Maybe this is a regular Sherlock Holmes mystery.
The whodunit case of what happened to Sherrone Moore's text messages exchanged with disgraced former Michigan full-time football staffer Connor Stalions.
Moore, who coached several games a year ago as Michigan’s acting head coach, helped the Wolverines navigate Jim Harbaugh’s multiple suspensions.
Now, Moore is officially Michigan’s head coach, tabbed in January to replace Harbaugh after he returned to the NFL on the heels of the team’s controversy-laden national championship.
Moore continues to address those issues, more focus again on Michigan off the field than its quarterback battle or replacing a school-record 2024 NFL Draft picks.
Speaking Tuesday to reporters, Moore addressed the ongoing NCAA probe into former Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions, who is alleged to have perpetrated one of the most widespread cheating scandals in modern college football.
Moore recently was found by the NCAA to have deleted numerous text messages – 52, to be precise, though exactly to whom and what those messages contained was not fully known.
For his communications with Stalions? Moore says bring it on.
“All I can say is I look forward to them being released,” Moore told reporters when questioned about those deleted messages.
Of course, Moore presumably could have opted to release those messages on his own rather than delete them – probe be damned.
If the texts were fully exonerating, it would make much more sense for Moore to release them and risk a slap on the wrist rather than to delete them and raise more questions.
Depending on what level of violations the NCAA officially finds, if the sport’s governing body finds unquestioned proof of Moore’s guilt, as it did last week in hammering Harbaugh, Moore could face additional suspension. He was booted for a game last season for his role in a separate NCAA probe into the Michigan football program that centered on impermissible recruiting activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re cooperating with the NCAA fully and will continue to do so,” Moore said, citing the ongoing nature of the case prompting a need to preserve “confidentiality.”
But perhaps the contents of those messages will be revealed.
Nonetheless, as Michigan staffers or former ones such as Harbaugh have attempted to paint Stalions as a maverick, lone wolf who conjured up this nefarious scheme all on his own and without anyone’s knowledge on gamedays, a trove of text messages – deleted or otherwise – hardly seems to suggest a renegade employee embarking on his solo campaign.
Michigan, ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25, opens its 2024 season Aug. 31 at home against Fresno State. The Wolverines then host fellow 2023 College Football Playoff participant Texas the ensuing week; the Longhorns are No. 4 in the AP’s preseason poll.
Ever dealing with Harbaugh, most recently in the news for emphasizing he has no plans to apologize for any of his actions at Michigan, Moore also revealed that the former Wolverines quarterback and head coach no longer planned to attend the home opener against Fresno State, saying he’s going to remain “in the foxhole” with his Chargers squad.
Harbaugh had been slated to be an honorary captain for the contest.