Michigan football interim coach Biff Poggi said it’s been a ‘complicated’ past few days for staff members and players since the firing and arrest of ex-Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore during an availability on Monday, Dec. 15 ahead of the Citrus Bowl.
Poggi’s remarks were his first public comments since he was elevated to interim head coach on Wednesday, Dec. 10 by Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel after Moore was fired — with cause — by the university after it found ‘credible evidence’ through an investigation that Moore had been ‘engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.’
‘Unique and complicated,’ Poggi said at an availability on Dec. 15 in Orlando, Florida. ‘Multiple levels of complexity that our young people are dealing with, our university is dealing with, our athletic director, Warde Manuel, is dealing with and our team, our coaches and our kids.’
Poggi even went as far as saying there’s nothing in a playbook to prepare a team for what Michigan has experienced the past handful of days.
‘I don’t know that you can prepare for something like this,’ Poggi said. ‘It’s been complicated.’
Moore was detained and booked on Dec. 10 by police after the Pittsfield Township Police Department responded to an incident at 4:10 p.m. ET on Dec. 10 ‘for the purposes of investigating an alleged assault.’ It was learned during Moore’s arraignment on Friday, Dec. 12 that the incident occurred at the home of the Michigan staff member he had an ‘intimate relationship’ with.
He was officially charged on Dec. 12 with home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering. As noted by USA TODAY, the home invasion is a felony count charge, while the charges of stalking and breaking and entering are both misdemeanors.
He was released from the Washtenaw County Jail in Michigan shortly after his arraignment after posting his $25,000 bond.
‘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.’
Michigan is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET, Dec. 31 kickoff against Texas in the Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
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