The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1412876
OCTOBER 2021 THE WOLVERINE 21 The Wolverine: From what you hear, do you think it's going to stay the same for a while? Manuel: "I don't know. What other opportunities are brought forward for us or for other conferences … look, we all have to make sure we do our due dili- gence and think through things. But if you're asking me, I think we are fine at 14. "How others see it in the conference, I can't speak to. No other opportuni- ties for an addition to the Big Ten have been brought up in conversation with me. There's speculation out there from everybody about who would fit in the Big Ten, who should the Big Ten get, the ACC. I have enough issues on my plate that I can't operate in hypotheticals." The Wolverine: The hiring of Juwan Howard has been received about as well as any hire could be … Manuel: "Not initially, but yes. People have amnesia. [laughs]" The Wolverine: Talk about that pro- cess, and how it has worked out. Manuel: "Listen, Juwan is the same great person now that I hired and had a chance to get to know when I interviewed him. His success has just been extraor- dinary — the success on the court, the way he's developed that team, the way they play with passion and energy, the way they play together. It's just a thing of beauty. "I've been impressed with Juwan since day one. We'll continue, as I do with all my programs, to support him and help him continue that level of success, help him drive that winning culture on the court and off the court, in the classroom. All the things they've done across the board have just been really impressive to see. "The credit goes to Juwan and his staff and those student-athletes. To me, we couldn't be in a better place. I'm just glad people are recognizing what I felt was his ability to drive the success we've had. "A nyb o dy wh o says ' I k n ow ' i n taking an assistant to become a head coach … I had a feeling. I had a great feeling. But I didn't know, because nobody knew. He hadn't coached before. He had no record about it. "And if you remember back to the press conference, I said give him time. I guess some people need less time than others to show how good they are." The Wolverine: Which leads to the next question — have the early returns exceeded even your expectations? Manuel: "I don't know the answer to that question. I don't start off the year predicting. I never do. Somebody asked me the other day, 'How many games are we going to win?' I said, 'I want to win each of them, one at a time.' "I don't know. I've never said, it would be great if we won 18 games, first year, or just get to the tournament. I've never had that level of expectation, because I feel like when you put a disclaimer like that on a team, you also set limits. You put in somebody's mind that you expect them to lose. "There's never been a day, in any sport I played, when I walked on the field of play or the court, the baseball diamond, and thought, I'm going to lose today. "So, I never think that way for my teams. I never put a level of expectation on somebody, other than, we're going to go out and try to win every game we play, one game at a time. And we'll see where we go from there." The Wolverine: What did you find so compelling about Howard's potential as a leader, and what have you seen that confirmed those thoughts? Manuel: "If you trace back through Juwan's career, he always has been a leader. People always talk about him be- ing the one who was making the calls to Manuel was pleased with the new assistants Jim Harbaugh (above) brought on this offsea- son, noting: "I'm very proud of him and who he's attracted here, and the level of coaches and people that we have on the staff." PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Manuel on the COVID-19 pandemic "Oddly, looking back, I'm thankful — not for the pain and the hurt and the hard decisions that had to be made, but for the growth and for seeing people really have their greatness show."