Michigan
Michigan interim coach Biff Poggi: Sherrone Moore situation ‘dead to me’
ANN ARBOR – Biff Poggi didn’t hold back Monday when asked about his thoughts on former Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore.
Poggi, 66, is serving as the Wolverines’ interim coach for the second time this season, but his current role has been vastly different than when he led the team to wins over Central Michigan and Nebraska in Weeks 3 and 4 when Moore was suspended.
Now he’s trying to mitigate a mess created by Moore, who is facing three criminal charges stemming from an incident after he was fired Dec. 10 for having an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member.
“That whole situation is dead to me,” Poggi said in his first news conference in Ann Arbor since being named interim coach after Moore’s dismissal. “I’m not spending one second thinking about that nonsense.”
Poggi, who served as an analyst at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh in 2016 and then associate head coach in 2021 and 2022, joined Moore’s staff this season in the same role. He has interviewed to become the Wolverines’ next head coach and wants to fix what he described as a “malfunctioning organization,” but his current job description entails so much more than just preparing the team for its Dec. 31 Citrus Bowl against Texas.
“To love and care for the kids,” Poggi said of his current role. “That’s it. And, we do know something about football. I’ve probably been the head coach for 300 games in high school and college. Football’s football.
“Right now, it’s not about winning a game, it’s not about auditioning. It’s not about anything. It’s about focusing on these kids and their families, and that’s it. That was my mandate, and that’s what I’m trying to do every single day.”
As successful as Michigan has been on the field over the past five seasons – a run that includes three Big Ten titles, a national championship and four wins over Ohio State – the program has also been ensnared in multiple scandals. Harbaugh and Moore both served suspensions and received show-cause penalties from the NCAA stemming from recruiting violations and repercussions for the sign-stealing saga.
The program itself was hit with hefty fines following the NCAA’s investigation into impermissible advances scouting. Two former offensive coordinators – Moore and Matt Weiss – are facing criminal charges, while other staff members also have been fired for incidents involving law enforcement.
Parents have expressed concern to Poggi behind the scenes, and he said his obligation is to be upfront and honest with them.
“These are hard talks to have because one thing you have to do with players and their families, the minute they think you’re lying to them, it’s over,” said Poggi, a former hedge fund manager. “I believe that’s why the portal is so big and it’s getting bigger every year… because kids are told things and their families are told things that aren’t true. If I don’t know an answer that is asked me from a kid or a parent, I’ll tell them I don’t know and I’ll do my best to find out. If I do know, I tell it to them whether I think they want to hear it or not.
“Look, let’s face it. The kids that have been here four and five years with their families, there’s been something kind of every year that’s been messy…whoever the next guy in this seat is, his mandate is going to be to fix it.”
Poggi, who went 6-16 at Charlotte from 2023-24 in his only stint as a college head coach, hopes to be the person to fix it. He has largely been able to keep Michigan’s roster intact, at least in the meantime. Only one player, backup quarterback Jadyn Davis, has announced his intention to transfer, while 25 of the 27 recently signed recruits remain in the fold.
Last week, Michigan players shared how they were “shocked” and “blindsided” by the Moore situation. Poggi said he and the coaches also were angered by what transpired.
In the aftermath of Moore’s departure, Poggi said he has changed “basically everything” about the day-to-day operations inside the program. Practices and meetings have been shorter but more up-tempo.
Enjoying football and having fun has been an emphasis.
“It’s been a blast,” he said. “It’s been a blast for the coaches; it’s been a blast for them (players). And the work has been outstanding. The level of practice has been outstanding. The concentration in meetings have been outstanding.
“We haven’t played a game in a long time, so we’ll see. Texas, I mean, come on, we’re all watching the CFP, and the fact that they’re not in it and some other (teams) are is, like, mind-numbing. Really excellent team, but, our kids are going to show up and do the very best they can.”
The Michigan Wolverines are still looking for a head coach after they fired Sherrone Moore. They were connected to Arizona State’s Keny Dillingham and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, but neither appears to be headed to Ann Arbor after Dillingham signed an extension and DeBoer publicly stated he was staying.
A new name has emerged in their search, with On3’s Pete Nakos saying that Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm “has emerged as a name of interest.” Brohm is from Louisville and played for the Cardinals before starting his coaching career. However, Nakos is also reporting that he has not yet signed a contract extension that Louisville has been working on since the fall.
“It’s unclear at this point how far along Brohm is in the process with Michigan, but he’s a clear name of interest,” Nakos added. “Other names that continue to come up in conversation with sources include Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and interim head coach Biff Poggi. Michigan would ideally like to make a hire for the long term, if it identifies the right target, sources said.”
