It’s been over a week since former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was fired and subsequently arrested, and it remains the biggest storyline in college football.
The topic arose on the Friday, Dec. 19 edition of ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ ahead of Oklahoma-Alabama in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Kirk Herbstreit applauded the Wolverines and interim head coach Biff Poggi for how they’ve handled the aftermath of the situation from a parents’ standpoint. Herbstreit’s son, Chase, is a freshman quarterback on Michigan’s roster.
‘It’s been interesting. I’ve been on a bunch of Zooms with the rest of the parents, listening in and trying to watch Biff Poggi try to navigate these uncharted waters,’ Herbstreit said on ‘College GameDay.’ ‘It’s been obviously a very difficult set of circumstances, something that not only Biff but the entire staff didn’t expect this, didn’t ask for this, and now they’re put in this situation.
‘I’ll just say, as a parent, I’ve been blown away by Biff Poggi and what he’s done. … Not necessarily surprised by that, but this is a difficult set of circumstances outside of Schembechler Hall. But what he’s done to be able to pull this team together (is) almost like a father figure to me. And the staff, these guys, a lot of these guys, who knows who the next head coach is gonna be. Maybe some will stay, maybe some are gonna be looking for other jobs. Meanwhile, they’re trying to continue to get ready for Texas.
‘So, I just want to say, as a parent, I salute the University of Michigan for how they’ve been able to try to keep this thing together, especially Biff, the entire staff, the coordinators. Dez (‘College GameDay’ analyst and former Michigan wide receiver Desmond Howard), I know you’d be very proud of what’s going on there. And now they got to go, like I said, get ready. These players are trying to lock in and block out all that noise. So, I tip my cap to them, and see how that’s looking forward to seeing how they play against Texas.’
The Wolverines announced on Wednesday, Dec. 10 that it Moore had been fired for cause after a university investigation found ‘credible evidence’ of him having been ‘engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.’
Moore was detained and booked later that day by police after the Pittsfield Township Police Department responded to an incident ‘for the purposes of investigating an alleged assault.’ He was officially charged two days later on Dec. 12 with third-degree felony home invasion and two misdemeanors of stalking related to a domestic relationship and breaking and entering-illegal entry without the owner’s permission.
Herbstreit wasn’t the only member of the ‘College GameDay’ desk to give Poggi credit for how he has stepped in since Moore’s firing and arrest. Poggi will serve as the Wolverines’ interim head coach in the Citrus Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 31 against Texas.
‘When you represent a university, we’re very much in a fishbowl. I mean the visibility is total 100%. We all have a responsibility and obligation to hold up that standard,’ former Alabama coach Nick Saban said. ‘You (Desmond Howard) went to a great university. The University of Michigan is a great place.
‘I think Biff has done a marvelous job in the way he’s handled this because he’s put the focus on the players and stayed with the players to get the players to come together. Michigan’s a first-class institution, and I know that they’ll come out of this in some kind of positive way, but I hope that we all learn something.’
Moore is set to return to court on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 9 a.m. ET.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.