Warde Manuel is going to “step down” as the athletic director at Michigan at the end of the calendar year. What does that mean for his buyout with the university?
Details regarding his separation are not yet public.
However, the school signed its soon-to-be-former AD to a five-year extension in 2024 despite a number of scandals— most of which involving the college football program. The contract included a large severance package.
Michigan’s athletic director will step down after years of scandals.
The University of Michigan announced on Monday that its athletic director, Warde Manuel, will step down at the end of the calendar year. A search for his replacement will be conducted in the coming months.
This decision stems from an external investigation into a history of “scandals” that dates back almost a full decade.
- 2016 – Wide receiver Grant Perry pleads guilty to assault
- 2018 – Director of performance Fergus Connolly arrested for drunk driving, hit and run
- 2020–22 – Michigan settles abuse claims involving Dr. Robert Anderson for $490 million
- 2020 – Basketball star Zavier Simpson crashes athletic director’s family car and lies to police
- 2020–21 – Michigan breaks “dead period” recruiting rules during pandemic
- 2021 – Head basketball coach Juwan Howard threatens rival coach
- 2022 – Michigan fires hockey coach Mel Pearson over toxic culture allegations
- 2022 – Juwan Howard hits rival coach
- 2022 – Running back Donovan Edwards retweets antisemitic post
- 2022 – Defensive tackle Mazi Smith charged with carrying concealed weapon
- 2022 – Michigan fires volleyball coach Mark Rosen without explanation
- 2023 – Michigan fires football staffer Chris Partridge for NCAA violations
- NCAA clears Partridge of wrongdoing,
- Partridge sues athletic director Warde Manuel
- 2023 – Michigan fired co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss
- Weiss indicted on federal charges for cyberstalking and hacking
- 2023 – Football scout Glenn Schembechler resigns for liking pro-slavery posts
- 2023 – Michigan fires football staffer Alex Yood over child solicitation scandal
- 2023 – Juwan Howard gets in altercation with strength coach Jon Sanderson
- 2023 – Warde Manuel hires Larry Nassar-linked gymnastics consultant Rhonda Faehn
- Warde Manuel reverses his decision after one day
- 2023 – Connor Stallions caught stealing signs
- 2023 – Blake Corum’s LLC ties him to Connor Stallions
- 2024 – Defensive line coach Greg Scruggs arrested for OWI,
- Scruggs resigns
- 2024 – Assistant Director of Player Personnel (and legendary quarterback) Denard Robinson arrested for OWI
- 2024 – Michigan instigates brawl with Michigan State
- 2024 – Graduate assistant LaTroy Lewis accused of sexual assault
- Warde Manuel allegedly ignores Title IX requirements
- 2025 – Michigan fires Sherrone Moore
- Moore arrested
The university spent more than $11 million to hire an outside law firm, Jenner & Block, to conduct an external investigation into and “culture review” of the athletic department. A general overview of the investigation was published on Monday. However, Michigan will not publish the full report. It does not have any additional public statements regarding these matters nor does it plan to release any associated documents.
“Maintaining the confidentiality of the investigation protects the privacy of the members of our community who participated, promotes the willingness of witnesses to participate in any future investigations by allaying concerns relating to privacy or risk of retaliation, preserves investigative integrity, and protects the attorney-client privilege that covers the investigation.”
All we know for certain is that Manuel will resign no later Dec. 31. Everything else remains (mostly) a mystery.
How much money is owed to Warde Manuel?
Before we get into the minutiae of the contract extension, it must first be noted that we do not know whether or not Warde Manuel agreed to settle with the University of Michigan. We also do not know whether the University of Michigan threatened to fire Manuel for cause if he did not step down. The details of his planned resignation remain under wraps. It is a secret.
With that being said, the Jenner & Block investigation seems to place a lot of blame on the athletic director.
“Neither the investigation nor the culture review found that misconduct was widespread throughout the department. 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.”
At the same time, the “culture review found that department leadership consistently communicated the importance of integrity, compliance, and accountability.” Hm.
So where does that leave Manuel? Again, we don’t know. His contract extension, which will no longer apply after his resignation, runs through June of 2030. I would assume that he and the university settled on a number that makes them both happy.
Manuel’s extended employment agreement (signed in 2024) paid him a salary of more than $2 million per year.
If the university was to keep him under contract for the remainder of his current deal or fire him without cause, it would owe him approximately $6 million over the next three years. If the university was to fire him with cause, it would owe him nothing but the split would undoubtedly get litigious. The resignation likely alludes to a settlement. Seeing that Manuel was not planning to step down as of last week, the investigation likely gave the university enough ammunition to cut him loose.
To avoid an inevitable litigious fallout, both parties presumably landed on a number that falls somewhere in the middle.