Paige Shiver said former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore manipulated her during a relationship that stretched for nearly four years and left her feeling trapped. In her first public interview since Moore was arrested last December, Shiver said she believed the relationship began consensually in January 2022, after she had started as an intern in the program in October 2021.
Shiver said Moore told her he was in a loveless marriage and would soon divorce his wife. Over time, she said, his attention turned controlling. “He had complete control over me, over my emotions, over my career, and he knew that, and he used it against me,” she said, adding that whenever she tried to leave, he pulled her back by making her feel he could not live without her.
That account matters now because Moore has already been sentenced this month to 18 months of probation after being fired for the relationship. He had faced up to six months in jail after pleading no contest to trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device, while a felony home invasion charge was dropped as part of a plea deal. The charges stem from a Dec. 10 incident in which police said Moore entered Shiver’s apartment the same day he was fired, blamed her for losing his job and threatened to kill himself with butter knives.
Shiver said she feared for her life and repeatedly asked him to leave. She told News that Moore stood in her apartment, hood up and crying, and said she ruined his life. In text messages she shared with the network, Moore wrote, “I hate you” and “My blood is on your hands” after the incident. She said she had to keep reminding herself that he was not listening and that he knew he had power over her.
The university’s handling of the case has also added to the fallout. Michigan said it terminated Moore promptly after discovering his undisclosed workplace relationship with a direct report and said his conduct violated university policy. University President Domenico Grasso said in December the school was investigating to find more information and determine whether any related misconduct by others had occurred. Shiver described the relationship as an open secret within the athletics department, and Ellen Michaels, speaking for Moore, said he had closed this chapter. Shiver’s account now answers the question hanging over the case: she says this was not just a broken affair, but a pattern of control that turned personal and professional power into fear.
