Detroit — Michigan got it half right. The school admitted it had weaknesses in “accountability” and “oversight” in its athletic department during a decade-long run of rampant success and rampant controversy. The independent investigation revealed smoke, if not smoking guns, and the school negotiated a quiet exit for Warde Manuel, who will stay as AD until the end of the calendar year.
All tight and tidy, lots of words, little transparency, and everyone walks away with a parting gift. And hopefully, a parting lesson.
No matter what was (or wasn’t) proven, Manuel did need to step away, to achieve any semblance of a clean break. The question is: What will UM step into next?
The only way the school gets this fully right is if it heeds the report’s pointed recommendations with its next regime of high-profile leaders. That means more oversight, clearer demands. It means the next AD probably has to come from someone outside the UM orbit of politics and arrogance. The rot can come from within, as we saw with the football program, and meddling regents, and unsavory, unchecked employees.
Winning will always matter at UM, that won’t change. Money will always be a driving force in today’s college athletics, more and more run by big-monied donors. But UM can take a moment to reassess the costs it’s willing to endure.
The Block M brand has been enhanced in one dimension, with national championships in football and basketball, and tarnished in other areas, such as integrity. A school so rich in power and tradition shouldn’t have to choose one or the other — competing at the highest level or retreating into a safe shell to atone for past sins.
This can lead to something more widely respected, if the school stands on its purported principles and charts a new path of leadership. In the next two years, the president, athletic director, football coach and basketball coach could all be new hires. Huge risk, huge opportunity.
Manuel, 58, will stay to help in the transition, a perfunctory gesture that’s likely an element of a buyout. One-time interim Domenico Grasso will stay until UM finally lands its next president. Kyle Whittingham, 67, was a solid emergency hire and can play a huge role in helping the football program recover from the Sherrone Moore disaster. Mike Boynton Jr. was kept to stabilize basketball, signed to a short, prove-it deal after Dusty May bolted to the NBA following two highly successful seasons restoring the program.
Michigan always seemed it could be bigger, win more titles, hang around with Ohio State (football) and Michigan State (basketball) more often. And it proved it could, if willing to pay and push the boundaries, which are ever-changing, of course. Ultimately, Manuel struggled to manage the crisis smoke after Jim Harbaugh left it in a blaze.
There have been shades of truth and myth ever since Harbaugh arrived and shook up everything, some remarkably good things, some distressingly bad. Manuel played a role in all of it in his 11 years, but ultimately was undone by lax attention to detail, primarily in the management of Moore and the coach’s inappropriate relationship with executive assistant Paige Shiver.
Scandals of varying severity popped up, and many were tied to Harbaugh’s rule-breaking and defiance. (It’s still amazing that some supporters complain that Manuel didn’t do more to keep Harbaugh from leaving for the NFL. The NCAA’s punishment indeed would’ve been hammer-like if Harbaugh was still the coach.)
As the issues piled up, Manuel became the polarizing problem, the final blemish that needed to be excised. That’s not completely fair, but I think even Manuel would agree it was time to move on. He didn’t deserve all the blame dropped at his feet, unless you’re inclined to give him all the credit for the program’s unprecedented success and financial stability.
Would it have been helpful to hear more details Monday from the $12 million Jenner & Block investigations into the department’s culture? Of course. But it depends on helpful for whom. If Manuel wasn’t willing to step aside, yes, more would have to be revealed.
If others in the department were complicit, that still could emerge in lawsuits. Former UM assistant coach Chris Partridge is alleging a cover-up in the Connor Stalions’ illegal scouting/sign-stealing scandal, implicating former president Santa Ono. Shiver, who eventually admitted to the relationship with Moore, is suing the university for failing to provide relevant records.
UM cited pending legal action and the need to protect attorney-client privileges as a reason for keeping the report private. The optics are terrible, but the legal ramifications are real.
Grasso outlined the recommendations from the report, summed up in one key paragraph.
“Neither the investigation nor the culture review found that misconduct was widespread throughout the department,” the outline stated. “The culture review found that weaknesses in accountability, organizational structure, oversight, and reporting created conditions in which misconduct was not always addressed consistently, promptly, or in accordance with University expectations.”
In a video message, Grasso commended Manuel and his staff for academic and competitive achievements, while also painting a picture of loose oversight and shoddy chains of command. He said the school would strengthen its compliance team, human resources and background checks.
“The review also identified interference, poor oversight and failures of accountability of the highest levels of university leadership,” Grasso said. “This is unacceptable.”
Most unacceptable was Moore’s behavior and lying about his relationship with Shiver. Although Manuel said he looked into the affair and was met with denials, his lack of persistence was damning. Many allegedly knew about the relationship, but that’s not the same as proving it. Moore’s proclivities and mental state weren’t recognized and addressed soon enough, before one of the ugliest pictures in UM sports history appeared — a sullen Moore being arraigned in a white prison jumpsuit after allegedly threatening Shiver.
Manuel shepherded Michigan through tons of success and considerable turmoil. As detractors dug deeper, Manuel dug in, trying mightily to stand on his record, not on the high-profile scandals. He spoke passionately on the floor in Indianapolis as Michigan celebrated its national championship over Connecticut in April.
“What happened in football last fall is not defining of the 99.9% of the people in that department that are doing the right thing,” Manuel said on that night. “I’m proud of my staff, proud of the student athletes and the way they comport themselves. You shouldn’t be judged when adversity comes, it’s how you deal with it. And I think we came out of it pretty damn good today.”
That was the highlight, when May delivered the title merely two years after Manuel hired him. May learned that joy doesn’t last long, as he dove back into the recruiting grind before getting an NBA offer he couldn’t turn down.
Same thing for Manuel, whose successes ranged from fulfilling to fleeting, as he experienced the greatest highs and the ugliest lows imaginable. Manuel leaves a complicated legacy, showing how strong the program can be, and how vulnerable it is when cracks appear and are left untended.
Bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com
@bobwojnowski
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Wojo: Warde Manuel is leaving, but will Michigan learn?
Reporting by Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
