Kelli Moore has never spoken publicly about her husband’s firing and arrest last December, though she was in court with him for his plea and his sentencing.
Kelli Moore, the wife of former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore, is a physician assistant from Louisville, Kentucky. The couple married in July 2015 and have three daughters.
On 10 December 2025, Michigan fired Moore over a relationship with a member of his staff. That afternoon, Kelli called 911 because she did not know where he was and feared he would hurt himself. Police arrested him that evening.
When Moore was sentenced in April, the judge quoted her words from that day and said that of all the letters the court received, hers had made the biggest impact. No divorce filing has been reported since.
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Who is Kelli Moore?
| Name | Kelli Moore, née Lenz |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Louisville, Kentucky |
| College | Centre College, Kentucky |
| Job | Certified physician assistant |
| Married | July 2015 |
| Children | Shiloh, Solei and Sadie |
Kelli played in goal for the women’s soccer team at Centre College, a small liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, in 2010 and 2011. She graduated in 2012 with a degree in financial economics and mathematics and later earned a master’s degree at Central Michigan University, People reported.
On 29 November 2025, the day Michigan played Ohio State, the Broyles Award posted about Moore’s family life on X. The award goes to college football’s top assistant coach, and Moore had been a finalist in 2023. The post quoted Kelli: “Our daughters don’t care about the outcome of the games, they just want daddy to sit down and read them a book when he gets home… and that’s what he does.”
The day Moore was fired
Athletic director Warde Manuel said the university had found credible evidence of an inappropriate relationship between Moore and a staff member, later identified as Paige Shiver, his executive assistant. Moore told detectives the relationship had lasted about two years, according to court documents reported by the Daily Mail.
After meeting Manuel, Moore drove to Shiver’s apartment in Pittsfield Township, he later told officers. Police and prosecutors said he went in without permission and threatened her and himself with kitchen butter knives, telling her: “My blood is on your hands.” Shiver has said he “came at me with knives.” Moore told officers he “did not hold anything to her.”
| Time | What happened |
|---|---|
| About 4.15pm | Shiver’s lawyer calls 911, says Moore is at her client’s home and alleges he is attacking her |
| About 4.23pm | Dispatchers log a call from Kelli saying her husband is suicidal over losing his job |
| Shortly after 5pm | Police find Moore in a church parking lot and take him into custody |
| 8.30pm | He is booked into the Washtenaw Corrections Division |
| 12 December | He is released on $25,000 bail, which Kelli posted |
Source: police dispatch audio and records reported by People
Kelli called police more than once that day. In one recording, obtained by TMZ and later released by Ann Arbor police to WXYZ, she asks whether officers can track his phone. “He just called me saying he got fired from his job, and he’s in crisis,” she says. “I told him that I love him and that I need him to come home, but I don’t know where he is. He said he was on a highway.”
When he was released, his lawyer at the time would not say whether he would be going home to his family.
Beside him in court
Prosecutors charged Moore with third-degree home invasion, a felony, along with misdemeanour counts of stalking and breaking and entering. Kelli came to court with him for a hearing in January, and on 6 March the couple held hands inside the courthouse. Later that day, Moore pleaded no contest to two lesser misdemeanours, trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device, and the other charges were dropped.
That month, his lawyer, Ellen Michaels, said Moore’s first priority was his wife and daughters, the Daily Mail reported. “He has had the opportunity to be with his daughters, to be with his wife, to be home for the holidays, to take his kids to swim lessons,” she said.
At the sentencing on 14 April, Moore thanked his “beautiful wife, Kelli, for her support and strength to stand by me,” People reported. Judge J. Cedric Simpson gave him 18 months’ probation and deferred the sentence, which means the case can be dismissed if he completes it. The terms include:
- no contact with Shiver
- continued mental health treatment
- no alcohol or drugs
- $1,100 in fines and costs
Shiver did not attend the hearing. In a statement, she said the sentence “does not reflect the harm done to me or the objective evidence in this case.”
What Judge Simpson said about Kelli
Simpson spoke about Kelli at length, WDIV reported. The court had received a number of letters, he said, and hers “certainly had the biggest impact” on his decision.
“The person, quite frankly, Mr. Moore, that is saving you from the full wrath of this court is the one you betrayed.”
Judge J. Cedric Simpson, 14 April 2026
He said he had listened to her calls to police on 10 December. “She said something that was remarkable: ‘Tell him I love him and to come home,'” he said. In one call, he said, he could hear the couple’s children in the background. “What she had to deal with was just an incredible burden.”
He told Moore, “You, sir, take her for granted,” and then addressed Kelli directly: “I am amazed by you, Ms. Moore. I truly am.”
Are Sherrone and Kelli Moore still together?
After the hearing, Michaels said Moore and Kelli were “ready to move forward with their family and focus on the next chapter.” The couple left the courthouse together, Moore holding a Bible in one hand and Kelli’s hand in the other.
On 24 April, Shiver told ABC’s Good Morning America that the relationship began in January 2022, a few months after she started at Michigan as an intern. She said she became pregnant by Moore that year. Michaels told the programme that Moore had “closed this chapter,” and she declined to comment to The Detroit News for him or for Kelli.
In July, Moore put his five-bedroom house in Scio Township, just outside Ann Arbor, on the market for $1.7m. The price was cut to $1.65m on 1 August, and the house was still listed for sale this week.
Moore’s probation runs until October 2027, and he is due back in court for a review hearing on 13 October that year.
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