Warde Manuel Says He Felt ‘Betrayed’ by Sherrone Moore Scandal at Michigan

Manuel has had too many fallouts under his watch, but he hopes to see it all come to an end soon.

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Things appear to be on the up for the Michigan football program with long-time head coach Kyle Whittingham running the program. Whittingham ran a smooth-sailing ship with the Utes for 21 seasons and not only is Whittingham respected, but he ran a good football program.

But Michigan didn't get Whittingam without problems arising. Back on Dec. 10 the Wolverines made the move to fire then-head coach Sherrone Moore. News broke of Moore having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, who we later found out was his executive assistant, Paige Shiver.

Moore recently received 18 months probation and was fined over $1,000 after he pleaded no contest to trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device.

Now that — most — of the Moore fiasco is behind Michigan, Athletic Director Warde Manuel spoke with The Detroit News and shared how he felt about the news after the investigation showed facts that Moore had a fireable offense.

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"I felt betrayed," Manuel told The Detroit News. "It’s the best word that I can use. I felt hurt for all the staff and the student-athletes and the university, because it's something that I had talked about, as it related to the expectations of our employees in athletics and for the university...

"...I thought I was very clear about my expectations and about the outcomes if something like that would happen. I had known Sherrone since he got here (2018 when he was hired as an assistant coach), believed in him as a leader, believed that my staff is doing things the right way, and I felt hurt, and I felt betrayed by it. It was personal, but it was also, I want to emphasize, for so many people that were affected by it."

Current investigation is close to wrapping up

Michigan has been filled with scandals in recent memory. Regardless of how you feel about Connor Stalions, the sign-stealing scandal made national headlines for way too long. Jim Harbaugh had to serve a three-game suspension for recruiting violations stemming back from the COVID year. Former offensive coordinator Matt Weiss was fired for 'hacking and privacy invasion'.

All of those came under Manuel's watch.

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The day after Manuel fired Sherrone Moore, he, along with the University, looked into a cultural assessment of how things were being handled in the athletic department. They would then hire the firm Jenner and Block to come in and do the internal investigation.

Things appear to be wrapping up, and although Michigan has had more problems than it might want to admit, Manuel said that 99.9% of the people at the University of Michigan are good people, and that's why they've had so much success.

"..What I haven't appreciated, and I've spoken about this, is in the context of an investigation into the culture here," said Manuel. "However people want to couch it, what I want is people to understand that 99.9% of the people here are doing things the right way, and are working hard to drive success in the right way. We've had our issues and we're not perfect, and I don't know any organization that's without issues and people issues."

Not worried about job security

Despite an internal investigation, Manuel isn't concerned about losing his job as the athletic director at Michigan. In fact, he's confident in the job he's done and believes "that I [Manuel] have done everything to make sure that we do things the right way within the department'.

And although he isn't concerned about losing his job, he admitted he's not perfect and he hopes to find ways to do things better.

"I hope it means that we're going to get better as an organization. I don't have any concerns, personally. It’s more about the organization and the department, the people here. That's my hope of all of this, that we get better and be better as a department," said Manuel.