The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531518
FEBRUARY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 9 BY ANTHONY BROOME H iring a football coach can be a defin- ing moment for an athletics direc- tor, and Warde Manuel's first such hire in nearly a decade in Ann Arbor got off to a rocky start but finished strong. Sherrone Moore's first year leading U-M culminated in an 8-5 season that finished with three straight victories, headlined by ranked wins over Ohio State and Alabama. Manuel said most of the lessons learned came from the response to some of the setbacks along the way. "I saw leadership," Manuel told host Jon Jansen on a December edition of the "Conqu'ring Heroes" podcast. "You can really tell how people lead when things are not going like you want them to go. I was impressed with how he handled it with the team. More importantly, I was impressed with the motivation and the way the team continued to play hard. And I saw it after a loss, how they rebounded, how they came to the next game. "For our team, it clicked against North- western where they got the confidence out of that game. I remember in the locker room after the game, Sherrone said, 'No- body except the people in this locker room believe that we can go to Columbus and win. We have to show them that we believe and we can execute and do it. It's going to take a lot of preparation, it's going to be a tough game. They're a great opponent.' But he started that night after that win to get them to understand and believe." Manuel was tasked with replacing a program legend in Jim Harbaugh imme- diately after a national title last January, and Moore was responsible for keeping the momentum going. With the team record sitting at 5-5 late in the season, there were doubts about the future, but the Michigan AD saw the on-field per- formance improve and a 2025 recruiting class — headlined by No. 1 overall pros- pect Bryce Underwood — set them up for future success. "I'm very proud of him and how he handled this year," Manuel said of Moore. "And then how he handled recruiting with him and the staff and the great recruiting class we have coming in. I just give him high marks for handling everything. "[I saw] a team that wasn't giving up, that was playing hard. We had games that we didn't win, that we didn't play that well. But it wasn't that we weren't playing hard. We just made mistakes. It cost us games, and you can go through the litany of different games and what happened along the way. "But there were always bright mo- ments, even in the games that we lost, where you could see glimpses of a team that if they can not make mistakes, can pull it together. And that's why I point to Northwestern. I think that was a game from my perspective that we really didn't look like we were making any mistakes." Manuel also wrapped up his final year on the College Football Playoff commit- tee, this year as its chairperson, and said it was an experience that he was honored to be a part of. "It was a great experience," Manuel said. "I'm not doing it again because I'm off the committee. This is my third year, and I'm out. But it is something that I en- joyed because I got a chance to represent great people on the committee. And that in and of itself was quite an honor to do and represent the committee." His experience on the CFP committee and as a college administrator also saw the debate of transfer portal windows re- emerge as a hot-button topic across the country. He cited the decision of Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula to leave the team during the College Football Playoff as an eye-opening circumstance about the realities of the current setup with an open window in the winter and another in April. "We really need to look at one por- tal," Manuel said. "There are no profes- sional sports in this country that have free agency in the middle of the season or during the postseason. We need to look at what's good for all young people. [The College Football Playoff] is only 12 teams, and the other kids can go in and it's beneficial to that. But what benefits all of them? And try to make something where a student-athlete participating on a team does not have to feel [they have to leave during the playoff] in order to be able to go somewhere else." ❑ ❱ Inside Michigan ATHLETICS AD Warde Manuel Reflects On '24 Season, Sherrone Moore's Debut Manuel was impressed by the way head foot- ball coach Sherrone Moore handled himself and his team in his first season at the helm. "I saw leadership," he said. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL