Poggi says Michigan football is working through fallout of Moore exit

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It's been less than a week since the University of Michigan fired head coach Sherrone Moore, with cause, for having an inappropriate relationship with a team staffer, and his subsequent crash out. Michigan football has embarked upon replacing Moore, and while that's dominated headlines, the Wolverines do still have a team, and that team is currently preparing to face Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.

But of course, the team is not immune to a range of emotions following the ouster of the head coach, as well as his actions in the aftermath. Interim head coach Biff Poggi spoke about it in Orlando, Florida, in a press conference for the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Monday, noting that there is a sense of betrayal that the players feel given Moore's actions.

"It has been a tumultuous time," Poggi said. "A lot of anger and at first disbelief and anger, and really what we're in right now is the face of the kids, quite frankly, feel very betrayed, and we're trying to work through that."

Poggi is working behind the scenes to galvanize those who are still in the building. He shared more about his task and how he's working to keep everyone together — much like his X post over the weekend, where he stated that they are together.

"Met individually with all the players multiple times," Poggi said. "And with the parents, Zoomed with the parents multiple times. And the message has been listening, right? I wanna listen to them. I wanna understand what the kids are feeling and what their parents are feeling. And so a lot of listening.

"There's been a wide range of emotions, as you can imagine. And we've kind of are going through those steps. They're not over yet, and I don't expect them to be over for a while, quite frankly. But our main message is the mandate that Warde Manuel gave me as the athletic director when he asked me to be the interim coach was to love and take care of the kids. And so that's what I'm spending all of my time doing, is loving kids."

But what it like for Poggi to take up this endeavor? It's been a tricky situation, given that he isn't just taking over for a coach who was let go due to the won-loss record.

"Unique and complex, obviously," Poggi said. "Multiple levels of complexity that our young people are dealing with, our university's dealing with, our athletic director Warde Manuel's dealing with. And then our team, our coaches, and our kids. So it's been, I don't know that you can prepare for something like this. It's been, I'll just say, complicated."

Michigan and Texas will face off on December 31 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, at 3 p.m. EST, with the game set to be broadcast on ESPN.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Biff Poggi addresses player emotions after Sherrone Moore firing

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