Michigan alum Amani Toomer reacts to Sherrone Moore's firing: "You can't embarrass the program!"

New York Post

Watch Michigan alum Amani Toomer reacts to Sherrone Moore's firing: "You can't embarrass the program!" - New York Post on Dailymotion

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00:00More details continue to emerge about former Michigan head coach Sheryl Moore being fired,

00:05but how's the latest scandal coming out of Ann Arbor affecting this Michigan brand?

00:10So, Amani Toomer was a Wolverine football legend from 1992 to 1995,

00:15and he's on to talk about the Michigan athletics program being in the news again for wrong reasons.

00:21Toomer, appreciate you hopping on with us, man.

00:23Let's get straight to this, because aside from the firing,

00:26we're seeing all types of reports coming out that Moore was being an IG model's DMs.

00:33He was suicidal.

00:34It's just been a lot in this news cycle.

00:37So, I'm sure you've spoken with some of your former teammates and Michigan alum.

00:42What's been your and some of your former Wolverine's reaction to all the news that continues to break?

00:49I just feel like the edict at Michigan is nobody's bigger than the team, the team, the team, the team.

00:54And no matter who you are, no matter what job you hold, if you embarrass that team or you do something that threatens that brand,

01:03as much as I love the coach, as much as I appreciate his fire and all this stuff, you're a leader of young men.

01:13And you're supposed to set an example at one of the finest universities in the land.

01:17And this type of thing happens.

01:19It's unfortunate, but it's, you know, like, it's business.

01:22You can't affect that brand in this way.

01:25And I don't think there's any other way that it could happen.

01:31Timing be damned.

01:32It's just you can't have this type of thing to embarrass this program.

01:36Without a doubt, the business side of it, everyone is justifying the firing.

01:41From the business side of it, him breaking the rules.

01:44But there are a lot of reports out there saying that a lot of people within the university knew about this affair months ago.

01:52They lost to Ohio State, and that ended their chances of going to the college football playoffs.

01:58So you think this is a little dodgy move here in terms of do you think Michigan would have made this move

02:04if the team was preparing for a college football playoff semifinal right now?

02:09Or does it feel like the timing of all this is convenient?

02:14Well, I played for a coach in Gary Moeller.

02:17And we went eight and four for a couple years, like two years in a row.

02:23And he had a similar, not a situation where the law was involved.

02:30And it was just one of those things where it just had to happen.

02:33But in this situation, when the law is involved, when there's, you know, these types of relationships,

02:39I don't really know.

02:41I don't want to know.

02:42All I know is that it makes the program look bad.

02:45I don't want to pile on.

02:47I know the pressure that is in that situation.

02:50And I don't know if he was the first option for a lot of the Michigan alumni.

02:56But I felt like he did a good job for the majority.

02:59I don't think this year's team was as competitive as teams in years past in terms of the talent level with a freshman quarterback.

03:08I think he did a fine job.

03:09I mean, he beat Alabama and Ohio State in the same year.

03:14I don't care who you are.

03:15That is impressive.

03:16But when you stumble like this and you open yourself up to embarrassing the program,

03:27I just don't think there's anything else that possibly could have happened.

03:30Yeah.

03:31Let's go even deeper on embarrassing the program because I feel like for the past, what, three to four years,

03:36there's been some sort of scandal or bad publicity coming out of Ann Arbor.

03:42The president, the AD, Harbaugh, sign stealing, and now Sharon Moore.

03:47I feel like the brand is tainted, Toome.

03:49No disrespect to your alma mater.

03:51But are you worried that there is a culture problem going on at Michigan right now?

03:56I don't think so.

03:57I think that one of the things about the program is that it's going to be as transparent as possible.

04:07I think if there is a thing, some other schools would get under the rug.

04:11Ann Arbor is going to try, and in Michigan, they're going to try and be Michigan men to stand up to their mistakes,

04:16and they'll let it all out.

04:18They don't hide things.

04:20If they get caught, they get caught, and they deal with the consequences.

04:23That's kind of part of being a Michigan man.

04:25And so I feel like because of that fact, some of the shortcomings that happen in most college football programs

04:32that ordinarily would be swept under the rug, especially with some of the money that's involved.

04:37And, you know, we all know about college football and its finances.

04:40I just feel like that is one of the reasons that Michigan is taking on this stuff.

04:47But I feel like if you really dug down deep into most college football programs,

04:51I'm not trying to say everybody is doing it,

04:54but I think that, you know, college football is not this rosy, you know, utopia of ethics.

05:04I mean, you could look at what happened to one of the college football playoff teams now in Ole Miss.

05:11You know, that's just a whole scenario that's a mess.

05:13Not to say, you know, the whataboutism or anything like that,

05:17but I just feel like college football in itself needs to really look at itself in the mirror

05:22and say what kind of, you know, what they really want to project.

05:25I mean, honestly, because as you look at what the major goal of college football is,

05:30is to take young men and create them into productive members of society,

05:35I feel like on all fronts, it's really not the cleanest organization as it is.

05:44I feel like that used to be the model or the goal of college football,

05:48taking these young men and taking these boys and making them into men.

05:53Now I feel like it's just about the money game.

05:54How much money can I pay this kid?

05:56How much money can we get out of this kid?

05:58And we talk about a program that's now under scrutiny again.

06:03What do you think they're going to do about hiring a new permanent head coach?

06:07Do you think they're going to stay within in-house?

06:10Or is there someone out there that you may want them to go and target,

06:14to come back in and restore Michigan's dominance or just overall prestige?

06:20I don't think the prestige of the program can be, I mean,

06:28maybe just because I'm a Michigan man,

06:29but I don't think the prestige of the program is really at fault here.

06:32I mean, I think there are people in powerful positions and absolute power.

06:37Absolutely.

06:38And absolutely.

06:39There's taken shortcuts and they've had their day and they've embarrassed the program.

06:45But the program itself, I feel like, you know,

06:47it's put out a lot of great players, put a lot of,

06:49their graduation rate is really high.

06:52I feel like it's a program that you, that like any organization,

06:56there's going to be some bad apples, but I don't know.

06:59I just feel like,

07:00I feel like they do a better job of preparing people for life after football

07:08than, than most programs,

07:10even in this very competitive financially based situation that,

07:17that college football is in right now.

07:20All right.

07:21Well,

07:21to him,

07:21you look busy,

07:22man.

07:22It looks cold out there,

07:23bro.

07:23Get a scarf.

07:24Get a scarf or something,

07:25man.

07:26Appreciate you,

07:27bro,

07:27for hopping on with us.

07:29Hey,

07:29anything for you,

07:30Brandon.

07:30Okay.

07:34.

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