Over the weekend, the expectation was that the University of Michigan board of regents would be meeting on Thursday to discuss the state of the athletic department following their receipt of the Jenner & Block investigation. Initial reports indicated that athletic director Warde Manuel would be on the chopping block, but as the days progressed, it became obvious that would not be the case.
Ultimately, Manuel and the AD were not on the docket, yet, after the powers that be in Ann Arbor (the meeting was in Traverse City) concluded their meeting, they fielded some questions about the report and Manuel’s future.
Interim president Domenico Grasso first addressed the fact that Michigan is withholding the Jenner & Block report, according to Sam Jane at MLive. (subscription required)
When asked if UM would consider providing an update on the results of the report, Grasso declined to provide a clear answer.
“That’s under consideration. We’re still thinking about it,” Grasso said.
Grasso declined to answer any other questions.
Even so, Grasso did note that he still feels like Manuel is among the elite athletic directors across intercollegiate athletics.
Jane also spoke to U-M regent Paul Brown, who further noted that there isn’t one big item that would deem Manuel unfit for this role, according to the report. As the investigation looked into the AD culture following the Sherrone Moore scandal, with Manuel having overseen many in his decade with the maize and blue, there were apparently several smaller gaffes rather than one glaring mishandling.
Brown notes that at least something will eventually be revealed publicly via the report.
Once regents receive a written version of the report, at least part of it will be released publicly, Brown said.
Brown said there “was no major smoking gun” in the report that would indict Manuel or other members of the athletic department. But Brown said the investigation also revealed several mistakes that led to the “disaster.”
“There was death by a thousand cuts,” Brown said. “A lot of little things that may not have been done as thoroughly or as best followed practices as could have.”
“In some ways it would have been easier if it was one glaring thing, but it wasn’t.”
Additionally, Moore’s former assistant, Paige Shiver, is suing U-M for the full report, with intent to sue the university in the aftermath of her affair with the former Michigan football head coach. Former linebackers coach Chris Partridge is also suing the university after he was summarily fired by the football program based on media reports as it pertained to ‘signgate,’ though he was exonerated by the NCAA during its committee on infractions.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan president, regents weigh in on Warde Manuel future
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire | USA TODAY Network
