U-M’s Moore violated NCAA rules, NOA draft says

New Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore is one of seven members from the 2023 football program accused of violating NCAA rules in a draft of the NCAA’s notice of allegations obtained by ESPN.

The draft, which could be subject to change, states Moore could face a show-cause penalty and possibly a suspension for allegedly deleting a thread of 52 text messages with former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions in October 2023 on the same day that media reports revealed Stalions was leading an effort to capture the playcalling signals of future opponents.

The draft states that the texts were later recovered via “device imaging” and Moore “subsequently produced them to enforcement staff.” Moore is accused of committing a Level 2 violation, according to the draft.

Moore, who took over as the Wolverines’ head coach in January after serving as their offensive coordinator for several seasons, is considered a potential “repeat violator” by the NCAA because in August 2023, he negotiated a resolution to claims that he contacted recruits during a COVID-19 recruiting dead period.

The new allegations against Moore are part of the long-anticipated notice of allegations related to Stalions’ off-campus scouting operation.

Former Michigan staff members Jim Harbaugh, Chris Partridge, Denard Robinson and Stalions are also accused of committing Level 1 violations, the most serious category in the NCAA’s enforcement process. The school also faces a Level 1 violation charge, according to the draft, due to its “pattern of noncompliance within the football program” and institutional efforts to hinder or thwart the NCAA’s investigation. Former coaches Jesse Minter and Steve Clinkscale are also accused of recruiting violations unrelated to Stalions in the draft.

Neither Michigan nor the NCAA responded to requests for comment Sunday.

Harbaugh, who left Michigan to coach the Los Angeles Chargers after leading the Wolverines to a national title in January, is accused of not cooperating because he denied the NCAA’s request to view relevant messages and phone records from his personal cellphone. The draft says Harbaugh could face a “show-cause” restriction if he ever opts to return to college sports.

The Big Ten suspended Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season as a punishment for Michigan violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy in relation to the impermissible scouting operation that was run by Stalions. The draft of allegations does not provide any evidence that Harbaugh was involved in Stalions’ operation or that he knew it was going on. The draft states that Harbaugh failed to actively look for or evaluate “red flags.”

Stalions resigned in early November following a week of public reports detailing his scheme of purchasing tickets to games around the country and directing a network of individuals to video the sidelines in an effort to decode their playcalling signals. The NCAA’s draft obtained by ESPN states that investigators used ticket information, film, photographs and interviews to determined that Stalions had impermissibly scouted at least 13 future Michigan opponents on at least 58 occasions between 2021 and 2023. He directed others to scout some opponents multiple times — including one team that they scouted seven different times in 2022, according to the draft.

The investigators also allege that multiple team interns and at least one other full-time team employee knew about the scheme and participated in it. The draft says that Stalions led those individuals to believe that what they were doing was not against the rules.

The draft also states the NCAA gathered evidence that shows Stalions was on the sideline at Michigan State’s season-opening against Central Michigan in 2023. Stalions was wearing a bench pass, Central Michigan coaching gear and a disguise, according to the draft, which states that Stalions’ conduct “seriously undermined or threatened the integrity of the NCAA collegiate model.” The draft does not say how Stalions obtained a bench pass for the Chippewas’ sideline.

ESPN’s attempts to reach Stalions for comment Sunday were unsuccessful.

The NCAA’s draft said Stalions failed to cooperate with its investigation. The draft states that in October 2023, he removed hard drives from the Michigan football offices and also gave a football player a sheet containing playcalling signals of a future opponent. It said Stalions asked the player to bring the sheet to a team intern’s house until he could retrieve it later. Stalions also refused to the let the school review his phone, according to the draft. Stalions has yet to publicly share many details about his side of the story, but he is expected to be interviewed for an upcoming Netflix documentary about the scheme.

Partridge, a former defensive assistant who was fired by Michigan last November, is accused of pressuring a player to lie or mislead NCAA investigators in an effort to “protect” the coaching staff during the probe into Stalions’ scheme, according to the draft. He is also accused of several Level 2 rule violations that are not associated with the Stalions case. The draft states that during the spring and summer of 2023, Partridge held on-campus training sessions with at least four prospects.

Partridge, Clinkscale and Robinson are all accused of providing impermissible benefits to recruits in 2023, including paying for a recruit’s meal and providing recruits with team gear. Clinkscale is also accused of helping a recruit get verified on Instagram and for writing a $100 check to a golf charity outing that was run by a recruit’s father. Partridge and former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter are accused of Level 2 violations for sending text messages to a recruit who was a high school sophomore.

Clinkscale and Minter are now assistants on Harbaugh’s staff in Los Angeles. Partridge is now an assistant coach for the Seattle Seahawks. Robinson was fired from his support staff position in May following a drunken driving arrest.