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Paige Shiver said former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore “had complete control over me” and characterized their relationship as an “open secret” in the school’s athletic department in an interview that aired Friday on ABC’s Good Morning America, her first public appearance since Moore’s high-profile firing and sentencing.
Shiver, 32, said Moore controlled “my emotions, my career … and he knew that, and he used it against me”. She also said she became pregnant with Moore’s child during their relationship but was advised by doctors to have an abortion to avoid complications from a rare disorder.
Shiver, who began as an intern at Michigan and later became Moore’s executive assistant, spoke publicly for the first time since the case that led to Moore’s dismissal in December and his sentencing this month. Moore, then 39, was fired for what the university said was an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member”, then arrested shortly after following an altercation at Shiver’s apartment.
“He controlled everything that was going on in my life, and they didn’t do anything about it,” Shiver told ABC’s Linsey Davis, referencing Michigan’s leadership.
Moore was sentenced on 14 April to 18 months’ probation after resolving charges tied to the incident, according to court records. The case included a felony count of third-degree home invasion and misdemeanor charges of trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device. He avoided jail time and must undergo mental health treatment, abstain from alcohol and have no contact with Shiver.
Prosecutors said Moore sent repeated unwanted communications after Shiver attempted to end contact and reported their relationship to the university. Police said he later went to her apartment, where he allegedly threatened self-harm.
Shriver told ABC she feared for her life during the encounter.
“All of a sudden I hear footsteps, and they’re getting closer and louder,” she said. “I run to my door to try to lock it, and he barges in, and he’s standing this close to me, and he said, ‘You ruined my life. Why would you do this to me?’”
Shiver and Moore, who was married at the time, began a consensual relationship when he was offensive coordinator before he was promoted to head coach in 2024. Shriver told ABC she was often asked by Michigan staffers to “calm [Moore] down”, sometimes during half-times of games, and that felt pressure to maintain the relationship.
“No one cared about my feelings. They wanted to use me to help him so that they could get through the season,” she said.
She also described repeated attempts to leave.
“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,” she said.
Shiver said she became pregnant in 2022 and wanted to keep the baby, but doctors advised she end the pregnancy after she was diagnosed with Pompe disease, a rare genetic disorder. Shriver said Moore told her she “had to do what’s right” for her body, and she said she had an abortion that summer.
She revealed the relationship to university attorneys last December, she said.
“They knew the things that he was doing to me and no one did anything about it because they cared more about winning football games, not having another scandal, and trying to protect the head coach,” she said.
Shiver no longer works at Michigan. In a statement issued through her attorneys after the sentencing, Shiver said the punishment did “not reflect the harm done to me or the objective evidence in this case”.
“I think he should’ve gotten more punishment for what he did,” she said in the interview.
An attorney for Moore told ABC: “Sherrone Moore has closed this chapter.” In a statement, Michigan told the network that it is “committed to ensuring a professional and respectful workplace for all members of its community”.
