Warde Manuel’s latest comments are not going to win him many friends in Ann Arbor.
Already dealing with a new lawsuit, rumors about whether he’ll still have a job come Thursday, and the fallout from Dusty May’s departure, Michigan’s athletic director added another layer to the tension in a recent interview with The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb. The timing only made it louder, even if Webb said the conversation had been scheduled for weeks and was originally meant to focus on May leaving.
Instead, Manuel found himself talking about the fanbase - and not in a flattering way.
“So, I mean, those kind of things to me, Sam, are the ridiculous nature of how our fans at times react to things, give them the credit for making the choices that they want to make for their lives,” Manuel said.
He was referring to the way fans respond when a coach leaves on his own, which is usually a tough sell in any college town. Sure, coaches make their own decisions, and Manuel likely did what he could to keep both Jim Harbaugh and May in the building. But when a high-profile departure hits, the athletic director is the one who catches the heat.
That’s the reality of the job, and Manuel knows it. He even said earlier in the interview that the fanbase has practically fired him three times already. Still, taking a shot back at Michigan fans is a risky move, especially when he’s already not among the most popular figures in the athletic department.
The frustration on both sides is easy to understand. Manuel was praised when Michigan won the National Championship in basketball in just the second season under May, and the hire looked like a home run.
But then May left, citing a desire to coach in the NBA and saying that where college basketball is heading was not something he wanted to be part of. He also said he had a lot of jobs he didn’t want to be dealing with at Michigan, while the NBA would let him focus more on coaching.
That puts Manuel back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. As the athletic director, he’s supposed to make life easier for his coaches.
If he wasn’t doing that well enough, then May’s exit reflects on him, too. So does the fact that he didn’t sign May to the extension that was announced after the season, which would have made it harder for him to leave.
Michigan fans are allowed to be upset when things go sideways. Manuel may not like how that frustration lands, but answering it by taking digs at the fanbase is not likely to calm anything down.
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