Brohm has had success in the Big Ten, going 36-34 as Purdue’s head coach from 2017-22 before leaving to take over Louisville. He ended his time at Purdue on a high note, going 17-9 over and 12-6 over his final two seasons, winning the Big Ten West in 2022.
He is 27-12 in his three seasons at Louisville, guiding them to an ACC championship game appearance in 2023. Prior to taking over Purdue, he spent three seasons as Western Kentucky’s head coach, going 30-10. The Cardinals are set to play Toledo on Tuesday in the Boca Raton Bowl to close their 2025 season.
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Journal Sentinel beat writer discusses Badgers’ win vs Central Michigan
Journal Sentinel reporter John Steppe shares some quick thoughts on Wisconsin’s 88-61 win over Central Michigan.
MADISON – Wisconsin frequently displayed a warm, inviting fireplace graphic on the Kohl Center video board, complete with brick around the fireplace, stacks of firewood on each side and “staying warm with Wisconsin basketball” text.
The play on the court was even more picturesque for much of the second half as the Badgers used a big run in the second half to blow past Central Michigan, 88-61, on Dec. 22 at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin outscored Central Michigan in the second half, 48-33, and many of CMU’s second-half points came when the game was already well out of reach. The Badgers had a 25-3 scoring run, which quickly turned a 13-point lead into a 35-point lead.
The Badgers won with their bench players taking on bigger roles.
Austin Rapp had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting along with seven rebounds. Braeden Carrington, three days after missing the Villanova game with an injury, had nine points off the bench.
The only two bench players who did not score were Isaac Gard and Riccardo Greppi, and they only played one minute and 23 seconds. UW’s 44 bench points were its most in a game since at least the 2006-07 season, according to UW sports information.
“This group needs to continue to do it by committee, and it was good to see a lot of guys step up,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.
Here are three other takeaways from the Badgers’ 27-point win over the Chippewas:
Ball movement was strength again for Wisconsin offensively
Wisconsin’s ball movement has been quite the harbinger for success in 2025-26.
It has appeared to be a major strength for the Badgers at times, like when they had 15 assists on 17 field goals in the first half against Northwestern. But at the same time, Wisconsin had more turnovers than assists in three of its four losses this season. (Most recently, UW had 15 assists versus 16 turnovers in its Dec. 19 loss to Villanova in Milwaukee.)
The Badgers were back in sync against Central Michigan, racking up 25 assists on 29 field goals. It was Wisconsin’s first time since at least 2004-05 with 25-plus assists on fewer than 30 made field goals, and it was UW’s first game with 25-plus assists in general since its Jan. 3 win against Iowa.
“When we move the ball, we’re hard to guard, as probably anybody in the country is,” Gard said. “And when we don’t, we become much easier (to guard).”
UW guard Jack Janicki had nine assists off the bench, obliterating his previous career-high of three assists. He previously had seven in Wisconsin’s first 11 games combined.
“He got back to playing how he can play and we need him to play,” Gard said of Janicki, who also had four points, one rebound and one steal in 23 minutes.
Austin Rapp, Nolan Winter shine before Winter’s injury, but Winter will be ‘fine’
Wisconsin forward Austin Rapp had, as Gard put it, a “non-aggressive mindset” against Villanova as he finished with no rebounds and missed his two shots in 16 minutes.
Rapp bounced back in a big way against Central Michigan. His 18 points topped what he totaled in his previous three games combined, as did his seven rebounds. After shooting 1 of 10 from 3-point range in his previous three games, he was 4 of 7 from deep against Central Michigan.
“Obviously a few rough games,” Rapp said. “It happens. Obviously don’t want those games. But to bounce back tonight and see a few shots go down and kind of get a good win and see other guys contribute too was really cool.”
The Portland transfer also was a key part of the 25-3 run that removed any doubt, as he scored 13 of those 25 points.
Forward Nolan Winter also was productive against the Chippewas, totaling 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and a team-high eight rebounds in 26 minutes. That was until he exited the game with an injury as he appeared to be grabbing toward his ankle.
He limped to the locker room and later could be seen standing in the tunnel. Gard said Winter was “walking around” after the game as well.
“I haven’t seen the film, if he stepped on somebody,” Gard said. “But he said he’d be fine. We’ll get some time off here where he can get himself feeling good again and fine. But he was about ready to be done anyway. I was ready to pull him. But you got to keep playing because things happen. He could tweak an ankle in the first five minutes or in the last five. So he’ll be fine.”
