Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was detained by police and is “being investigated for potential charges,” hours after his shocking firing by the university when it discovered “credible evidence” he had been involved in an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member.”
Moore was booked into Washtenaw County Jail at 8:30 p.m. ET, according to online court records.
No charges were listed.
Police in Saline, Mich., helped locate and detain Moore on Wednesday night and handed him over to Pittsfield Township authorities for “investigation into potential charges,” Saline Police told ESPN in a statement.
“The City of Saline Police Department assisted in locating and detaining former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore,” the department said in a statement to ESPN. “Mr. Moore was turned over to the Pittsfield Township Police Department for investigation into potential charges.”
While Pittsfield Township Police did not name Moore, the department issued a statement late Wednesday night that it was investigating an alleged assault and that it had taken a suspect into custody.
Sherrone Moore leads his Michigan team off the field after warm-ups before the game in their blowout road win over Maryland on Nov. 22, 2025. Getty Images
The alleged incident occured on Wednesday at 4:10 p.m. local time, and police said that it “does not appear to be a random in nature.”
Further details were not released by the Pittsfield police.
News of the potential legal entanglement was the latest twist to Moore’s firing by Michigan in a move that shocked the college football world.
The school made the official announcement shortly before 5 p.m. that Moore had been “terminated, with cause, effective immediately” after Michigan had begun looking into him.
Biff Poggi was named interim head coach by Michigan in Moore’s place.
“Following a University investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member,” Michigan said in a statement. “This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”
University of Michigan officials opened up an investigation into Moore after receiving an anonymous tip about the inappropriate relationship, The Athletic reported.
After initially not finding any evidence, new details came to light over the last 24 hours, which prompted the firing, according to the report.
CBS Sports reported that donors to the program had become aware of the allegations against Moore recently and had started to tighten the purse strings on contributions.
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore reacts on the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Washington. AP
News of the university’s inquiry started to spread over the past few days and led to growing concerns among Michigan football staffers over their futures, with one telling the outlet, “It’s hard to ignore.”
Moore is married and has three daughters.
Moore had taken over as head coach in January 2024 after Jim Harbaugh led the Wolverines to a national championship and then departed for the NFL to take over as head coach of the Chargers.
Moore led the program to a 16-8 record during his two seasons at the helm in Ann Arbor, which included going 8-5 in 2024 and a victory in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama.
The Wolverines went 9-3 this season and ended the 2025 campaign with a 27-9 loss to rival Ohio State, which now will stand as Moore’s final game as head coach of the program.
The Wolverines are slated to play Texas in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31.
Moore was acting head coach for the final three Wolverines games of 2023 while Harbaugh served out a three-game ban related to the sign-stealing scandal that rocked college football that year, leading to three straight wins for Michigan to end the season.
Moore had also served as interim head coach for one game earlier in the year as Harbaugh served a suspension related to recruiting violations.