How much does a championship cost? For Michigan, its 2023 college football national title season came at the expense of its reputation.
The program, defined as much by scandal as success under former head coach Jim Harbaugh, reached rock bottom on Wednesday, when head coach Sherrone Moore was fired for cause after officials confirmed he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a staffer.
The saga took a darker turn when Moore was arrested after police responded to a call about an alleged assault later in the day. Per ESPN’s Dan Wetzel, charges are still pending in that matter.
Below, we look at the various scandals and other low marks that have redefined Harbaugh’s Michigan legacy.
Connor Stalions saga
Michigan’s title run was tainted by a sign-stealing scheme that Stalions played a significant role in operating, and in August 2025, Harbaugh was handed a 10-year show-cause order by the NCAA after an investigation into the cheating scandal. That penalty was placed on top of a four-year show-cause order due to recruiting violations after breaking rules in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning Harbaugh isn’t allowed to coach at the NCAA level until 2038, when he would be 73.
Moore was also suspended three games as a result of his failure to cooperate with the investigation, while three others — defensive coordinator Kevin Minter, co-defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale and assistant director of player personnel Denard Robinson — were named as committing recruiting violations in the same report.
Multiple staffers arrested
In January 2023, assistant Matt Weiss was fired following a “report of computer access crimes” that occurred at the football facility the previous month. He was indicted in March 2025 on multiple counts of unauthorized computed access and aggravated identity theft after being “accused of hacking the email, social media and cloud storage accounts of thousands of female athletes from across the country and downloading their intimate photos and videos,” per ABC News.
Per The Athletic, a 2025 class-action lawsuit — separate from the federal case — claimed Harbaugh, athletic director Warde Manuel and former university president Santa Ono knew about the private information breach in December 2022 but declined to address the matter before the team’s College Football Playoff national semifinal against TCU.
Harbaugh’s departure for the NFL in January 2024 to coach the Los Angeles Chargers didn’t improve matters.
Defensive line coach Greg Scruggs was arrested on a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated less than a month after being hired in March 2024. He was initially suspended indefinitely before resigning.
One month later, Robinson was arrested following a drunk driving crash in which he reportedly had a 0.158 blood-alcohol level — the legal limit is 0.08. The university fired him in May.
In October 2024, Robinson was sentenced to 18 months probation. “I’m OK with being held accountable for it,” Robinson said, a rarity for a “Michigan Man.”
On-field decline
Michigan tolerated the multitude of scandals when convenient, but as the losses piled up, the off-field transgressions became impossible to ignore.
In Moore’s first season as head coach, Michigan lost five games, its most since 2017. This season, it was outclassed at home against Ohio State, ending a four-year winning streak in the heated rivalry.
Sherrone Moore scandal
Moore’s firing and arrest on Wednesday may lead to a full house-cleaning. As Harbaugh’s hand-picked successor, the shameful end to Moore’s run as head coach should be the last blight of a scandal-filled era.
But the damage is already done. The Harbaugh era at Michigan will be remembered not for the one national championship win but rather its countless scandals. Being a “Michigan Man” used to be badge of honor. But now? There are few greater red flags.
