Disgraced former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore impregnated his subordinate girlfriend during their years-long relationship that was an open secret in the world of Wolverines athletics, she said in an interview that aired on Friday.
In her first public comments about the scandal that rocked one of college football's most storied programs, Paige Shiver, 32, said she began seeing Moore in 2022 while she was an intern and he was a married offensive coordinator. She later became his executive assistant after Moore was elevated to head coach in early 2024, following Jim Harbaugh’s departure for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Shiver said she loved Moore at the time, but now knows better.
"Obviously looking back at things and really reflecting on what happened, what was happening ... it's not love at all," she told ABC's "Good Morning America."
Even when she tried to end the intimate relationship, Shiver said Moore pressured her to stay.
"He and other coaches had control over my career, especially him," Shiver said. "I mean, he could fire me in a second."
When she explicitly told Moore she wanted out, the coach allegedly told her his life would fall apart without her.
"Every time I tried to pull away, he always had a story, always had a way to pull me in and making me feel that I couldn't leave him because he was so miserable without me," Shiver said.
At one point of their relationship, Shiver allegedly became pregnant with Moore's baby. The pregnancy was further complicated by Shiver's diagnosis with Pompe disease, a serious muscle-weakening condition, her attorney told NBC News on Friday.
"Multiple doctors and experts told me that it wouldn't be right or healthy for me to keep the baby," Shiver told "GMA."
She said she shared the news with Moore, who allegedly replied: "You have to do what's right for your body."
Shiver terminated the pregnancy, according to her attorney.
Shiver, who no longer works at Michigan, said she felt compelled to speak out so other young women are not caught in similar circumstances. She said the relationship was well known around South Campus, yet nothing was done to rein in the powerful coach.
"Yes, he controlled everything that was going on in my life, and they (Michigan officials) didn't do anything about it," she said.
Shiver's attorney, Andrew Stroth, amplified his client's point by calling this relationship an "open secret" and citing the school's "systemic failure to comply with basic policies and procedures created and enabled a hostile and male dominated environment at Schembechler Hall that traumatized Ms. Shiver."
"The university chose to focus solely on winning at all costs on the football field and to disregard Ms. Shiver’s safety and well-being," Stroth said in a statement on Friday.
"Interim President Domenico Grasso, General Counsel Tim Lynch and the Board of Regents must take accountability for this failure and commit to building a NCAA and Title IX compliant Athletic Department across all sports."
The university said officials acted swiftly as soon as Shiver told them about the affair in December.
“The University of Michigan terminated Sherrone Moore promptly upon discovering his undisclosed workplace relationship with a direct report," assistant VP Paul Corliss said in a statement on Friday.
"His conduct violated university policy, and we expect more from our leaders. The University of Michigan is committed to ensuring a professional and respectful workplace for all members of its community.”
A rep for Moore could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
Within an hour of his firing, an angry Moore confronted Shiver at her apartment and threatened to hurt himself, officials said.
Moore pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors, malicious use of a telecommunications device in the context of a domestic relationship and trespassing for his post-firing confrontation with Shiver.
He was sentenced to 18 months of probation.
The former assistant said she feared for her life during those tense moments and believes he deserved time behind bars.
"I think he should have gotten more punishment for what he did," Shiver said.
