Sherrone Moore Saga’s Long-Term Damage Could Be Far Worse Than Expected, NIL Expert Tells OutKick

The sudden firing of Michigan head football coach, Sherrone Moore has sparked chaos and controversy throughout Ann Arbor and across the college football world.

But, according to one of the nation's top NIL attorneys, the real victims aren't the donors or administration.

It's the players.

NIL lawyer Darren Heitner, who has represented multiple athletes and collectives throughout his time in the field, told OutKick that the fallout from the Sherrone Moore scandal could come down hardest on the very recruits they worked so hard to sign.

"There’s overwhelmingly been a lack of focus on the players in the first 24 hours — and they’re the ones who could be hurt the most," Heitner said.

Recruits Caught In The Crosshairs

Despite what you've been led to believe, kids don't commit to a school for the facilities or even the NIL check. More often than not, it's about relationships.

"Players aren’t just committing to facilities or NIL money, they’re committing to the coaches who recruited their families," 
"Recruits want consistency. When that disappears, it can cause real problems."

That relationship evaporated when Moore was relieved of his duties, and more to Heitner's point, there's a void of trust with how this all shook out.

New Leverage For Recruits

With instability comes opportunity — and Heitner was clear that some recruits now hold cards they didn’t have 48 hours ago.

"This controversy absolutely gives certain players leverage," 
"Michigan may have to do things it wasn’t expecting to do to keep them."

It isn't necessarily about the damage done to the Michigan brand (which we will touch on later), but more about how recruits can now up their asking price in the wake of this scandal.

Legal Ramifications For Michigan

The big question in all of this is whether Michigan will face legal ramifications for its handling of the firing if the school knew ahead of time (namely before signing day) and withheld information from potential signees.

This is purely speculative, and to Heitner's credit, he didn't want to deal in hypotheticals, though he didn't outright dismiss it either.

"Perhaps there’s an argument to be made… but I think it may be a stretch,"
"It becomes a question of omission (and) whether the school had a duty to disclose."

The fact that the question even needs to be asked shows there are some optics issues the school may want to get out in front of in the very near future, though.

Is The Michigan Brand Damaged?

When discussing the potential damage to the Michigan brand, Heitner went out of his way to praise the program and the strength of its brand.

He did, however, stop short of ruling out any consequences if the story were to get any worse.

"We still don’t know the entire story,"
"Depending on what comes out, the ramifications could be substantial."

This includes donor frustration:

"Some donors may be so turned off that they decide they’re not going to spend as much as they planned."

In today's day and age of NIL, donor fatigue or hesitancy can spell doom for a football program.

NIL Contracts Requiring Protection… From Coaches?

Perhaps the most surprising insight I gleaned from my conversation with Heitner was that a scandal like this one may have set the precedent that recruits may need protection against institutions and coaches, not just brands.

"If a coach does something that harms a player, even indirectly, that should be grounds to terminate an NIL agreement,"

It’s a stark contrast to some of the language put in an athlete's contract and a reminder that recruits aren’t the only ones being vetted anymore.

Who's To Blame In All Of This?

When it comes down to it, no single party is without blame outside of the players, but Heitner made it very clear things like this usually start at the top.

"In a hierarchy, you have to look up the ladder — including who’s at the top — to understand how this was handled."

Translation: there are real questions Michigan still has to answer, and the buck doesn't stop at Sherrone Moore.

When I asked him to sum this whole thing up in a sentence, Heitner laughed.

"Messy. It’s unfortunate."

He added a final reminder of who stands to lose the most if Michigan doesn't stick the landing.

"These decisions that coaches make off the field can have very consequential impact on the players they recruited."

While everyone is quick to cast aspersions on parties like Moore and Michigan, which is their right to do, it's easy to forget some of the real ramifications outside the brand hit the school will endure.

As Heitner pointed out, the real losers in all of this may end up being the recruits, kids and families who trusted the university with their future.

Regardless, it's safe to say this mess isn't getting cleaned up anytime soon.