University of Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel directed then-head football coach Sherrone Moore not to travel with executive assistant Paige Shiver ahead of the 2024 season amid concerns over their relationship, according to a new report on an ongoing investigation into the program’s culture.
The revelation comes from findings by the law firm Jenner & Block, which was hired to examine the athletic department following a series of scandals. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Manuel expressed concerns about Moore’s close relationship with Shiver days before the start of the 2024 college football season.
In a handwritten note on Michigan letterhead dated Aug. 29, 2024, Manuel wrote: “I told him I didn’t remember if we had already discussed, but that she couldn’t accompany him on trips.”
Moore, who succeeded Jim Harbaugh as head coach in 2024 after helping lead the Wolverines to a national championship in 2023, was fired in December 2025 following an investigation that found “credible evidence” of an inappropriate relationship with Shiver, a former staff member.
The pair’s relationship reportedly began in 2022 when Shiver was an intern and Moore served as offensive coordinator under Harbaugh. A physical relationship started during a recruiting trip to Colorado in January 2022, and Shiver later had an abortion that summer, according to the findings.
Harbaugh’s Unknowing Involvement
Text messages uncovered in the probe indicated that Shiver told Moore that Harbaugh had helped connect her with medical personnel for postpartum depression treatment without knowing the full context of their relationship.
“Don’t worry he doesn’t know everything and won’t[,] just knows I’m not well,” Shiver texted Moore at the time.
Harbaugh, now coaching the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, has publicly described Moore’s situation as a “tragedy” and said he has been in touch with his former assistant via text since the firing. However, there is no indication Harbaugh was aware of the full extent of the alleged affair during his tenure.
The Jenner & Block investigation highlighted that Michigan’s response to the situation was insufficient and raised questions about who was in charge of addressing the allegations. Moore and Shiver initially denied the relationship during earlier inquiries.
