Warde Manuel has Disgraced Michigan... Will it be Forever?

I’ve been a Michigan fan since the day I was born. The first pictures taken of me on this Earth (in clothes) were in Maize in Blue. The same was true for my siblings and the same will be true for my children.

Last fall, when the Sherrone Moore news broke, I, for the first time in my life, felt ashamed to be a Michigan fan. You mean to tell me that the winningest program in the history of football was allowing their head coach to contact "adult content creators" and have inappropriate relations with a staffer? It forced questions I never wanted to ask. How deep did this go? How much did the people running the athletic department already know? And how hard were they working to keep it quiet so the machine could keep winning?

With Warde Manuel out the door... Now we know.

There are 'Michigan Men' and then there aren't

The athletic director who oversaw the department during the Moore scandal, the sign-stealing fallout, and a string of other institutional failures is now leaving with a $7,143,346 buyout paid within 21 days of departure. An independent investigation found that while he showed strengths, particularly in his commitment to student-athletes, there were clear failures to act quickly and effectively on allegations of wrongdoing inside the department.

The man who was supposed to protect the standard is gone.

This was never just about one coach who couldn’t keep his hands or his phone to himself. It isn’t even about turning your back on Jim Harbaugh or letting the best basketball coach in Michigan history go to the NBA. It was about a culture that tolerated it, delayed accountability, and only moved when the evidence became impossible to ignore. It was about leadership that talked about “Michigan Men” and “doing things the right way” while something much uglier was allowed to fester underneath.

The real question in this situation is “How long would they allow this to happen if no one spoke up? How much longer would this have gone if all eyes weren’t already on the University due to scandals?”

I've been in the sports writing business since I was 14. When I think about the countless parents and recruits I talked to, the conversations I had defending the University I wish to go to medical school for, I can’t help but want to puke. It’s enough to make anyone sick.

Where does Michigan go from here?

In reality, there are so many good people that work for Michigan. From coaches, to staffers, to even most of the administration, people want to see the brand and the athletics succeed. But one lemon is enough to ruin the lemonade.

The best scenario for U of M is to let Warde go immediately but evidenced by the fact that he’s going to finish the year out, that isn’t going to happen. The second best would be to not allow anything else to happen for the rest of the decade and to find an AD who will take his job seriously. When running a program like Michigan, you need accountability no matter the cost.

It remains to be seen whether anyone will remember these scandals a generation from now or the impact it will have long term on the University. My one and only plea to anyone in charge is to make things right and not just on the surface. 

Just make things right, Michigan.