College football world stunned by Michigan’s sudden Sherrone Moore firing

The Michigan Wolverines finished the 2025 regular season 9-3 (7-2 Big Ten), a solid enough record but still below expectations given the program's recent standard of College Football Playoff contention.

Worse yet, the season closed with a loss to rival Ohio State and increased scrutiny of on-field performance, particularly special teams, prompting the firing of special-teams coach JB Brown after the loss to the Buckeyes.

Now the program has taken another step toward overhauling the staff, this time at the very top.

On Wednesday, Michigan announced it had fired head football coach Sherrone Moore, a move sources described as a termination for cause that immediately ends Moore's two-season run as the Wolverines' head coach.

In a statement, the university claimed that Moore had engaged in "an inappropriate relationship with a staff member."

The announcement came as Michigan prepares to face Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on December 31.

Statement from Michigan on Sherrone Moore’s firing: pic.twitter.com/QBy9ETJKXB
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) December 10, 2025

The college football world was quick to react online.

"Just literally got out of the shower. Sherrone Moore, fired? I feel like I know stuff, I don't know stuff. I thought he was getting another year. I don't even know what to speak. I'll just say this, we don't play for 9-3 at Michigan, " said Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy.

"The wildest College Football Coaching cycle ever gets even wilder. Michigan is one of the top jobs in football and absolutely locked in NIL wise. Could be a domino effect job that opens up another big job," another fan posted.

"This the final moment of the Sherrone Moore era at Michigan. His final game ends being told that Ohio State isn’t going to plant a flag, and they were going to win with humility," wrote 10TV's Adam King.

This the final moment of the Sherrone Moore era at Michigan.

His final game ends being told that Ohio State isn’t going to plant a flag, and they were going to win with humility. pic.twitter.com/BG4kq5Wefn
— Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) December 10, 2025

"I’m shocked to hear the news of Sherrone Moore’s firing. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will turn ugly in the coming months," another user posted.

"Michigan fires Sherrone Moore. I cannot stress to you how rare it is for a school to get this specific when publicly announcing a firing," said college football analyst Matt Fortuna.

"Sherrone Moore was fired because he wasn’t good. It’s that simple. Michigan trying to frame it as being fired for sleeping with another employee is disingenuous," another fan wrote.

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore. — Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore cheer on as he runs onto the filed for warmup at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Moore was an internal promotion after years on staff, with a contract reported at roughly 5 years and $27.5 million.

Under Moore, the Wolverines finished the 2024 regular season at 8-5, and then followed this up with a 9-win 2025 campaign.

Michigan’s decision also came against the backdrop of the long-running 2023 advance-scouting investigation.

The NCAA’s infractions process led to a substantial fine package and additional penalties in 2025; both Michigan and Moore withdrew appeals of those penalties in late October, leaving the sanctions in place and the program’s reputational exposure unresolved.

Termination without cause typically triggers a large liquidated-damages payout to the coach, while termination for cause can relieve the university of some or all of that obligation.

Multiple recent coach-firing disputes around the sport show “for-cause” determinations are frequently litigated when the stakes include multi-million-dollar buyouts.

Moore’s contract reportedly included a $13.8 million buyout; if the university’s ‘for-cause’ determination is upheld, Michigan could avoid paying much or all of that amount.

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