Michigan was on its run of a lifetime in 2023, and hoped to defeat Penn State on the road. The squad was prepared, the drills were on point, and that playbook was waiting to be poured on the field. But even before the team could enter the field in Happy Valley, news came that should have shaken the team’s morale. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was going to be suspended for the infamous sign-stealing scandal for three games, starting from PSU.

“We really embraced it,” former Michigan tight end Colston Loveland said on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast on July 14. “I think he was suspended for six games total that year, the first three. Yeah, it was crazy. I think we all found out on Twitter something, and it was like, man, okay, this is some serious stuff. Yeah, we’re in the back of the bus like, ‘oh, this is crazy.’ But we embraced it, man.”

Loveland, himself a standout player in UM’s 2023 national title run, featured in the PSU game and went on to notch 649 receiving yards in the season. Despite those suspensions, it looked like there was no stopping Michigan. Maybe after the storm, after the suspensions, stability was finally in sight for the Ann Arbor program? Interestingly, though, that was the last season for Jim Harbaugh at UM as he took up the Chargers’ job amid the NCAA investigation that continued.

Instead of looking outside for a face to lead the program, AD Warde Manuel found a replacement within the program itself. Someone who had already played a major role as OC and OLs coach for Michigan, reaching the pinnacle since 1997: Sherrone Moore. Loveland stayed with the team and felt excited about what was to come. He notched 582 yards in 2024 and went as the overall 10th pick in the 2025 NFL draft. But stability never came to UM to Loveland’s surprise.

“That year, it just felt different. You know, I was like, ‘All right, we like we got to win this thing,'” Loveland recalled. “And then, you know, Coach Moore stepped in and did his thing at the end there.”

Sherrone Moore’s tenure was shaping up to be the next big chapter for Michigan. The program provided him with resources and enabled him to sign big-money prospects like Bryce Underwood. But at the end, all of it ended midway through the 2025 season after Sherrone Moore’s inappropriate relationship with a female staffer came to light. What should have stopped at a simple firing turned into a much more controversial affair.

After Michigan fired Moore for cause as he didn’t get the $13.9 million buyout, the former head coach allegedly broke into the staffer’s apartment. There, he reportedly threatened her and also threatened to kill himself. Now, after all of that, Sherrone Moore has reached a plea agreement, and the court has sentenced him to 18 months of probation. For Michigan, though, the fallout continues.

Michigan had hired a Chicago-based law firm to conduct an internal investigation into the athletic department’s workings. That cost the program roughly $11.5 million, and now, on July 16, the board of regents will have a final meeting to discuss further steps. That also includes potentially letting go of AD, Warde Manuel, after new allegations against him.

Hopefully, with new head coach Kyle Whittingham, UM will finally find stability and move away from its past controversies that have been plaguing the program in recent years.