The Jenner & Block investigation into the culture of the University of Michigan athletic department provided potentially damning new findings, which included athletic director Warde Manuel having suspicions of an inappropriate relationship between ex-football coach Sherrone Moore and former football staffer Paige Shiver.

The law firm found that Michigan’s response to the situation was insufficient, and it was not clear who was taking charge of the wrongdoing allegations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. 

Among the findings was the revelation that Manuel had expressed concerns about Moore’s close relationship with Shiver days before the start of the 2024 college football season.

Then-head-coach Sherrone Moore of the Michigan Wolverines watches the game against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium on November 22, 2025 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo Getty Images

Manuel wrote in a note on Aug. 29, 2024, which was on Michigan letterhead: “I told him I didn’t remember if we had already discussed, but that she couldn’t accompany him on trips.”

The law firm’s findings discovered that Moore messaged Shiver on Instagram a month after she started as an intern in November 2021, asking her, “What’s your drink of choice?”

The pair’s physical relationship began during a recruiting trip to Colorado in January 2022 and later that summer, Shiver had an abortion. 

The findings also stated, per the WSJ, that Shiver texted Moore that she was being treated at a hospital for postpartum depression and that then-head coach Jim Harbaugh had “helped” connect her with the “head person here.” 

“Don’t worry he doesn’t know everything and won’t[,] just knows I’m not well,” she texted Moore at the time. 

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel watching a celebration after the Wolverines’ win over Michigan State. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

And allegations of the inappropriate relationship started to come to light after Moore became head coach and Shriver was made his executive assistant. 

The full report has not been made public, but the information that has come out raises even more questions about the culture of the athletic department while Manuel’s future there is up in the air. 

Paige Shiver, the executive assistant of fired Michigan coach Sherrone Moore. Instagram/@paigeshiv

Manuel told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Monday that there were no plans for him to leave his post as AD. 

“The president and I have had several great conversations over the past couple of days. There are no plans for me not to continue to be the athletic director for the near future,” he said.