It would appear the collateral damage in the wake of the Sherrone Moore saga and Michigan’s handling of it isn’t quite over, with multiple reports surfacing on Sunday afternnoon that Athletic Director Warde Manuel’s status with the university could be in jeopardy.
On Sunday, it was originally reported by Justin Spiro that Michigan had already decided to move on from Manuel and was currently negotiating the terms of his release. Shortly thereafter, a report from Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger didn’t officially state Manuel was fired, but that the university’s Board of Regents has a meeting scheduled for Thursday and that his job status will be a topic of discussion.
The news that Manuel’s future could be in jeopardy comes nearly eight months after the university terminated head football coach Sherrone Moore for cause after an investigation showed he was having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.
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Following Moore’s firing, a separate internal investigation was launched into the school’s athletic department by the Chicago-based law firm Jenner & Block. This investigation was intended to look deeper into the athletic department and the handling of its original investigation of Moore. Despite the Jenner & Block investigation taking place months ago, the results have yet to be released.
Last week, Dave Boucher of the Detroit Free Press reported that the university was being sued for hiding public records. At this time, it’s unclear if Manuel’s current situation is related to the new lawsuit, but with his job status being discussed, it’s reasonable to expect a resolution to the investigation could happen sooner rather than later.
Manuel has been the athletic director at Michigan since 2016, and despite major success from many of the school’s athletic programs during that time, it hasn’t come without plenty of scandals and strange happenings.
The Moore fallout is the most recent example, but the football program has also been in the public eye for the Connor Stallions scandal in 2023, as well as recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic under Jim Harbaugh. Allegations of misconduct also led to the firing of men’s ice hockey coach Mel Pearson in 2022.
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Dellinger also reported that an official announcement about Manuel’s status could come as soon as this week. Manuel signed a contract extension in 2024 that runs through 2030, and the terms state that a firing would require 36 months of severance pay unless Manuel and the school come to a different resolution.
Stay with Maize n Brew as this story develops.
