Has Michigan had enough yet?
Scandal is nothing new to the world-class university lately, but Wednesday's news felt like a different kind of stain in Ann Arbor.
A dozen days ago, Michigan took a stand. Wolverines players guarded the Block M at the 50-yard line like their life depended on it. Only when Ryan Day tracked down Sherrone Moore to tell him that Ohio State players had no plans to do to the Big House what Wolverines players did to the Horseshoe a year earlier did the home team begin its slow trudge up the Lloyd Carr Tunnel, with traveling Ohio State fans raining boos down on them throughout their exit.
The whole ordeal felt desperate, like the Wolverines were trying to hang on to something that was no longer theirs. Through all of the offensive ineptitude of the Moore era, through all of the too-close-for-comfort wins against underwhelming opponents, Michigan could hang its hat on one thing:
Beating Ohio State.
With that trump card now gone, it felt like the dawn of a new era in Ann Arbor.
And that was just on the football field.
Michigan fired Moore on Wednesday for cause. The school put out a 64-word statement that said more than enough, notably: “Following a University investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”
Think about that.
This school has fought tooth and nail in recent years to deny or mislead the public on details of its sign-stealing scandal. When it came to this, though, Michigan essentially served Moore up on a silver platter publicly.
Just how egregious was his alleged behavior?