Michigan’s search for its next athletic director is officially underway, and the timing only adds to the intrigue. Warde Manuel is stepping down at the end of December, and after a rough start for the football program, the person replacing him may walk into a job that demands immediate attention.
The University of Michigan said a national search will begin on Monday, and that alone signals how much is on the line. The next AD won’t just be overseeing football through a shaky stretch; the role calls for someone who can steer the entire department through college sports’ chaos and keep the rest of Michigan’s programs pointed toward championships.
With that in mind, three names stand out.
Candice Story Lee is the swing-for-the-fences option, and probably the one who makes the most sense if Michigan wants to aim high. Incoming Michigan president C.
Cybele Raver is arriving from Vanderbilt, which creates an obvious connection. Story Lee has built an impressive résumé in Nashville, where she has overseen three national championships and 13 conference championships across different sports.
Her work at Vanderbilt goes beyond just numbers. She hired Clark Lea, who led Vandy to its best football season ever in 2025, and Lea was a two-time SEC Coach of the Year. She also brought in Shea Ralph, the 2025-26 National Coach of the Year for women’s basketball, and Mark Byington has guided Vanderbilt to back-to-back NCAA tournaments.
That matters because if Michigan ends up needing a football coach in the near future, Clark Lea would be a strong name to watch. Story Lee could help make that happen.
But prying her away from Nashville would not be easy. She played women’s basketball for the Commodores, and her profile with the school highlights her strong ties to the Nashville community.
Michigan should make the call, but there’s no guarantee it gets the answer it wants.
Still, if Story Lee actually wants the job, she would be a no-brainer.
Katie Fraumann is the more familiar, in-house style of candidate. She isn’t currently an athletic director, but her connection to Michigan runs deep. She played women’s basketball for the Wolverines, her husband played football at Michigan, and their son, Tommy, is on the current roster.
Fraumann also worked as an associate athletic director at Michigan from 2016-2023. During that time, she earned a reputation as a standout fundraiser, and that skill set should carry real weight in this era. She’s now the senior vice president for the Division of Advancement and External Relations for DePaul, and even though her résumé doesn’t quite match some of the other names, she brings a kind of energy that fits the moment.
Then there’s David Benedict, another logical candidate with a direct line to Michigan history. UConn hired him as athletic director after Warde Manuel left for Michigan, which gives the Wolverines a chance to swing back in his direction now.
Benedict has done his part without disturbing the success of UConn’s basketball programs, and he also hired Jim Mora Jr. On top of that, he was named the 2025 NACDA Athletic Director of the Year. For Michigan, that kind of track record makes him easy to understand as a serious option.
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The next few days of practice will go a long way toward sorting it out, with the staff planning to use those reps to narrow the competition and make the call closer to game time. For Michigan, it is more than just a roster question. The Wolverines are trying to find the steadier option before a conference game that can help set the tone for the stretch ahead, and the answer at quarterback remains the biggest unresolved piece. [Read more 🡒]
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The broader concern is that Michigan has already spent much of the season playing closer games than expected and surviving on the margins more often than it would like. Against Rutgers, the path is fairly clear: establish the run, control the pace and avoid giving an underdog enough chances to hang around. If the Wolverines cannot do that against the conferences weakest run defense, it would say plenty about where this offense really stands heading into the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Fans Will Want To See Who Dominated Michigans Passing Game
Michigans 13-6 loss to Indiana was shaped as much by what did not happen through the air as by anything the Wolverines did on the ground. The defense held up well enough to keep the game tight, and senior cornerback Zeke Berry was right in the middle of it, helping limit completions and coming away with an interception against a quarterback many expect to hear called in the NFL draft someday.
On the other side, the offense never found much room to breathe. Jordan Marshall had a difficult time generating yards, with the blocking up front not giving him much to work with, and the passing game never provided enough relief. Jyaire Hill also turned in a strong day in coverage, which only added to the sense that Michigans defense did its part while the offense left too much on the table. [Read more 🡒]