The Tangled Web of "Win at All Cost": Michigan, Florida, and the Hypocrisy in College Football
Here we are, tracing the meandering path of accountability in college football, only to stumble upon a particularly pungent aroma of hypocrisy. The scene involves Michigan, Sherrone Moore, Florida, and Santa Ono, all intertwined in the ever-present and ethically dubious pursuit of winning at any cost. Prepare yourself, because the connections are as unsettling as they are predictable.
We are observing a microcosm of the chaotic, often unlawful environment that now defines college football. The stakes are high, the pressures immense, and the ethical compass often spins wildly.
First, we encounter Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s relatively new head coach. He’s teetering on the edge of his second NCAA suspension for cheating. This time, it stems from his alleged role in the Connor Stalions advanced scouting scheme that cast a long shadow over the Wolverines’ 2023 season.
Ah, 2023, the year Michigan marched to a national championship, a season characterized by both on-field dominance and flagrant NCAA violations. Cheating, to be precise. The Stalions scandal erupted mid-season, mere weeks after Michigan, seemingly anticipating NCAA scrutiny, self-imposed a three-game suspension on then head coach Jim Harbaugh and a one-game suspension on Moore (then the offensive coordinator) for earlier rules infractions during the pandemic-affected 2020 season. The narrative is almost too absurd to believe.
Instead of recognizing the severity of facing a second major NCAA investigation in less than four years, Michigan doubled down in 2023. A championship run was underway, and nothing, it seemed, was allowed to derail the juggernaut.
Enter Santa Ono, Michigan’s president, known for his pro-athletics stance. Rather than suspending Harbaugh for the remainder of the season following the revelation of Stalions’ extensive scouting operation, Ono chose to lead the university in a public and unprecedented battle against the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference. The move was so brazen, so lacking in even a veneer of justification, that the Big Ten couldn’t back down for fear of sparking open rebellion among its member institutions. Tony Petitti, the newly appointed Big Ten commissioner, was forced to intervene and do what Michigan refused to do and what the NCAA notoriously drags its feet in doing. He suspended Harbaugh for three games, including crucial rivalry matchups against Penn State and Ohio State.
Yet, Michigan, with Moore serving as interim coach, continued its winning streak, ultimately culminating in a national championship. This victory was perhaps aided, in part, by the somewhat surprising early exit of two-time defending champion Georgia from the College Football Playoff rankings after a narrow loss.
Following the championship triumph, Harbaugh departed for the NFL, accepting the head coaching position with the Los Angeles Chargers. Days later, Ono, in a decision that raised eyebrows across the college football landscape, hired Moore, a coach already implicated in NCAA violations, to lead the program known for its supposed high standards.
Now, the chickens are coming home to roost. Michigan, no longer defending a national championship, is opting not to fight this time. The university is reportedly self-imposing a two-game suspension on Moore for his involvement in the Stalions scheme.
And by "involvement," it is alleged that Moore deleted 52 text messages exchanged between him and Stalions on the very day the scheme was exposed. On that basis alone, Moore should not have been selected for the head coaching job. Yet, this is the same president who saw the overwhelming evidence in the Stalions case and chose not to suspend Harbaugh, seemingly believing that Harbaugh would not be involved in any questionable activities.
Remember, this is also the same Harbaugh who, during a Big Ten coaches conference call in 2020, accused Ohio State of engaging in illegal contact with recruits during the league-mandated shutdown of football operations. Those very allegations later became the basis of the NCAA’s charges against Michigan. Despite Harbaugh’s alleged lack of cooperation with NCAA investigators, the allegations were proven.
These initial allegations led to Michigan’s self-imposed three-game suspension of Harbaugh in 2023, along with a one-game suspension for Moore and another assistant coach. Knowing all of this, Ono chose to hire Moore as the head coach.
A year later, the university is self-imposing a two-game suspension on Moore for his role in the Stalions scandal.
Now, you might be wondering where Florida fits into this saga. After all, we’ve spent considerable time detailing the intricate web of events at Michigan involving Ono, Harbaugh, and Moore.
Well, after Ono’s distinctive handling of Harbaugh and Moore, and his tenure during the 2023 championship season, he stepped back from the spotlight, and so did Michigan’s football team in 2024. Just recently, the search committee for a new president at Florida identified only one finalist for the position. Santa Ono.
The same Florida that hasn’t captured a conference championship in football since 2008 and hasn’t played in either a BCS national championship game or in the CFP since that 2008 title-winning season.
The same Florida that has invested heavily in embattled head coach Billy Napier, whose on-field struggles have been overshadowed by a significant off-field issue. Napier is named in a multimillion-dollar breach of contract lawsuit filed by former signee Jaden Rashada.
Attorneys representing Napier and other defendants requested the dismissal of the lawsuit last summer, but the presiding judge denied the motion, allowing the case to proceed, potentially into this fall. This is precisely the time when Florida, if quarterback DJ Lagway remains healthy, might make an unexpected run for the College Football Playoff.
It’s not difficult to discern the irony in all of this. If Ono can navigate the NCAA and the Big Ten and guide Michigan to its first national title since 1997, surely he can help the Gators return to prominence for the first time in 17 years, or at least lead them out of their near two-decade-long football doldrums. And by "lead," the author suggests that Ono will embrace a win-at-all-cost mentality.