What to make of Hayden Jones’ first start, John Blackwell’s injury
Gard has talked a good talk about playing Hayden Jones more. Now, the freshman guard from New Zealand finally got his chance, making his first start against Central Michigan in place of the injured John Blackwell.
Jones said he found out about his start about 40 minutes beforehand.
“Kind of knew JB was going to be so-so,” Jones said. “But I was ready. Obviously had a bit of nerves going into it, but once I got in there, it was just another game of basketball.”
Jones had six points on 2-of-4 shooting, four rebounds and two turnovers in 24 minutes on the court. He had highlight-worthy moments, including a dunk in the first half. He also showed some areas where more improvement is needed, as evident by a turnover on a bad inbound pass that led to a CMU fastbreak opportunity.
“He has a really good feel for the game,” Gard said. “I got to get him to stop dribbling to the right wing and picking the ball up the first possession of every game, but I think he just has a really good feel and size. … He rebounds well for his size. He was going to play a lot tonight, regardless of where JB was at.”
As for Wisconsin’s preseason all-Big Ten guard, Gard said that Blackwell “will be fine.” UW did not disclose any details about the nature of the injury – including whether it was upper- or lower-body – but Blackwell was seen on the sideline in street clothes without any noticeable impediments.
“He tried to warm up a little bit with our pregame stuff and didn’t feel he wanted to or was able to go,” Gard said. “So we move on, and it was a good opportunity for Hayden.”
Lansing — Michigan House Republicans said they might try to impeach the state’s Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, in her eighth and final year in office, accusing her of inappropriately wading into two investigations involving her allies.
But Nessel’s supporters countered that the GOP lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee are engaging in political theater and are misinterpreting or inaccurately portraying emails they obtained through subpoenas.
At the center of the claims are internal firewalls that were set up within Nessel’s office to prevent conflicts of interest in ongoing investigations. An Attorney General’s office probe that was supposed to be walled off from Nessel focused on Traci Kornak, a lawyer who served in 2018 on Nessel’s attorney general transition team. The other probe that Republicans have examined focused on Bipartisan Solutions, a nonprofit organization that contributed $782,000 to Fair and Equal Michigan, a ballot proposal committee co-chaired by Nessel’s wife, Alanna Maguire.
House Republicans obtained emails that showed Kornak had contacted Nessel and asked to receive documents related to the investigation into her. The emails also suggested that Nessel had spoken with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a fellow Democrat, about a campaign finance investigation into Bipartisan Solutions.
“There’s definitely, at minimum, a clear ethics violation by Attorney General Dana Nessel,” House Oversight Chairman Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, declared Tuesday.
While there was a conflict wall in place for matters involving Fair and Equal Michigan, there was not one for Bipartisan Solutions, Nessel spokeswoman Kim Bush said. The Attorney General’s Office also provided The Detroit News with emails that showed an investigation into Kornak’s work as a conservator for an elderly woman in west Michigan had been closed on Sept. 26, 2022, two months before Nessel messaged about being contacted by Kornak.
“Attorney General Nessel wielded no influence over the Kornak investigation, and none of the committee’s testimony or exhibits demonstrated that she had,” Bush said.
The scrutiny of Nessel, the state’s top law enforcement official and a frequent critic of Republican President Donald Trump, has been led by the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee.
On Tuesday, the panel met for about three hours. Members heard a report on the documents they received from the Attorney General’s Office, approved a subpoena for additional information on the Kornak investigation and voted to recommend that the full House hold Nessel in contempt of the Legislature for allegedly not cooperating with past demands.
The new subpoena referenced the House’s “ability to impeach civil officers of the state of Michigan.”
“There’s only one place that possesses impeachment to start, and that’s the House of Representatives,” DeBoyer said after the hearing. “So I would say that it certainly would be on the table.”
Across the aisle, state Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou, D-East Lansing, said Republicans, who took control of the House in January, have been exercising their oversight powers for political purposes throughout the year. Last week’s actions toward Nessel were merely the latest example, she said.
“What’s going on is political theater and a kangaroo court,” Tsernoglou said.
“Do we need oversight? Absolutely,” she added. “Should we hold departments and department heads accountable? Yes, we should. I just don’t think that’s what’s happening in that committee.”
A potential appointment
For years, Republicans have questioned Nessel’s handling of the 2022 investigation into Kornak, a former Michigan Democratic Party treasurer. They’ve alleged that Kornak abused her power as a conservator who was supposed to help an elderly woman oversee her finances. But Kornak hasn’t been charged with such a crime.
In July, seven months after winning a majority in the House, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena the records from Nessel’s office about its probe into Kornak.
