Michigan AD’s Position in Question As Investigation Findings Loom

In his decade-long tenure as Michigan athletic director, Warde Manuel has overseen the athletic department’s highest highs and lowest lows. He has also survived multiple scandals—at least until now.

University officials will consider whether to part ways with Manuel in the wake of findings from an external investigation into the athletic department’s knowledge and handling of former head football coach Sherrone Moore’s affair with former assistant Paige Shiver, according to multiple reports. The school may also release the findings of the investigation, conducted by law firm Jenner & Block.

The university’s board of regents is scheduled to meet Thursday, but an agenda posted Monday makes no specific mention of Manuel or the report. A university spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

“The president and I have had several great conversations over the past couple of days. There are no plans for me not to continue to be the athletic director for the near future,” Manuel said in a statement to Yahoo Sports on Monday.

From an on-field perspective, Manuel’s tenure could have been considered a success. In the past three years, the Wolverines have celebrated national championships in the most popular NCAA sports. Former head coach Jim Harbaugh led the football program to a national championship during the 2023-24 season; former head coach Dusty May led the men’s basketball program to a title this past April. 

Instead, it has been marred by two scandals both involving the football program. 

The first was a cheating scandal, where former football assistant coach Connor Stalions engaged in a scheme to steal the signs of opposing teams. The scandal took place both before and during Michigan’s national championship run, and was first publicized in the fall of 2023, just a few months before the Wolverines won the national championship. Harbaugh left Michigan just weeks after winning, departing for the Los Angeles Chargers head coaching job. In August 2025, the NCAA hit the Wolverines with tens of millions of dollars in penalties. 

Then, in December, football coach Sherrone Moore—an assistant under Harbaugh who took over when Harbaugh left for the Chargers—was abruptly fired for cause after the university found evidence he had conducted a yearslong consensual affair with Shiver. Moore was subsequently arrested for showing up at Shiver’s apartment and threatening self-harm. He was sentenced to 18 months’ probation.

Manuel escaped personal penalties in both instances, maintaining that he was unaware of both the sign-stealing scandal and the relationship between Moore and Shiver. The university gave Manuel a vote of confidence In December 2024, extending his contract through June 30, 2030; at the time, the sign-stealing scandal was already public, but Moore’s relationship with Shiver was not. A year later, at the time of Moore’s firing, a source told Front Office Sports there were no immediate plans to fire Manuel; the school would conduct an athletic department investigation and would allow the university’s next president a say in his fate depending on findings. 

Shiver previously told Good Morning America that the athletic department and school officials were aware of the affair and did not do enough to protect her. Last week, she filed a lawsuit against the university challenging Michigan’s refusal to release public records regarding the affair.

Manuel’s tenure, however, may be coming to an end. The speculation specifically surrounds the findings of the Jenner & Block report, and Manuel’s potential handling of the Moore-Shiver affair. It’s unclear how much, if at all, other scandals like the sign-stealing ordeal will factor into the board’s decision.