New University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore is one of seven members from the 2023 football program accused of violating NCAA rules in a draft of the NCAA's notice of allegations.
The draft, obtained by ESPN, states Moore could face a show-cause penalty and possibly a suspension for allegedly deleting a thread of 52 text messages with former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions in October 2023 on the same day that media reports revealed Stalions was leading an effort to capture the playcalling signals of future opponents. The NOA draft is subject to change, ESPN reported.
Related: Sources: Alleged UM Sign-Stealer Bought Dozens of Tickets, Used 'Illegal Tech'
The draft states that the texts were later recovered via "device imaging" and Moore "subsequently produced them to enforcement staff." Moore is accused of committing a Level 2 violation, according to the draft, as reported by ESPN.
Moore, who took over as the Wolverines' head coach in January after serving as their offensive coordinator for several seasons, is considered a potential "repeat violator" by the NCAA. In August 2023, he negotiated a resolution to claims that he contacted recruits during a COVID-19 recruiting dead period, ESPN reported.
The new allegations against Moore, who inherits a program from Jim Harbaugh that won last season's national championship, are part of the long-anticipated notice of allegations related to Stalions' off-campus scouting operation.
According to ESPN's Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel, former Michigan staff members — including Harbaugh, Chris Partridge, Denard Robinson and Stalions — are also accused of committing Level 1 violations, the most serious category in the NCAA's enforcement process. The school also faces a Level 1 violation charge, according to the draft, because of its "pattern of noncompliance within the football program" and institutional efforts to hinder or thwart the NCAA's investigation. Former coaches Jesse Minter and Steve Clinkscale are also accused of recruiting violations unrelated to Stalions in the draft.
Despite this cloud following his school's football program, Warde Manuel, a former Wolverine football player himself, last month was named national athletic director of the year.
A spokesman for Michigan's football team told ESPN: "Our athletic department and university continue to cooperate with the NCAA regarding our ongoing investigation. We do not have an update to share regarding its status at this time."
Harbaugh, who left Michigan to coach the Los Angeles Chargers, is accused of not cooperating because he denied the NCAA's request to view relevant messages and phone records from his personal cellphone. The draft says Harbaugh could face a "show-cause" restriction if he ever opts to return to college sports.
Related: NCAA Officially Notifies Michigan of Allegations that Harbaugh Misled Investigators
As noted by Muprhy and Thamel, the Big Ten Conference suspended Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season as a punishment for Michigan violating the conference's sportsmanship policy in relation to the impermissible scouting operation that was run by Stalions. The draft of allegations does not provide any evidence that Harbaugh was involved in Stalions' operation or that he knew it was going on. The draft states that Harbaugh failed to actively look for or evaluate "red flags."
Per Murphy and Thamel:
Stalions resigned in early November following a week of public reports detailing his scheme of purchasing tickets to games around the country and directing a network of individuals to video the sidelines in an effort to decode their play-calling signals. The NCAA's draft obtained by ESPN states that investigators used ticket information, film, photographs and interviews to determined that Stalions had impermissibly scouted at least 13 future Michigan opponents on at least 58 occasions between 2021 and 2023. He directed others to scout some opponents multiple times -- including one team that they scouted seven different times in 2022, according to the draft.
The investigators also allege that multiple team interns and at least one other full-time team employee knew about the scheme and participated in it. The draft says that Stalions led those individuals to believe that what they were doing was not against the rules.
The draft also states the NCAA gathered evidence that shows Stalions was on the sideline at Michigan State's season-opening game against Central Michigan in 2023. Stalions was wearing a bench pass, Central Michigan coaching gear and a disguise, according to the draft, which states that Stalions' conduct "seriously undermined or threatened the integrity of the NCAA collegiate model." The draft does not say how Stalions obtained a bench pass for the Chippewas' sideline.
The NCAA's draft said Stalions failed to cooperate with its investigation. The draft states that in October 2023, he removed hard drives from the Michigan football offices and also gave a football player a sheet containing play-calling signals of a future opponent. It said Stalions asked the player to bring the sheet to a team intern's house until he could retrieve it later. Stalions also refused to let the school review his phone, according to the draft. Stalions has yet to publicly share many details about his side of the story, but he is expected to be interviewed for an upcoming Netflix documentary about the scheme.
