Ex-Michigan coach Sherrone Moore sentenced to 18 months’ probation after plea deal

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – As former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore walked out of Washtenaw District Court on Tuesday, he gripped a Bible in one hand and his wife Kelli’s hand in the other.

A judge sentenced Moore to 18 months’ probation following his no-contest plea last month on two misdemeanor charges. Judge J. Cedric Simpson said Moore’s offense did not warrant jail time but delivered stern words to Moore from the bench.

“Frankly, Mr. Moore, you had no right to do what you did,” Simpson said.

Moore initially faced a felony charge of third-degree home invasion and two misdemeanors related to an incident that occurred Dec. 10, 2025, the day he was fired as Michigan’s coach. As part of a deal reached with prosecutors in March, Moore pleaded no contest to charges of malicious use of a telecommunications device and trespassing.

Michigan fired Moore for cause, alleging that he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. That staff member identified herself as Paige Shiver, Moore’s former executive assistant, in a statement issued through her lawyers following Moore’s plea agreement.

Prosecutors originally alleged that Moore sent Shiver repeated unwanted communications after she attempted to break off contact with him and disclosed their relationship to the university. According to police, Moore confronted Shiver at her apartment after his firing and made threats of self-harm. He was taken into police custody later that night in the parking lot of a church in Saline, Mich.

Simpson reserved some of his most poignant words for Kelli Moore, who sat in the front row of the courtroom. Simpson recounted Kelli Moore’s words to police as they searched for her husband and said her support saved Sherrone Moore from “the full wrath of the court.”

“She said something that was remarkable, and that is, ‘Tell him I love him, and tell him to come home,’” Simpson said, addressing Sherrone Moore. “Incredible. Listening to one of the calls, listening to her, I can hear your babies in the background. What she had to do was just an incredible burden. She didn’t bat an eye.”

Shiver did not deliver an in-person statement in court but submitted a letter pushing for harsher sentencing. Simpson said he would have preferred to “hear Ms. Shiver’s voice much more clearly and much more directly” during the proceedings and described Shiver’s voice as “clouded.”

After the sentencing, Shiver released a statement through her lawyers that described Dec. 10 as “the most terrifying day of my life” and said the sentence of probation “does not reflect the harm done to me or the objective evidence in this case.”

“The criminal acts (Moore) committed were extremely frightening and violent,” Shiver said. “He broke into my apartment, crying, yelling, enraged, and came at me with knives. I was threatened and I feared for my life.”

In his comments from the bench, Simpson explained that call logs viewed by the court did not support the original claim that Shiver tried to break off contact with Moore two days before his firing. Call logs showed the two had several phone conversations Dec. 8, after the period prosecutors had originally claimed that Shiver told Moore she had nothing more to say to him.

When prosecutors discovered the discrepancy, Simpson said, they recognized the evidence did not support the more serious charges of stalking and home invasion.

“There was no unwanted contact; there was no stalking,” Moore’s lawyer, Ellen Michaels, told reporters after the hearing. “And because there was no stalking, there was no home invasion with the intent to stalk.”

Under the terms of his probation, Moore is not allowed to use alcohol or drugs and cannot have contact with Shiver. His sentence was deferred, Michaels said, meaning the charges will be dismissed if he successfully completes probation.

Moore delivered a brief statement in court, making reference to his Christian faith thanking his wife for “her support, strength and for standing by me.” Sherrone and Kelli Moore stood arm in arm while Michaels took questions after the hearing but neither spoke to reporters as they left the courthouse.

“In this case, Sherrone Moore was judged by his past history of living a solid life and by doing good things,” Michaels said. “This was an isolated incident, and the punishment given by Judge Simpson today is a reflection of all those things.”

Michigan went 17-8 in Moore’s two seasons as head coach. He was previously the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach under former head coach Jim Harbaugh.