Sherrone Moore takes over a Michigan football team aiming to repeat as national champions. He also steps into a program under NCAA investigation from a sign-stealing scandal that rocked college football last year.
On Thursday, Moore went to Lucas Oil Stadium to represent the Wolverines during Big Ten Media Days. He sidestepped a question about the ongoing probe.
“As far as the NCAA, I’m not at liberty to comment about that,” Moore said, via Buckeye Huddle’s Tom Orr . “We’re just really worried about what we have going on with our team and our football program, and we’ll go from there.”
Michigan allegedly violated NCAA protocols by impermissibly scouting upcoming opponents in-person. Connor Stallions, a staffer who resigned in November, had purchased tickets to multiple games and allegedly sent text messages boasting about a sign-stealing operation.
The Big Ten suspended Jim Harbaugh for the regular season’s final three games. In his absence, Moore led Michigan to victories over Penn State and Ohio State.
Moore’s performance as acting head coach likely landed him the full-time job when the Los Angeles Chargers hired Harbaugh. The former offensive coordinator sounded like his old boss on Thursday when declaring that his team will approach the season with “contagious enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
Moore listed his lofty goals for his first season in charge.
“Win the big games,” Moore said . “Beat our rivals. Beat Ohio State. Win the Big Ten. Go to the College Football Playoff, and win it. For us, that’s something we strive to do.”
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