Warde Manuel addresses Sherrone Moore situation in interview

Michigan Wolverines athletic director Warde Manuel has viewed the whole Sherrone Moore scandal through a different lens than many on the outside.

He had known Moore since 2018. When Jim Harbaugh left for an opportunity in the NFL, it was Manuel who promoted Moore to head coach of the iconic Michigan football program.

Manuel says he was hurt when an athletic department investigation revealed that Moore was having an improper relationship with a staffer, Paige Shiver.

Michigan AD Warde Manuel addresses Sherrone Moore situation

“I had known Sherrone since he got here, believed in him as a leader, believed that my staff is doing things the right way, and I felt hurt, and I felt betrayed by it,” Manuel recently said in an interview with Angelique Chengelis of The Detroit News. “It was personal, but it was also, I want to emphasize, for so many people that were affected by it. And it’s hard as a leader to have to enforce discipline on people that you care about and that you believe in, but it has to be done. There are a lot of people who claim to be callous, who say, ‘Oh, you should have fired him when the rumor was there.’ But you can’t just fire people on rumors with no evidence. So when the evidence was presented, it was a sense of betrayal and hurt for everybody who was going to be involved with a decision. Players, coaches, their families. Everybody.”

Manuel relayed that when he received the investigation report, he immediately called a meeting and dismissed Moore as the head coach of Michigan football.

Moore left visibly upset, and Manuel tried to get him to come back in an effort to calm him down. Moore eventually went to the now-former staffer’s home. She told police he threatened to harm himself. He was taken into custody and has since pleaded no-contest to trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device.

Moore was recently sentenced to 18 months of probation and a fine just over $1,000 in relation to that case, and he must continue receiving counseling and submit to drug and alcohol tests.

Shiver stated shortly after the incident that she had battled “years of manipulation, harassment and exploitation” while working as Moore’s executive assistant.

Manuel expressed sympathy for Moore and his family.

“I want Sherrone to get through this and to move forward for him and his family, and so I don’t have a reaction to the sentencing itself, more of a reaction to him as a person,” Manuel said. “I want him and everyone who’s affected to be able to get through it, to move forward, and to learn from it and to be better. That’s the way I think about it. I don’t judge any of the outcomes or the things that he’s going through.”