The documents showed Nessel’s office opened an investigation into Kornak after reporting in The Detroit News on July 13, 2022, said a Grand Rapids nursing home was accusing Kornak of “inappropriate and unauthorized” invoicing.
“Notwithstanding … we’ve not received a complaint, the AG wants to know if this billing issue is something we would investigate,” Christina Grossi, former chief deputy attorney general, wrote in a July 13, 2022, email to other Attorney General staffers.
A conflict wall to exclude Nessel from discussing or accessing the Kornak case was set up on Sept. 6, 2022, according to emails obtained by the House Oversight Committee.
By Sept. 26, 2022, Lorri Bates, a supervisory special agent, requested that the probe into Kornak be closed.
Bush said the office was examining potential insurance fraud. The insurance company and the assisted living home involved in the situation didn’t want to pursue a case, Bush said.
“For an investigation regarding these alleged misdeeds, a complainant is required to participate in order to establish a crime occurred,” Bush said. “Having no viable path to further investigate the reported complaint, the file was closed.”
Despite it coming after the investigation’s closure, House Republicans have highlighted a Dec. 6, 2022, email in which Nessel discussed being contacted by Kornak.
The allegations against her “are apparently holding up a potential judicial appointment for her in Kent County,” Nessel wrote in the Dec. 6, 2022, message to two Attorney General employees. “She has requested the documents from our investigation.”
Nessel added, “Please advise what our process should be.”
During the three-hour Tuesday committee hearing, the House Oversight Committee heard a report on and asked questions about the Kornak matter for about two hours.
“This stinks,” DeBoyer said of the attorney general’s handling of the case.
Also, House Republicans said the Kent County Sheriff’s Office had separately investigated Kornak and recommended charges be brought by the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office, including embezzlement from a vulnerable adult.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said the case was still under investigation as of Friday.
In an email, Kornak said she wasn’t available to respond due to other obligations.
Bipartisan Solutions
The Secretary of State’s office determined in November 2022 that a nonprofit group named Bipartisan Solutions might have violated campaign finance requirements by flowing about $782,000 to Fair and Equal Michigan, a petition campaign that sought to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Because of the coordination involved in your organization’s contributions to Fair and Equal Michigan and Bipartisan Solutions’ failure to file campaign statements, the department concludes there may be reason to believe that a potential violation of the act has occurred,” wrote Adam Fracassi of the Bureau of Elections in a letter to Bipartisan Solutions.
Then, the Secretary of State’s office referred the matter to Nessel’s office in April 2023.
Spurred by a separate matter, three years earlier, Nessel’s office had already set up an internal conflict wall regarding Fair and Equal Michigan, for which Nessel’s wife had briefly served as a co-chair.
In August 2023, the Attorney General’s Office asked the Secretary of State’s Office to reopen its inquiry into Bipartisan Solutions because the communications from the Secretary of State’s Office to Bipartisan Solutions had been sent to an incorrect address, according to emails obtained by House Republicans.
Michael Brady, chief legal director for the Secretary of State, responded by saying the communications were sent to the address the group had on file, and his office couldn’t reopen the investigation.
On Feb. 22, 2024, Danielle Hagaman-Clark, the Attorney General’s chief bureau chief, wrote to Brady, “I was informed the AG reached out directly to the Secretary and the Secretary agreed to take this matter back for further review.”
However, Benson spokeswoman Angela Benander said Friday that the Secretary of State’s Office never reopened the matter or took it back.
But House Republicans said the emails showed Nessel had violated the conflict wall regarding Fair and Equal Michigan.
“It’s quite brazen that the attorney general would contact the secretary of state and ask for these charges to be taken back,” Rep. Angela Rigas, R-Caledonia, said at one point Tuesday.
Nessel’s office said the conflict wall was set up for matters regarding Fair and Equal Michigan specifically, not for Bipartisan Solutions, a separate organization.
“The determination to refer the Bipartisan Solutions matter back to the Michigan Department of State was predicated on Michigan Department of Attorney General prosecutors’ determination that the Department of State had not satisfied statutorily prescribed processes for resolving complaints of conduct contrary to the Michigan Campaign Finance Act,” Bush said.
Nessel’s office didn’t participate in Tuesday’s three-hour hearing. At the end of it, Rep. Josh Schriver, R-Oxford, said he believes Nessel’s actions amounted to impeachable conduct.
The committee then approved a motion by Rep. Jason Woolford, R-Howell, to recommend the House symbolically hold Nessel in contempt of the Legislature. The House similarly voted to hold Benson, the Democratic secretary of state, in contempt in May.
The evidence showed the “unaccountable deep state operating behind the scenes,” Woolford said.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
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