Michigan AD Manuel Steps Down After Scandal-Filled Tenure

After more than a decade of running one of the more prolific, powerful athletic departments in the country, Michigan Wolverines athletic director Warde Manuel is calling it a career.

The university announced his impending departure at the end of the calendar year alongside their investigation finds on Monday.

After the fallout from former football coach Sherrone Moore having inappropriate relations with a staff member and his subsequent firing, the school hired Chicago firm Jenner & Block to conduct a review that was much more expanded past one coach’s conduct.

However, those findings won’t be entirely made public as the university does not plan to release additional documents past the outline of a $12 million investigation thus far.

While the investigators stopped short of calling it systemic dysfunction, they did find that there were gaps in accountability and ultimately inconsistent enforcement and oversight.

To read more about the end of a decade filled with scandal for the Wolverines, here’s the full story from Michigan Roundtable writer Zack Besaw.

While Manuel was praised for his commitment to the Wolverines student-athletes, he was ultimately faulted for slow actions on allegations of harm or wrongdoing.

University president Domenico Grasso found parts of the findings “unacceptable” in his blunt remarks.

In response, they are pledging more fastidious compliance, HR authority and background checks, while flagging some concerning interference from top university brass.

While it was a decade of on-field success, it was also a decade of turmoil with scandals piling up in the off-field chaos.

Those include the suspensions to former coach Jim Harbaugh and a Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal that led up to a $30 million fine.

And Moore’s firing and arrest following the incident with Paige Shivers will be Manuel’s last scandal at Michigan.