Warde Manuel's Battle for His Job Amid Michigan Scandals

This crazy story, I want to start with this cause it's probably one that needs to be opened up for a while. You know, the ward manual situation with what's going on in Michigan, you know, as you understand, I mean, I heard he was fired and then he's, he's back. He's fighting for his job. They outline all this crazy stuff. There's lawsuits alleging different things and what people knew and what he's been covering up. And Bill, as you get into this situation in Michigan, I know people down in Columbus are probably enjoying this a little bit and rightfully so by makes them feel, feel a little better to enjoy some of the pain from the rivalry. But when you see that bill, what, um, what is your understanding of what's going on up there? Well, you know, I'm friends with John Bacon. Um, he's wrote several big 10 books, obviously a great writer. Uh, his latest one about the Edmund Fitzgerald. And he always told me the old Michigan athletic director, Don used to say, you never turn a one day story into a two day story. Well, this has been a five-year story. Essentially every summer, Bobby, you have a different Michigan thing going on, dating back to the first recruiting scandal around Jim Harbaugh, where they serve, he serves a suspension during the season. And now I'd look at this and touched on it briefly on, on this with you at 97, one yesterday, we can get a little more into it. I don't know what the shelf life for an athletic director is, but I do know they're on, they will be on if word manual moves on, Michigan will have been on their fifth athletic director since essentially since wood car retired. You know, you go from Martin to Dave Brandon, to Jim Hackett, briefly to ward manual, and now to possibly a fifth one, if manual was let go. In an environment where they're football. And I think those athletic directors, we can say what we want. They're, they're tied to the coaches, the football coaches. Um, so this next athletic director, if they have one will probably be tied to the guy that follows Kyle Whittingham when he retires, um, and it's a little bit, and that athletic director will be tasked with cleaning up a reputation. That's taken a hit, like I said, every summer for the last five years. So the reports that word manual was fired, but then it comes out, you know, he's fighting for his job and they're having these meetings. Do you think there's a way, despite all the allegations and different things that have happened here over his tenure? Do you think that there's a way that he potentially saves his job or he could be the guy moving forward? I mean, what he told Ross Dellinger was I plan on being the athletic director, essentially. There's been none of that. I think we'll have more clarity Thursday, but when there's that this much smoke, it will be hard for him to keep his job. And maybe it came to a head at some point when Dusty may left for the Mavericks, because you've read some of the reporting there that, you know, didn't necessarily want to leave, but there was friction between him and the athletic director and, uh, it was kind of a him or me type deal. And of course, Dusty may goes to the Mavericks. So in essence, Michigan's one, two national championships, uh, between football and basketball in the last three years, but the coaches are immediately gone, so it's hard to celebrate when you, uh, know that the next guy's in rather it's Boynton or Sharon Moore, who quickly went to Kyle Whittingham. You know, what's interesting is you went to Boynton right after May and they did Sharon Moore right after Harbaugh. That didn't end up very well. And I know you like to separate it and you don't always want to sit there and they're, they're two different guys. It's two different sports. I just, and I think it was probably the right move, but now looking at that and you bringing that up, it seems a little peculiar and maybe worrisome if you're a Michigan fan. Well, I think the same thing where, whereas like Ohio state, you know, with the basketball, when Holtman let go, Diebler takes the job and I think Diebler got a audition for the job and did well, you know, and you know, some, and whenever you don't open a national search, it leaves it open criticism like urban Meyer. I remember he, he moves on and you're, you're trying to scramble around thinking of all these Ohio state coaching candidates, that coaching search lasted about an hour before Ryan day takes over and it works out. So it's not a perfect science, but I do think in Michigan's case, they went one higher. Kyle Whittingham will do okay. There, you know, rather, I'm not even talking about like national championships or anything like that. I think what they need is a coach that matures the program quite literally on the field and off the field. And then, uh, you know, whoever this next athletic director will be. Michigan is one of those places like Ohio state, like Alabama, like Georgia, I could sit here and lie to you, Bobby, and say, I know the name of all 138 athletic directors in the FPS, but there, you know, there's certain ones, you know, at the top and Michigan's one of those top 10 athletic director positions where you have to know who the athletic director is.