NORMAN, Okla. -- Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, set to begin a two-game suspension next weekend as part of the recent NCAA investigation into sign stealing, will still be allowed to stay with his team next week.
Moore is permitted to take part in practices and meetings ahead of Saturday's game against Central Michigan (Noon, Big Ten Network), but will not be allowed on the sideline, according to the recent ruling from an NCAA Committee on Infractions panel.
The two-game ban was self imposed by Moore and Michigan, recently found to have operated an impermissible advanced scouting operation from 2021 to 2023. The Wolverines were slapped with probation, fines in excess of tens of millions of dollars and recruiting restrictions as a result. Connor Stalions, the former Michigan staffer at the center of the probe, and former head coach Jim Harbaugh were assessed show-cause penalties by the NCAA.
"The prohibition includes all coaching activities for the period of time that begins at 12:01 a.m. on the day of the first contest from which he is suspended and ends at 11:59 p.m. on the day of the last contest of that season's suspension," the NCAA wrote in the 74-page ruling.
That means Moore, who admitted to deleting a thread of 52 text messages with Stalions in October 2023, will miss next Saturday's game against CMU, the week of prep leading up to Michigan's Big Ten opener at Nebraska on Sept. 20, and the game against the Cornhuskers itself.
"During that period, Moore may not participate in any coaching activities, including but not limited to team travel, practice, video study, recruiting and team meetings," the ruling states.
Moore clarified his status following Michigan's 24-13 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday. He is expected to name an interim head coach for the time he's out at some point this week.
"We'll get to that," Moore said. "Right now, I'm going to take (what happened tonight) and fix the things we've got to fix here and then we'll get to that."
The requirements for Moore's suspension differ from that of his predecessor, Harbaugh, who served two three-game bans during the 2023 season, as Michigan dealt with dueling NCAA investigations en route to a national title.
In both suspensions, one self-imposed in response to recruiting violations and the other by the Big Ten for sign stealing, Harbaugh was still allowed to operate the program during the week. He was not credited with wins in the first suspension, but was for the second.
In this case, the results of Michigan's upcoming games against CMU and Nebraska will not count toward Moore's coaching record. The Wolverines are 10-6 all time with Moore as their head coach, a record that stretches back to 2023 when he served in an interim role against Bowling Green.
He is also set to miss Michigan's 2026 season opener against Western Michigan, an added game from the NCAA that the school is planning to appeal. This is not Moore's first run-in with the NCAA; he served a one-game suspension in 2023 for related recruiting violations as an assistant coach at Michigan.
"It's hard. It's something that you don't ever want to do -- but we'll handle it as a full staff, a full unit," Moore said. "We'll stay together as an organization and get better from it."