed title since the Truman administration.

“But it’s also now possible — and even expected — to question just how much of an advantage Michigan had, even if it didn’t need that advantage with its loaded roster, to climb to the top of the sport. Isn’t that the biggest punishment of them all? Making sure even Michigan begins admitting its title comes with the asterisk a lot of college football fans have been placing on it all along?

“Suspending Sherrone Moore shows that the program finally realized it did something against the rules. The realization is even more of a punishment than the suspension, although the two-game absence is likely just the beginning.” — Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row 

“The University of Michigan isn’t just calling audibles on the field, it’s doing it behind closed doors, too. As college football braces for yet another controversy-filled season, the Wolverines have issued a self-imposed two-game suspension for head coach Sherrone Moore. But this move feels less like discipline and more like a calculated distraction. The timing, conveniently placed during low-risk matchups, raises eyebrows and signals that Michigan might be more concerned with optics than true accountability.

“The reason behind the suspension is allegedly deleting a 52-message text chain with former staffer Connor Stalions, the central figure in a brewing sign-stealing scandal. The deletion reportedly took place the same day the scandal hit the headlines. If that doesn’t raise a red flag, nothing will.

“The move looks less like accountability and more like a smokescreen. Michigan’s athletic department isn’t denying wrongdoing, they’re just hoping to control the narrative before the NCAA does. But this isn’t damage control; it’s damage delay.

“The silence from the NCAA so far is deafening, but it won’t last. They’re watching. And if Michigan thinks it can run the clock out on this investigation with a couple of sacrificial Saturdays, they may be in for a rude awakening.

“This is the same program that suspended Jim Harbaugh for three games last year while letting him coach practices like nothing ever happened. The playbook hasn’t changed, only the names have. Moore’s absence won’t change Michigan’s win-loss column much, but it says volumes about what the program values: appearance over integrity. While players chase trophies, leadership seems more focused on staying one step ahead of a scandal that’s catching up fast. 

“This isn’t just about one assistant coach or a few deleted texts. It’s about a culture that seems increasingly willing to trade ethics for edge. And unless someone blows the whistle loud enough, don’t expect Michigan to stop calling its own penalties.

“The scoreboard might not show it yet, but Michigan is already taking losses off the field, and in plain sight.” — Times Of India Sports Desk