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andrea adelson
ORLANDO, FLORIDA — In his first comments since being nominated michigan Interim football coach Biff Poggi said Monday his players feel betrayed and angry following the firing and arrest of former coach Sharon Moore.
During media availability for the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Poggi was asked how he and his team have handled the events of the past week. Moore was fired last Wednesday due to an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. A few hours later, prosecutors said Moore forced entry into the staff member’s apartment.
He was later charged with felony third-degree home invasion and two misdemeanors: stalking and breaking and entering in a domestic affair. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel then selected Poggi as interim coach.
Poggi said he has spent the past week talking to players and listening to them, having several video calls with parents and trying to treat everyone with kindness and empathy.
“It’s been a tumultuous time,” Poggi said. “A lot of… first disbelief, then anger, then really, in the situation we’re in right now, kids, obviously, feel very betrayed, and we’re trying to get through that.”
Poggi said he has tried to help the players with, “a lot of arms around the shoulders, a lot of listening, a lot of talking, telling them you love them, but showing it, because words are cheap, and it takes a lot of time. You really have to be willing to listen.”
Earlier this season, Poggi served as interim coach against Central Michigan and Nebraska in place of Moore, who was serving a suspension as part of self-imposed sanctions for NCAA violations related to the Connor Stallions sign-stealing scandal.
Poggi served as head coach at Charlotte for two seasons, before returning to Michigan as associate head coach in February 2025.
Although he noted that there was no playbook to follow in a situation like this, Poggi said that Manuel basically told him to “love the kids and take care of them.”
“I don’t know that you can prepare for something like this,” Poggi said. “It’s been complicated. I want to listen to them. I want to understand what the kids are feeling and what their parents are feeling, and listening to a lot of things, and there’s been a wide range of emotions, and we’re going through those stages.
“They’re not over yet, and I don’t think they’ll be over for a while. The mandate that Warde Manuel gave me as athletic director when he asked me to be the interim coach was to love the kids and take care of them, and so that’s what I’m spending all my time doing.”
Poggi said he has had a conversation with the players about whether they want to play or opt out of the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 against Texas.
“We told them this is an individual decision for each of you, based on a very unique situation,” Poggi said. “So, we’re trying to be really sensitive to make sure that we’re not forcing anyone to do anything.”
But he also said that preparation for the football game has helped “a lot.”
“Because when they’re inside that rectangle for those hours that they’re either in meetings or at practice, it’s like a sanctuary,” Poggi said. “And a chance to not think about what it’s like to be constantly bombarded with media questions and things like that.”
