University of Michigan athletics has faced several scandals, arrests and suspensions under the leadership of athletic director Warde Manuel.
University of Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel once again sees his department embroiled in a scandal.
Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was fired with cause Wednesday, Dec. 10, with the university claiming in a statement Moore had an "inappropriate relationship with a staff member."
At the same time it was announced, Moore was being arrested in Saline, and is under investigation while in Washtenaw Country jail, as of Friday morning.
This is the latest in a long series of scandals that have plagued Michigan's athletic department since Manuel assumed the job in 2016. The scandals have been so numerous that it has caused some to call for Manuel to be fired for creating "Michigan's lawless environment."
And while Moore's firing and accused behavior is just the latest scandal, many more continue to reverberate throughout the college landscape.
Still, Manuel received a five-year contract extension in December 2024 that runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2030.
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Here is a timeline of the scandals and embarrassing incidents from Michigan athletics during Manuel's leadership.
Grant Perry gets in fight outside East Lansing bar
Date: Oct. 15, 2016.
What happened: Perry allegedly groped a Michigan State student in a bar, which led to a fight outside the establishment and, eventually, charges for the sophomore wideout. He pleaded guilty in June 2017 to a felony – a count of resisting a police officer – and a misdemeanor – assault and battery – in a plea deal that wiped out two counts of misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and an alcohol charge.
A week after receiving 12 months probation in early August 2017, Perry was reinstated by Michigan football in a statement from Manuel after then-coach Jim Harbaugh said Perry would not “represent the team in games until” the conclusion of the legal process.
Zavier Simpson crashes Warde Manuel wife's car, lies to police
Date: Jan. 26, 2020.
What happened: Simpson, Michigan's senior point guard, was questioned by police, after they found Simpson next to a crashed car in Ann Arbor. Simpson initially lied to police about the crash, and said his first name was “Jeff” and middle name was “Jackson," but eventually revealed he had been driving the car, loaned to him by Manuel's son Evan and belonging to Manuel's wife, Chrislan.
Simpson was eventually suspended for one game and was issued a civil infraction, but didn't face any charges for lying to police.
Juwan Howard suspended after Michigan basketball fight
Date: Feb. 20, 2022.
What happened: Howard, the Michigan basketball coach, was suspended following his involvement in a postgame fight between the Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers. Howard smacked Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft on the head, which started a scrum in the handshake line.
Howard was suspended for the rest of the regular season, five games in total, with two players (forwards Moussa Diabaté and Terrance Williams II) each suspended for one game.
Howard was fired after the 2023-24 season after five seasons.
Mel Pearson fired from Michigan hockey after misconduct
Date: Aug. 5, 2022.
What happened: Pearson, the Michigan hockey coach, was fired after a bevy of issues surfaced surrounding the program.
Pearson and director of hockey operations Rick Bancroft were alleged to have created a toxic work environment for female employees and pressured student-athletes to lie about their COVID-19 status. Bancroft was also alleged to have known about sexual misconduct committed by deceased Michigan football team Dr. Robert Anderson against more than 1,000 former athletes and other students.
Pearson was also accused of lying to investigators looking into culture concerns within the program.
Mazi Smith arrested, pleads guilty to gun charge
Date: Oct. 7, 2022.
What happened: Smith, a Michigan defensive lineman, was arrested after police found him with an unregistered gun during a traffic stop. Smith was not suspended from the program and continued to play, even as he was charged with a felony in December of 2022.
Smith eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser weapon charge and was sentenced to probation, avoiding jail time. He was drafted No. 26 overall in 2023 by the Dallas Cowboys.
Matt Weiss fired, indicted for hacking computers to spy
Date: Jan. 18, 2023.
What happened: Weiss, the Michigan co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, was fired after a police investigation at the University looked into accusations of computer hacking.
Weiss was later indicted in March 2025 with the FBI accusing Weiss of hacking into personal accounts of over 3,300 student-athletes, mostly women, to steal intimate personal photos and videos.
Weiss is currently the subject of the federal case and a separate lawsuit involving many of the athletes who accuse him of identity theft. Ex-Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, former university president Santa Ono and the university also are named in the lawsuit.
Shemy Schembechler resigns due to social media activity
Date: May 20, 2023.
What happened: Glenn "Shemy" Schembechler, son of longtime Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, resigned three days after being hired as a Michigan football assistant recruiting director after it came to light his Twitter account was filled with "liked" transphobic tweets, political conspiracies and multiple racially insensitive posts, including some which implied slavery and Jim Crow aided the strengthening of Black people and families.
Jim Harbaugh suspended for Michigan recruiting violations
Date: Aug. 21, 2023.
What happened: Harbaugh, the Michigan football coach, sat out the first three games of the 2023 season with a school-imposed suspension after the NCAA delivered a draft notice of allegations. The violations included in-person recruiting contacts and tryouts during the NCAA-mandated COVID-19 dead period, and exceeding the number of allowed coaches participating in both “on- and off-field coaching activities," according to the NCAA.
In August 2024, the NCAA handed down punishments for the program: Probation for three seasons (2025-27), a fine for Michigan and recruiting penalties, as part of a deal between the NCAA enforcement staff, Michigan and "five individuals who currently or previously worked for its football program."
Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal with Michigan football
Date: Oct. 19, 2023.
What happened: Michigan football was eventually put on a four-year probationary period and ordered to pay what could be as much as $30 million in fines following an investigation that began during the 2023 season centered on Stalions, a staff analyst who devised an impermissible in-person scouting scheme for dozens of games Michigan was not involved in over multiple years.
On. Aug 15, 2025, the NCAA made its ruling public. Harbaugh, who in 2023 took a Big Ten-imposed three-game suspension to end the regular season for violating the conference's sportsmanship policy due to the sign-stealing scandal, received a 10-year show-cause order. "Harbaugh ran a program that was largely dismissive of rules compliance," the NCAA wrote in a damning section of its report.
Moore was given a school-imposed two-game suspension, and the NCAA added a third game in 2026; Moore only served two of those games before he was fired Dec. 10.
Denard Robinson, a staff member during the 2022-23 seasons, received a three-year show-cause order.
Stalions also got Central Michigan punished for disguising himself as a CMU staffer on the Chippewas' sideline of the 2023 regular-season opener against Michigan State in East Lansing.
Alex Yood fired after alleged underage solicitation
Date: Nov. 2, 2023.
What happened: After Yood, a 22-year-old, was captured in a viral video being confronted by two men who alleged he was attempting to meet a 13-year-old girl, the Wolverines quickly parted with the low-level staffer.
Chris Partridge fired for alleged interference of sign-stealing investigation
Date: Nov. 17, 2023.
What happened: Partridge, the linebackers coach, was canned after Michigan said it "received evidence that you have failed to abide by the University directive not to discuss an ongoing NCAA investigation with anyone associated with the Michigan Football Program or others and as a result has determined that you have failed to satisfactorily perform your duties," according to its termination letter to him. He allegedly interfered with the investigation into the Wolverines' sign-stealing scandal.
Partridge said in a statement 10 days after his dismissal he had no knowledge about any proscribed sign-stealing activity, nor did he instruct anybody in or around the program to destroy any evidence.
Greg Scruggs arrested for OWI, resigns from Michigan football
Date: March 16, 2024.
What happened: Scruggs, a newly hired defensive line coach, resigned after two weeks on the job, after his blood alcohol content was double the legal limit when he was arrested by Ann Arbor Police for suspected drunk driving around 3 a.m.
Denard Robinson arrested for OWI, loses Michigan football job
Date: April 15, 2024.
What happened: Robinson, a former Michigan standout quarterback and, at the time, a recruiting staffer, was arrested after being involved in a single-car crash at 3 a.m. in Ann Arbor. He was found to be operating while intoxicated and was then suspended.
A month later, Robinson was confirmed to no longer be with the program.
Sherrone Moore fired by Michigan football, arrested
Date: Dec. 10, 2025.
What happened: And now we come to the latest scandal, with Moore remaining in jail and expecting an arraignment on Friday, Dec. 12.
Associate coach Biff Poggi has been named the interim coach as Michigan prepares to play the Texas Longhorns in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31, but maybe not before a coaching search identifies Moore's replacement.
Manuel in an April 2024 interview with the Free Press was asked about the growing incidents, saying he did not like it "when we have issues with any of our teams." The list, and fallout from previous incidents, has only grown since.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan scandals under Warde Manuel from Matt Weiss to Sherrone Moore
Category: General Sports
