Warde Manuel’s tenure as Michigan’s athletic director will conclude at the end of 2026.
Michigan president Domenico Grasso announced Monday that Manuel will step down as Michigan’s athletic director at the end of the calendar year. Grasso said Manuel will remain at Michigan as a special advisor to the president.
Monday’s announcement came as Michigan released a report on the internal investigation it commissioned into its athletic department following the December firing of former football coach Sherrone Moore for an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Per the report released by Michigan on Monday, a culture review of the Michigan athletic department by independent law firm Jenner & Block found that Manuel “demonstrated important leadership strengths, particularly his commitment to student-athletes,” but “at the same time, it identified failures to quickly and effectively act on allegations of wrongdoing by Athletic Department employees.”
Grasso said he “will be launching a national search” for Michigan’s athletic director following Manuel’s resignation.
Manuel will leave his post as Michigan’s athletic director after an 11-year tenure leading the department that’s been marred by a multitude of scandals in recent years.
While Michigan’s release did not address specific details uncovered by the investigation, The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Manuel raised concerns about Moore’s relationship with executive assistant Paige Shiver dating back to August 2024. Moore was not fired for the relationship until this past December; Moore was subsequently arrested for entering Shiver’s home without permission, and pleaded no contest to charges of trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device in March.
Last August, the NCAA found “overwhelming evidence” that Michigan football conducted an illegal sign-stealing scheme from 2021 to 2023 under the leadership of former analyst Connor Stalions, which resulted in fines of approximately $30 million against Michigan. Another major scandal involving Michigan football in recent years was the arrest of former co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, who was indicted on 24 federal charges in March 2025 for allegedly obtaining unauthorized access to personal information and intimate photos and videos of thousands of college athletes.
The NCAA also found that former coach Jim Harbaugh’s program committed recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a four-year show-cause penalty against Harbaugh. Harbaugh, who left Michigan after the 2023 season to become the head coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, later received another 10-year show-cause penalty for his involvement in the sign-stealing scheme.
Michigan’s controversies in recent years haven’t been limited to the football program, as men’s hockey coach Mel Pearson was fired in 2022 after an investigation into his program revealed a toxic culture and potential violations of university codes. Former men’s basketball coach Juwan Howard was suspended for five games in 2022 after he struck a Wisconsin assistant coach during a postgame handshake line.
Per Michigan’s release on Monday, Jenner & Block’s culture review of Michigan’s athletic department “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.” Specific to the football program, the review “concluded that existing oversight mechanisms were not sufficiently effective and recommended strengthening leadership oversight, clarifying responsibilities, enhancing reporting relationships and improving compliance processes.”
On the field of play, Michigan has had some major successes under Manuel’s leadership, including a football national championship in 2023 and a men’s basketball national championship this past season. But Manuel drew ire from Michigan fans for his failure to retain the Wolverines’ best coaches, as men’s basketball coach Dusty May followed Harbaugh in leaving Ann Arbor for the professional ranks immediately after winning a national title.
With Manuel’s impending departure in January, Michigan will have a new athletic director, football coach and men’s basketball coach in a span of 13 months.
“I am very proud of all the successes and accomplishments of our athletic department over the past 11 years. We have tremendous coaches and professionals who support our outstanding student athletes every day,” Manuel said in a statement. “I am happy President Grasso asked me to stay on to work with him to implement the recommendations for continuous improvement. I promise everyone I will have more to say about my decision at the appropriate time.”
A former Michigan football player, Manuel signed a five-year contract extension with Michigan in December 2024. Per the terms of his contract, Michigan would have had to pay Manuel 36 months of severance if it fired him. His decision to step down and stay on as a special advisor, however, suggests that Michigan and Manuel reached a financial settlement before Monday’s announcement, though the financial terms of his departure were not disclosed by the university.
