The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526802
OCTOBER 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 23 someone that I still care deeply about as a person, him and his family. It was really hard to do. "There had been a lot of difficult is- sues. But that was purely my decision, not something somebody did to cause me to have to let him go. That was hard." The Wolverine: What about Dusty May and what he's done since arriving on this campus? Manuel: "I just met with Dusty again, talking about different issues. He has just been fantastic in terms of being the person he said he was going to be in the interview. "You want people to be the same per- son they were in the interview. For the most part, they are — 90 percent. Some might bring things you might not think. "Dusty May? He's 100 percent the person he said he was going to be in the interview. To a T. He talked about it be- ing about the student-athletes, the staff, and the people around the program, be- ing a part of the athletic department community, being a part of the Univer- sity. He just exemplifies everything you want in a coach. "Driven for success but driven to make every one of those student-athletes bet- ter every day. That is not only just as a basketball player, but it's also being a better person and how they do in school. For him, those matter. "Almost all of our other coaches are the same way, caring about the kids and focusing on more than just athletics. A lot of coaches say that. How do they do it? "Dusty has done it. He's been ev- erything he said he was going to be and more. I look forward to watching him drive success on the court and seeing what his team is going to do this year." The Wolverine: What are your highlights from across the Michi- gan athletics landscape over the past year? Manuel: "We won seven Big Ten championships, which led the league again. We set the record the year before, with 13 conference champions. We fin- ished second [in 2023-24] in nine other sports, which is phenomenal. "Think about it. We could have won 16, and I didn't even get to the third places. It was a phenomenal year, capped off by a national championship in football. "We were runners-up in men's gym- nastics, with two Olympians. We had 44 Olympians, current or former stu- dent-athletes, representing 22 coun- tries around the world, in Paris. We had 14 staff as coaches or staff on different teams. It was a remarkable year we had with student-athletes athletically and academically. We set records in terms of student-athletes with over a 3.7 GPA, as recognized by the Big Ten. "They're just remarkable young peo- ple. I get to brag about all the things that they do and what they achieve, not to mention how they take their time to give back to the communities around here and in their own communities. Doing camps and clinics and going back home to do different things. All that they do to impact their communities and impact this world. I'm extremely proud of them and proud of our coaches. "They really do a great job of recruiting great athletes and great people. It's a tes- tament to them and their efforts that we have such great young people around us. "I'm proud of our staff and the sup- port they give our young people to drive their success. It's a team effort. "I thank our fans and our donors for the support they give. Without them, we can't have that type of success. We can't drive the level of success we've had. I'm just very, very proud." The Wolverine: Can you talk about the department's finances, and where you stand there? Manuel: "We don't have $22 million [the NCAA proposed revenue share be- ginning in 2025] laying around to pay student-athletes. We didn't have a sur- plus of $22 million last year. I say that be- cause we're going to have to find ways to increase revenue and decrease some ex- penses, in order to do the revenue shar- ing and keep driving the success. That's the journey we're on now, trying to figure what that will be in our future. "There has been great support from the president and our board to look at ways to drive revenue. There has been great support from them to figure out expenses, and how we can move forward so the athletic department can continue to have great success. We've been for- tunate at Michigan. Up to this point, we have brought in revenue, and our ex- penses have been less than or matched the revenue we've brought in, without the University having to give us any sup- port from general fund money or fees or anything like that. "I don't want people to get all twisted. We're not going to implement student fees and those kinds of things at all. That's not the revenue side. But we do not max out on all of our facilities, par- ticularly Michigan Stadium, on some of the revenues others are making on ad- vertising inside the stadium. That's one example. We're working that out. "I don't want people to be all upset and up in arms thinking about, is that something we want to do? I don't want people to think it's imminent. But we're changing, in terms of the structure and the landscape. The challenge for us is to figure out how to move forward to the benefit of our programs. We're not go- ing to drop any sports. That's not in our mindset at all. "We may need to change some of the things we spend money on, and some of the ways we bring money in. The presi- dent and the board are understanding, and they have the ability to give us their thoughts on it. "We're looking at everything — all rev- enue options, all expense options. How can we mesh the two together to absorb an additional expenditure. Some of that will come from the new television money with the CFP. That will be helpful to off- set some of those costs, but it won't off- set all of it. "We just need to figure out how best to move forward." ❏ ❱ Manuel, on U-M student-athletes "They're just remarkable young people. I get to brag about all the things that they do and what they achieve, not to mention how they take their time to give back to the communities around here and in their own communities."