The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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22 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2019 schedule on the results of that game and those around it. Can you explain again why it had to happen that way to get the Irish on the schedule again? Manuel: "That was the date we had available. Sim- ple as that. As you put to- gether any schedule, you go with dates available. That was a date that we could both make work. That's why we scheduled it that way." The Wolverine: Does it speak to how badly you wanted them back on the schedule? Manuel: "Jim and I are comfortable with schedul- ing them in October. It's going to be a great game to watch then. It was a great game to watch in September of last year. I'm happy they are back on the schedule. "It was a date that worked for both of us. It was what we agreed to do. We were not concerned about not playing them at the beginning of the year. "Sometimes you want to play great opponents after you've played a few games anyway. You get the kinks out. There are positives to playing them in October as much as there are nega- tives." The Wolverine: Assess the game- day experience at present in Michigan Stadium, and is it true you're planning to do something about the scoreboards in the relatively near future? Manuel: "I'm happy, because our fans, for the most part, have been able to share very positive game-day expe- riences in Michigan Stadium. That's the biggest driver of my happiness — that our fans are having a great expe- rience in the general sense, enjoying the experience of being at Michigan Stadium, and having a safe and fun time while they're there. "And yes, the scoreboards are going to have to be changed. They're getting towards the end of their lifespan. I want to say those boards are nine or almost 10 years old now. They're go- ing to have to be replaced, either after this season or definitely after the next season." The Wolverine: What is your philos- ophy regarding non-conference sched- uling in this era of college football? Manuel: "You want to have a bal- ance of competition that prepares the team for the conference schedule. We're all trying to prepare to win the Big Ten. We're trying to prepare to make it to the College Football Playoff. "We feel if we can get to the point of winning the Big Ten, we can get to the College Football Playoff. Then you go from there. "Part of it is trying to balance a nine- game Big Ten schedule, which is really tough, usually in the top two in terms of conference schedules. "Then you want to make sure you balance that with the non-conference games that prepare you for the confer- ence and that, in certain cases — like this year with Notre Dame — our fans are really excited to see. "Ultimately, we want to prepare our- selves to win the Big Ten Conference and get into the College Football Play- off, which is a different way of thinking about it. We like tough competition in the non-conference, but we also want to balance it and make sure that we are preparing ourselves to have success, both in the conference and nationally." The Wolverine: Talk about former basketball coach John Beilein's time here and how you had to move quickly to replace him. Manuel: "I'm very appreciative of John and the time he spent here. He leaves here as the winningest coach in our history. He brought tremendous success and a lot of pride and happi- ness to Michigan. "For that, we'll forever be grateful for him and his family. "I'm very happy to have Juwan [Howard] here now, and the transition is going very well. He's doing a tre- mendous job with the team, with recruiting, building his staff, the alumni and the way he's communicating. There's a lot of excitement with him at the helm. "I'm looking forward to him driving great success in our program and watching him lead Michigan basket- ball." The Wolverine: In the months you've seen him operate as head coach, what have you noticed about Howard in putting together a staff, in- creasing his knowledge from a college coaching standpoint, etc.? Manuel: "It's the way he's worked at it. It's new to him, and with any new role, you want to see somebody who has jumped in with both feet. "That's exactly what he's done, and he's learned very quickly. He's been open to his assistant coaches, to the basketball staff and to the athletic de- partment staff to help him succeed. "For me, it's all been predicated on his level of commitment. He's really im- mersed himself in learning the ins and outs of being a college basketball head coach. I just applaud him on how hard he's worked at doing it and doing it well. That's just been a pleasure to see." The Wolverine: Can you project how you expect Michigan basketball to look under Juwan Howard? Manuel: "They will work to win ev- ery game. We will continue to drive success. His style will adapt to the personnel and what he thinks will be successful. "He certainly knows what John did — how he ran the offense, how he ran his defense. He certainly has ideas, and his assistant coaches have ideas, based on the personnel that we have. "We'll continue to play hard and have success. How we'll do it, whether we'll continue to shoot as many threes, I don't know. Will he have more of a low-post presence in the game, I don't know. But I know that he's going to put together a game plan to win and to drive success. "As much as John Beilein wanted to Although Notre Dame falls in the middle of the Big Ten schedule with an Oct. 26 date, Manuel said: "Jim [Harbaugh] and I are comfortable with scheduling them in October. … I'm happy they are back on the schedule." PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN