Michigan’s football players are still dealing with the fallout from the scandal that led the university to fire head coach Sherrone Moore. Now the team’s interim head coach is speaking out.
On Monday, Biff Poggi said Wolverines players are feeling betrayed and angry after Moore was fired and arrested last week.
“It has been a tumultuous time,” Poggi said. “A lot of ... first disbelief, then anger, then really, what we’re in right now is the kids, quite frankly, feel very betrayed, and we're trying to work through that.”
Poggi was named the interim coach after Michigan abruptly fired its head coach last Wednesday. Moore was subsequently arrested and later charged with felony home invasion and two misdemeanors.
Despite the turmoil, Poggi is preparing the Wolverines for their December 31 matchup with Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. Earlier this season, he served as the team’s interim coach during wins over Central Michigan and Nebraska after Moore was serving a suspension due to NCAA violations tied to the sign-stealing scandal.
Poggi is in his third stint as an assistant at Michigan, his first came as an analyst in 2016. The 65-year-old returned as associate head coach from 2021 to ‘22, after which he was hired as the head coach at UNC Charlotte. He lasted 22 games, going 6-16 before being fired midway through his second season. He returned to Michigan as the associate head coach before the 2025 season.
Michigan is now in a nationwide search for its next head coach. While Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer has said he has no interest in the job, he has been connected to it since the day Moore was fired. Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham and Washington’s Jedd Fisch have also been rumored to be in the mix.
We’ll see where the Wolverines turn next, but before then there the roster has a lot of healing to do.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sherrone Moore Scandal Left Michigan Players Feeling Betrayed According to Biff Poggi.