Sherrone Moore is in a fix. Is his time coming to an end in Ann Arbor? The two-game suspension he’s staring down at could be the beginning of an end.

This is no longer a minor slap on a reputation. We’re talking about a coach at the center of one of the most tangled webs in college football. All stemming from the Connor Stalions sign-stealing saga. Michigan tried to get ahead of the NCAA heat with a self-imposed suspension for Sherrone Moore during Weeks 3 and 4 this fall against Central Michigan and Nebraska, respectively. That’s for the convenience of keeping him available for that marquee Week 2 matchup against Oklahoma, his alma mater. But it’s what could happen after that sends a shiver down his spine. 

Nevada Buck, the ever-blunt B1G insider, didn’t sugarcoat it. In a conversation with Kirk Barton on Ohio State Football at Buckeye Scoop on May 7, he fired a piece of his mind. “For even the stupidest Michigan fan, they got to look at this and be going this can’t all be a coincidence. This can’t all just be some amazing bad luck that our president resigned or suspended Sherrone Moore or recruiting’s gone to heck. And we’ve got this looming case with the NCAA which nobody can really explain why.”

And then, he dropped the hammer on Sherrone Moore. “I don’t see how Sherrone Moore escapes getting a show cause,” he said. “I am telling you right now, I’m at a loss right now. Sherrone Moore is done at Michigan. He’s done. I don’t think he’s ever going to coach again at Michigan. I think his tenure’s done.” A possible show-cause penalty. That’s what could free him from the Wolverines. 

According to NevadaBuck, there’s real smoke about Sherrone Moore facing a show-cause penalty from the NCAA. “If Sherrone Moore gets a show cause, I don’t know exactly what the rules but Coach Meyer is under the impression, a lot of people are under the impression, that if you have a show cause, you can’t coach in college,” he said. That’s the same type of career-crippling punishment that sent Jim Harbaugh packing for the NFL. If Moore faces the same ruling, he wouldn’t be just ineligible to coach at Michigan, but he would become radioactive across college football. Such a big scar! 

It’s hard to ignore what happened between Sherrone Moore and Connor Stalions. The Wolverines head allegedly deleted 52 text messages exchanged with the main guy behind the scandal. And that too on the same day news broke out about that infamous spy scheme. Suspicious much? The NCAA claimed it recovered those messages through device imaging and nailed Moore with a Level 2 violation. Combined with the fallout from Stalions’ debacle and the fact that other assistant coaches like Jesse Minter and Steve Clinkscale have already taken separate show causes, it paints a damning picture. 

Will Sherrone Moore face Jim Harbaugh’s fate?

Jim Harbaugh was lucky enough to win the LA Chargers’ head coaching job immediately after the sign-stealing scandal. But it’s not like he didn’t pay the price for it and what happened back in 2020. He took a self-imposed three-game hit in 2023 for recruiting violations during the pandemic season. But that didn’t stop the NCAA from handing him a four-year show cause that banned him from coaching in college until 2028.

If that’s the bar, Sherrone Moore’s odds of skating free look grim. “I think that Sherrone Moore’s done because the NCAA will hit him with at least a one-year show cause of not a multi-year show cause and I don’t believe they can continue to have him be the head coach at Michigan,” NevadaBuck added. 

The NCAA has still yet to reach a final decision. But a resolution is expected before the season kickoff. If it mirrors Jim Harbaugh’s fate, we hate to say it, but Sherrone Moore’s toast. This almost feels like Michigan soft-launching his exit. Suspend him for two games, saying it’s self-discipline and brace for the hammer. Because Ann Arbor is in dark times right now. The program’s president, Santa Ono, is leaving, and the stink of the Stalions scandal is only getting worse. 

For a guy once seen as Jim Harbaugh’s successor and Michigan’s future, Sherrone Moore is now squarely in the NCAA’s crosshairs. The fact that he won’t even be allowed to coach practice during his suspension weeks, unlike Harbaugh, speaks volumes. And if he does get this show cause? Forget Michigan; he might not coach anywhere in college football again.