INTEL: What We're Hearing Regarding Warde Manuel's Status as Michigan AD

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel has found himself at the center of more rumors about his job status, a fixture in the rumor mill. This time around, though, things became far more public as reports surfaced earlier in the week that his job status is "in doubt" and will be discussed during a Regents meeting on Thursday.

Since then, the Regent meeting came and went without any news of Manuel's status and repeated quotes from university officials, including from Warde himself, have suggested that his position is not as "in doubt" as things first appeared.

Here's what we're hearing as another turbulent week in the rumor mill has almost come to a close.

Michigan has a leaker problem

If it's not clear already, U-M has a leaker problem, particularly information that appears to be either a half truth or not true at all.

How did U-M go from Manuel looking to be bought out by the university at the beginning of the week, to the president publicly voicing his support for his athletic director? That's what those in U-M circles are trying to find out.

It remains unknown who or how this information is coming out, but sources close to the situation suggest that narratives are being planted in the media to suggest things are more dire than they appear, particularly with the story of Manuel's status in doubt.

Manuel has said publicly that there has been a push to get him out of his role since he took the job in 2016, whether that was supposed to be taken as him being facetious, there is truth to the statement, as we have confirmed that there has been a push for quite some time to have Manuel removed from his position to no avail.

Whether stories are being intentionally planted or not, U-M has a leaker problem in its mix that it must get cut off to avoid further spiraling.

Is there a physical report?

Reporting done both locally and nationally suggest that U-M has been denying Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to view findings of the Jenner & Block investigation into the athletic department in wake of the Sherrone Moore scandal.

Sources have told Michigan On SI that requests haven't been fulfilled because there's no "physical" report that has been delivered at the time of the FOIA requests coming in, meaning it's still considered a draft until U-M releases its findings.

We're told that U-M officials have had multiple meetings in which the results of the investigation have been discussed orally, but nothing has been made formal and in writing yet.

That, of course, is expected to change soon, as U-M has said that it plans to deliver the findings publicly in the coming days.

As it was described to us by sources familiar with the situation, there appears to be a battle of semantics going on, as one side (the media) is asking for documentation of findings that U-M says it doesn't have (no official report) despite those at U-M aware of the general scope of what the findings will show.

What will the findings show?

Sources have been adamant for months that the meticulous and thorough investigation by Jenner & Block will not paint the athletic department in a positive light. We're told that the contents will be a collection of errors that led to the events of the Moore firing and the immediate aftermath, a black eye on an athletic department that has navigated a handful of scandals in recent years.

As for any type of smoking gun or direct leads that could be considered a fireable offense for Manuel, we're told that no such evidence was found. That doesn't mean the report will reflect positively, but it doesn't provide the death knell as some have speculated publicly.

One of the major talking points that is stemming from the build up of the release of the findings is that Manuel was made aware of the Moore and Paige Shriver relationship as early as 2024. Sources have confirmed that is true.

What resulted from Manuel being tipped off anonymously to the situation was both an internal investigation, which included interviewing both Moore and Shriver, and the first of two Jenner & Block investigations which took place in the fall of 2025. Both investigations returned zero evidence of any wrongdoing and flat-out denials by both Moore and Shriver, so the situation was considered over after two separate investigations.

It was only until Moore was going to fire Shriver at the end of the 2025 season that the truth came out, resulting in Moore's for-cause firing in December.

According to those familiar with the investigations, Moore could not be fired without proper evidence if they wanted to go the for-cause route. If U-M wanted to move on without sufficient evidence, Manuel would've had to buy out the remainder of Moore's contract, which would look worse if the rumors were ever confirmed.

The second Jenner & Block investigation started in the wake of the proper evidence received, with the goal of determining whether anything was missed and to avoid a situation like this again.

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