Strength coach Jon Sanderson is no longer working at Michigan

Jon Sanderson, the Michigan men’s basketball longtime strength and conditioning coach, is no longer working for the school.

An incident in early December led to Sanderson getting reassigned within the athletic department. On Friday, he resigned.

“Jon Sanderson has resigned his position with the University of Michigan athletic department, effective March 1,” according to a statement from Michigan. “We appreciate Jon’s contributions over the years and wish him the best going forward.”

Sanderson started working at Michigan in 2009, when John Beilein was the men’s basketball head coach, and was among the few staffers Juwan Howard retained when he became coach in 2019.

Regarded among the best in his profession, Sanderson played a key role in player development. His relationship with Howard soured earlier this season. Per multiple reports, the two had a non-physical confrontation before a practice in December. Sanderson stopped working the team after that and instead worked with athletes on other teams at the university.

After the school investigated the incident, athletic director Warde Manuel, in a statement, cleared Howard of any wrongdoing. Howard declined to add much to the statement in his first and only public comment on the situation. “I would basically piggyback on what Warde said,” Howard said after a game on Dec. 16. “Refer to his statement. I think it was clear. It was precise. And there’s still a review happening at this moment.”

The Athletic first reported news of Sanderson’s resignation on Friday, noting that he reached a settlement with the school and signed a non-disclosure agreement. MLive is still awaiting documents related to the incident, requested a week after it happened.

The Wolverines are 8-21 this season after Thursday’s 82-52 loss at Rutgers. Sanderson’s son Jonathan, a sophomore point guard at Saline High School, is a top-50 recruit in the 2026 class.