Warde Manuel to step down as Michigan athletic director at end of year - Detroit Free Press

What the report says

The Detroit Free Press reports that Warde Manuel will leave his role as University of Michigan athletic director at the end of the calendar year. University officials announced the decision Monday, July 20, and President Domenico Grasso said Manuel had asked to step down. Grasso said Manuel will remain through year’s end and help advise on reforms while Michigan begins a national search for a new athletic director.

The move follows a Jenner & Block review of Michigan athletics that cost more than $12 million, according to the Free Press. The firm was hired after former football coach Sherrone Moore was fired for cause over an alleged inappropriate relationship with executive assistant Paige Shiver, and the review later broadened to athletic department culture. Michigan released only a summary of the findings, which credited Manuel’s support for student-athletes but said the department did not move quickly or effectively enough on allegations of employee wrongdoing.

Grasso said investigators did not find a current employee with direct, contemporaneous evidence of the relationship, but the review identified accountability failures, structural problems, weaknesses in reporting and support systems, and concerns about retaliation. Manuel said in a statement that he was proud of the department’s achievements and would work with Grasso on recommended improvements.

Manuel, 58, is a former Michigan defensive lineman and became the school’s 12th athletic director in 2016. The Free Press notes that Michigan won multiple national and Big Ten titles during his tenure, but the department also faced lawsuits, NCAA investigations, coach firings and sanctions. Manuel had signed an extension in December 2024 that was to run through June 2030.