Michigan OC Moore suspended for season opener
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore will be suspended for this week’s season-opening game as part of the school’s self-imposed penalties for violating NCAA rules that also led to coach Jim Harbaugh’s punishment.
Harbaugh said Monday an analyst will be elevated to fill Moore’s spot on the staff Saturday against East Carolina.
The school announced last week that it decided Harbaugh would serve a three-game suspension to start this season because of NCAA recruiting infractions.
“I’ve heard people comment it’s a slap on the wrist,” he said. “It’s more like a baseball bat to the kneecaps.”
Michigan handed down Harbaugh’s punishment in an attempt to get out in front of potential NCAA sanctions related to an investigation of impermissible contact with recruits during the COVID-19 dead period.
Harbaugh and Moore, a rising star in the coaching ranks, will not be on the sideline when the second-ranked Wolverines start the season. Both will be allowed to coach on non-game days, following NCAA rules.
Harbaugh also will miss games against UNLV and Bowling Green at the Big House.
Four of Harbaugh’s assistants will have an opportunity to lead the team during his suspension, he announced last week. He also named his 84-year-old father, Jack, assistant head coach and gave strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert an additional title as associate head coach.
Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter will serve as head coach in the opener. Special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh will fill his father’s role with the team in the first half of the second game, while running backs coach and former Michigan star Mike Hart will take over the duties in the second half.
In his second game back from a suspension, Moore will be the head coach in the final nonconference game.
Michigan is expected to contend for a national title after winning two straight Big Ten championships and appearing in consecutive College Football Playoffs.
The school previously proposed a four-game suspension for Harbaugh as part of a negotiated resolution to the case with NCAA enforcement staff, but the association’s committee on infractions reportedly declined to accept that proposal.
Without confirming the status of the negotiated resolution, which was submitted by Michigan to the NCAA last month, the governing body put out a terse statement in response to reports that the settlement was in danger of not being accepted.
The negotiated resolution Michigan submitted to the NCAA also included one-game suspensions for Moore and tight ends coach Grant Newsome, who is not expected to be subject to a self-imposed punishment.
Michigan self-imposing a penalty for Harbaugh does not end the case. It is unclear whether Michigan has received an official notice of allegations from the NCAA. Without a negotiated resolution, the case would need to go before the committee on infractions before a ruling is handed down.
That process could take months to complete and likely would stretch into 2024. Schools usually self-impose penalties as a way to get out in front of the NCAA, show cooperation and mitigate some of the damages of an eventual punishment.
The investigation involved impermissible texts and calls — including some by Harbaugh — to high school prospects during part of a pandemic-related dead period for contact with potential recruits. The NCAA also has been looking at whether a member of Michigan’s off-the-field football staff violated rules by doing on-the-field coaching during practice.
Harbaugh previously told NCAA investigators in multiple meetings that he would not agree to an unethical conduct charge for not being forthright, according to two people familiar with the situation. The people spoke earlier this year to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the investigation have not been shared.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Slumping Rangers slugger Adolis García was held out of Texas’ lineup for the third consecutive day Sunday, with president of baseball operations Chris Young saying the club wants the 2023 ALCS MVP to make some mechanical changes.
“We need him to kind of commit to some of these changes that we think will get him back to the ’23 version of himself and help him be the player that we know he can be,” Young said before Texas’ series finale against St. Louis.
García is hitting .155 in the past 20 games with 25 strikeouts. He is hitting .208 overall, with seven homers and a team-high 27 RBIs for a Rangers club that has struggled offensively. He ranked 14th in the majors with 122 home runs over the past four seasons.
García, who has started 55 of Texas’ 60 games in right field this season, missed only one other game before this weekend, with manager Bruce Bochy saying Friday that García was being given a mental break.
“It’s about the mental reset and coming back with more energy,” García told reporters Saturday. “I’m working on some stuff without the pressure of having to do something up there.”
García, 32, is in the final season of a two-year contract.
The anticipated return of Evan Carter to the active roster Tuesday, joining Wyatt Langford, Alejandro Osuna and Sam Haggerty, further crowds the Rangers outfield as García tries to return to the lineup.
“It’s going to be performance-driven at this point,” Young said.
Texas also made three roster moves before Sunday’s game. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (triceps fatigue) was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Thursday, catcher Tucker Barnhart was designated for assignment, and right-hander Codi Heuer was selected from Triple-A Round Rock.
The Blue Jays placed outfielder Daulton Varsho on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a left hamstring injury.
Varsho sustained the injury while attempting to leg out a triple during Toronto’s victory against the Athletics on Saturday.
Myles Straw will get the start in center field and bat eighth in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale.
Varsho, 28, is batting .207 with a team co-leading eight homers to go along with 20 RBIs in 24 games this season.
In other moves, the Blue Jays recalled utilityman Davis Schneider from Triple-A Buffalo, activated relief pitcher Erik Swanson from the 60-day injured list and optioned left-hander Easton Lucas to the Triple-A club.
Swanson, 31, has been hampered by median nerve entrapment since spring training, He has a 10.13 ERA with a 0-1 record in 5 1/3 innings during seven relief appearances in the minors this spring.
Schneider, 26, has gone 1-for-15 with one RBI and eight strikeouts in 10 games this season with the Blue Jays.
Lucas, 28, who was called up from Buffalo on Saturday and earned the win for the Blue Jays after 4 2/3 scoreless innings, is 3-2 record with a 5.82 ERA this season.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway