Ryan Clark and Jemele Hill say race is shaping the fallout from the Sherrone Moore scandal

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Sherrone Moore’s career is definitely in jeopardy after he was hit with three charges, including a felony, following his firing from Michigan for an alleged “inappropriate relationship” with an employee.

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement that “credible evidence was found that Coach Moore had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.” He was arraigned Friday on home invasion and stalking charges, with prosecutors claiming Moore had an “intimate relationship” with the Michigan employee for “a number of years” and that the woman broke up with him on Monday.

During Thursday’s edition of ESPN’s “First Take,” former NFL player-turned-analyst Ryan Clark insinuated that Moore, the first African-American head coach in Michigan history, “failed” potential black coaching candidates.

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Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore watches warmups before the Hoosiers game at Memorial Stadium on November 9, 2024 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Getty Images)

“He let down a community of coaches that would love to follow him for an opportunity to coach at a historically great university like Michigan. That was the opportunity he had when he failed at …” Clark said.

“If you’re Sherrone Moore, who was the first African-American head coach at the University of Michigan, there’s also a community of coaches who would love to follow in your footsteps, who will be judged in part because of your actions. He’s got to own it. He’s got to at some point recognize that he’s got to be held accountable for it, whether those things were after him or not…rebound. He’s going to be treated like Mel Tucker and Michael Haywood.”

Tucker was fired from Michigan State for alleged harassment, as was Haywood from Pittsburgh. Haywood didn’t coach again for another five years until he took the job at Texas Southern. Petrino was fired from Arkansas in 2012 after it was revealed he had an extramarital affair, but he was hired by Western Kentucky just eight months later.

Michigan Wolverines head football coach Sherrone Moore before the Northwestern Wildcats game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Nov. 15, 2025. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

FIRED MICHIGAN COACH SHERRONE MOORE ACCUSED OF STALKING VICTIM ‘FOR MONTHS’ IN POLICE ISSUING AUDIO

Former ESPN host Jemele Hill offered similar sentiments, also naming Tucker and Petrino, citing “the difference in who gets another chance to be a head coach.”

“While I think Sherrone Moore is a cornball, before we start painting his firing, Mel Tucker’s and Ime Udoka’s as some sort of indictment of black male coaches, let me remind you of the following names: Hugh Freeze, Bobby Petrino, Rick Pitino, Mike Price, among others,” Hill wrote on Threads. “The difference is who gets another chance to be a head coach. And you can guess who usually gets another chance.”

“Rick Pitino is seen as a redemption story. Black coaches don’t usually understand that. I don’t care about Sherrone Moore. He earned what’s coming, but unfortunately, black coaches will probably pay for what he’s done — and that’s not right,” Hill said in a post on X.

Prosecutors accused Moore of contacting staff via phone calls and text messages after the breakup, prompting the woman to contact the University of Michigan and cooperate in the investigation. Moore was subsequently fired from his position as a football coach, which prosecutors said prompted him to show up at her home.

Moore then allegedly “barged” his way into the residence, grabbed a butter knife and kitchen shears and began threatening his own life. According to prosecutors, Moore allegedly told the employee, “My blood is on your hands” and “You ruined my life.”