Commentary: When will blame for Michigan's dysfunction fall at Warde Manuel's feet?

When the news broke on Wednesday evening that Michigan fired Sherrone Moore for cause due to an “inappropriate relationship” following an investigation, and that police had subsequently taken him into custody while investigating a criminal complaint, a simple question popped to mind. 

When does blame start to fall at the feet of athletic director Warde Manuel? 

When does it become Manuel's fault that a football program he is, ostensibly, ultimately in charge of has spent much of the last half decade dealing with multiple scandals — from bad PR due to improper (perhaps no) vetting of a nepotistic staff hire, to two separate NCAA infractions cases, to criminal charges against one former coach and now potentially more to the now-former head coach? 

When is it his burden to shoulder, and his problem to be accountable for?

While the Wolverines tore through the Big Ten for three years on the gridiron from 2021-23, the football program found itself in hot water in numerous ways. 

In early 2022, there was the hiring, and subsequently rapid firing of, Glenn ‘Schemy’ Schembechler, a son of former head coach Bo Schembechler. Schembechler, hired by Harbaugh to serve in a role on the recruiting staff, lost the job after social media users noted publicly available posts of his that downplayed America’s history of slavery and Jim Crow laws. 

Manuel, along with Harbaugh, played football at Michigan for Bo Schembechler.

Manuel released a statement at the time of the younger Schembechler’s firing, noting “we are aware of some comments and likes on social media that have caused concern and pain for individuals in our community.” 

Later in 2022, Manuel and embattled men’s hockey coach Mel Pearson were pitted against the board of trustees and interim president Mary Sue Coleman over whether or not to retain Pearson. A third-party investigation by law firm WilmerHale determined, and shared in a 68-page report, that Pearson had, among other misconduct, retaliated against at least one player, been hostile towards women on staff and encouraged players to lie about Covid-19 tracing measures. 

Manuel, along with Pearson, wanted to keep him as head men’s hockey coach and give him a new contract. Manuel eventually relented as Coleman and Co. helped announce the change in leadership in the hockey program. 

The following spring, in 2023, Michigan fired then co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, who has since been investigated and charged by federal authorities for a rash of alleged computer crimes and allegedly illegally accessing intimate photos of women. 

And, of course, in the middle of the 2023, news broke of Connor Stalions’s impermissible scouting scheme, a scandal that resulted in multiple show-cause orders for the staff at the time, including 10 years for Jim Harbaugh, now head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Moore and other coaches were implicated as assistants on the staff, and Moore himself served a two-game suspension to begin the 2025 season in relation to that scandal. 

And that’s separate from the “just a cheeseburger” scandal, which involved the Wolverines hosting recruits during an NCAA dead period amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, among a series of lesser violations elsewhere in the program. 

That’s five years of organizational dysfunction repeatedly boiling over to burn Michigan, and with two different head coaches.

But it was papered over in that span by a 4-1 record against Ohio State, a 4-1 mark against Michigan State, a 57-11 overall record, three Big Ten titles and a College Football Playoff national championship to pay off the 2023 season. 

And Manuel, leading the athletic department since 2016, deserves his share of credit for that run of success. He held steady and kept Harbaugh around amidst his NFL interest after the 2021 and 2022 seasons, rather than bailing on a coach who seemed interested in different jobs, mimicking the confidence he showed in Harbaugh after a shambolic 2020 Covid season. 

And after the 2023 season, Manuel made arguably one of his best decisions as athletic director, offering Harbaugh a cushy salary and deal to remain at Michigan, but stopping short of contractual protections that would’ve made the head coach nearly unaccountable. 

Harbaugh left for the Chargers, and Manuel wasted little time in elevating Moore to the head coaching position. It’s a decision that might ultimately cost Manuel. It will certainly cost Michigan, now. Even if the cost isn’t in dollars for a buyout, then certainly in reputation. 

The Wolverines have been winning, and more than they’ve lost, but at the cost of seemingly constant chaos and an environment that has regularly produced scandals in the last half decade. 

It is Manuel’s job to rein that chaos in. 

And if he gets the credit for the good that has happened, he certainly has to own the bad that has happened, and keeps happening. 

Because as Moore’s tenure left fans somewhat underwhelmed after two seasons on the field, his shock dismissal and subsequent fallout will leave a much worse mark for the Wolverines. 

And one that begs the question, one that is still ultimately unanswered as of Wednesday night: When does Warde Manuel, the man in charge, take some blame for this?