The Warde Manuel Era at Michigan now has an end date. What comes next?

This time last week, Michigan announced that Warde Manuel would be stepping down at the end of the calendar year.

The news that Manuel would be departing has felt like an inevitability for most people in recent months. It wasn’t really a case of what the end result would be. But rather, it was a case of how we’d get to that point and whether the parting of ways would be mutual, forced, cordial or something else on the separation spectrum.

The announcement came in tandem with the school releasing a summary of its months-long “independent investigation” into the culture of its athletic department — albeit a very underwhelming, paper-thin summary that was light on specifics and absent of any sort of smoking gun. And really, not only was it absent of a smoking gun or any new developments that an 8-figure, months-long investigation would likely need to yield to make that gaudy price tag worthwhile, it was absent of delivering anything that Michigan interim president Domenico Grasso said at the beginning of this process all the way back in December of 2025 when he said the school would “leave no stone unturned” when investigating its athletic department.

No stone unturned? Uh — was any stone even turned over during this charade?

I’ll have more on my disappointment on that front later on in this newsletter below the paywall jump. For now, though, I’ll quote the outline the University released last Monday because, well, there’s quite literally nothing else to share — and I hope everyone realizes that was certainly by design.

“Neither the investigation nor the culture review found that misconduct was widespread throughout the department. The culture review found that weaknesses in accountability, organizational structure, oversight, and reporting created conditions in which misconduct was not always addressed consistently, promptly, or in accordance with University expectations.”

So while we learned absolutely nothing new over the course of this process that lasted more than half a year, Monday’s news did still serve as a key domino for an ever-changing Michigan athletic department that’s been dominating the news ever since Michigan’s 2025 football season came to a close. Manuel, while not directly implicated as the reason in the report, will soon be stepping away as Athletic Director at Michigan after after a decade of service that saw Michigan grab headlines for multiple National Championships … and even more controversies.

That means the same school that has hired new faces of both the football and basketball programs in recent months will soon be searching for a new face of its athletic department, too — while also announcing a new president (a report late last week from MLive indicates that presidential announcement could come as soon as “early fall,” for what it’s worth).

It’s a desperately needed opportunity for a reset. But at the same time, it shouldn’t be treated as a finish line, either. I’ve been on record saying Michigan has needed to move on from Manuel for quite some time now. But I’ve also stated on multiple occasions that he’s been used as a scapegoat for plenty of things that weren’t his fault. It’s convenient to be able to say “OK, the Big Bad Wolf is gone now. Michigan has cleaned up its athletic department.” But one person isn’t the reason for all of this University’s bad press in recent months and years. Having a new voice at the top is a step in the right direction. But there’s plenty more to do.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s a lot to address below the paywall jump. But first, a little transparency at the top. Last month, we rolled out the first three installments of my four-part series looking at your answers to my U-M football fan survey. Part 1 looked at Kyle Whittingham and his new staff. Part 2 focused on fans’ expectations for the 2026 season. And Part 3 centered around personnel, and which returning/incoming players you all are most excited about. Part 4 — a look at the overall health of the Michigan athletic department, as well as folks’ thoughts on Manuel — was going to roll out to wrap a bow on the series. This ongoing saga put a bit of a snag in those plans, though, because I was chasing a few tips on Manuel-related items. The big hiccup centered around his potential ousting. But I was vetting a few other juicy pieces of gossip I’d be hearing, too.

Not to get too “Inside Baseball” here, but I have a pretty high threshold over what I’ll report on when it comes to using anonymous sources (my TL;DR rule of thumb — it not only needs to be confirmed by two different sources, but they need to be unconnected sources). With last week’s developments moving things forward, though, I’ve gotten some cooperation on that front and have a couple things I’m comfortable sharing on that front, too.

I also have some audio to share from earlier today when I made my weekly appearance on WTKA with Sam Webb. I didn’t send out audio from our interview last week, because the Manuel news dropped literally five minutes after our interview ended, making a lot of what we discussed irrelevant. But today’s visit centered fully around all things Manuel, the separation and what comes next for Michigan. You can listen to that appearance in its entirety HERE.

With that out of the way, let’s get into the meat of this newsletter. Below the paywall jump, I’ll share my takeaways on the news, elaborate on my disappointment when it comes to my alma mater’s ever-growing list of instances where it has shot itself in the foot and share what I’d prioritize when looking for a replacement for Manuel.

I’ll also be sharing your results from the remaining questions in my U-M football fan survey.

Let’s dig in. 👇