Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel talks to TMI's Sam Webb about NCAA leaks, Harbaugh and more

Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel joined The Michigan Insider studio this morning for an exclusive live interview with Sam Webb. Manuel discussed a number of topics, including his previous reticence with the media, his stance with the NCAA in light of ongoing investigations, narratives about his efforts, Jim Harbaughhis decision to fire Juwan Howardhis conservative pace of Michigan's NIL approach, and more.

To watch the full interview, press the play button on the embedded link at the end of this story.

In the following interview excerpt, Manuel reacts to the pattern of leaks regarding the NCAA's investigation into Michigan.

Ward Manuel: “So, first of all, I think it's completely unacceptable and ridiculous that people who have or get information about what's going on are leaking it to the press and the public. And we're trying to find them. We're just not letting it get away. We're actively trying to find out where these leaks are coming from. Especially when it's us. The problem, Sam, is, as you know, it's hard to get to the bottom of it. That doesn't mean we're going to stop trying. Because it really doesn't help the process. It doesn't help the University of Michigan get through this. It doesn't help the NCAA… whoever leaked this… it doesn't help what we're trying to do to solve the cases. And it just brings things to light… In some cases, some of it is wrong… some of it I can't respond to if it's wrong. We feel like we can't talk about it publicly, but yet people are leaking things about the case. It's just disappointing, unnecessary and sad.”

Sam Webb: “You feel like some of your constituents are trying to sway public opinion in favor of the NCAA. And so they feel like fighting positions need to be taken, (they feel) that a fighting stance needs to be taken. An emotional response is the one that feels good to those people. Why isn't the right response to just fight? Just fight? Because that's what a lot of people in Michigan want you to do. 'Let's just fight them… let's just sue them to the max… let's just try to send them into bankruptcy… let's just try to shut down the NCAA!' Why isn't that the right stance to take at every opportunity? Because that's what a lot of people in Michigan want you to do.”

Ward Manuel: “So, first of all, we're going to fight when we have to. But also, if we've made mistakes, we're going to own up to them and deal with them. And so I don't want people to think that we're not fighting for what we believe is right, for the University of Michigan and for the people here, just because we don't talk about it publicly and I can't either. We do! But at the same time, we also have to understand that when we do things that are against the rules and we know that they're against the rules, we have to own up to that, move on and deal with it. And so there's a duality there, Sam. There's a sense that you have a responsibility to follow the rules that we say we follow. But if it gets to a point where we feel like it's gone too far or we need to fight against something, we certainly will. And from that standpoint, I have people around me, we have advisors, we have people at the university who discuss this, and it's not just Warde, the one decision. It's a group that thinks about how to handle these cases and the situations that arise. And so, to me, there are times when we're going to struggle, but there are also times when we're going to say, 'We were wrong. We did it.' And that's the part… that's the duality that we have to have. We just can't make it public. But I don't want… to your question… people to think that we're just going to sit there and accept whatever is thrown our way.”

Table of contents
00:00 – Introduction
02:41 – It is not Warde Manuel’s style to make a lot of media
04:05 – Responding to negative narratives and attacks
06:55 – Dealing with leaks from NCAA investigation into Michigan
13:15 – Is fighting the NCAA with all your might the solution?
16:46 – The “lonely” decision to keep Jim Harbaugh in 2020
22:29 – How he dealt with Harbaugh watching the NFL every year
26:02 – Thoughts on Sherron Moore
28:32 – Thoughts on Dusty May
31:10 – Firing Juwan Howard was the hardest decision of my career
33:56 – On how he started monitoring Dusty May years ago
36:55 – Why Michigan took a more conservative approach to implementing NIL
43:19 – Will revenue sharing change the paradigm for Olympic sports at UM?
49:03 – Are there discussions about performance-related pay in the Big 10?

Sam Webb: “I know we can't get into the specifics of an ongoing investigation like the one that's currently happening following the recent announcement of the allegations by the NCAA. But I do want to talk about something related to that. It feels like there have been a number of leaks over the last few years. There is a process related to the NCAA investigations. Confidentiality is a part of that process. The members of the institutions at these schools, the NCAA itself, have to abide by the confidentiality clause in the process. And somewhere along the way, someone or some people in that process don't abide by it. And I'm curious, what's your answer to that? And what remedies are available to an institution when there seems to be a pattern of these kinds of leaks? Because it seems like if a school is guilty of this, there are levers of accountability that can be applied. What if it's not the school that's guilty of this? Are there any kind of remedies that can be taken? What's your answer to that?