The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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18 THE WOLVERINE ❱ OCTOBER 2025 BY JOHN BORTON T he University of Michigan ath- letics director sits down once a year with The Wolverine, tak- ing an expansive look at the athletic programs under his direction. It's been a tradition since the early 1990s, and Warde Manuel continued that this year, in a sit-down interview. Here's what he had to say. The Wolverine: Give our readers an overview of how you see the athletic program over the past year. Manuel: "I think it was a very good year, in a general sense. We had teams competing and winning champion- ships, which was great to see. Some ex- pected, some not. It's probably the ones you don't expect that hit you harder and mean more, because you know the team, you talk to the coach before the season, and it's like, 'Well, this is a season where we have to grow,' and by the end of the season you have success. "A national championship in men's gymnastics was quite a thrill. To do it in Crisler, 11 years later from the time before when we were in Crisler and won it. To see our two All-Americans com- pete and do it on their last two tries, to do what they did. It was just a special year, capped off by [women's track star] Savannah Sutherland and what she did at the NCAAs. She set four NCAA re- cords in that meet and won the NCAAs in record time in the 400-meter hurdles. "It was just so impressive. On top of that are the academic achievements of our student-athletes — almost 500 student-athletes were recognized as Academic All-Big Ten. They're quite an impressive group of young people. For me, it speaks volumes about our coaches and what they do, our staff and how they support them. All in all, it was a very good year for Michigan athletics. I'm very proud of the student-athletes, the coaches and the staffs." The Wolverine: A follow-up on the gymnastics national champion - ship. What is it like to be there and see them celebrate at that level of achievement? Manuel: "It's really special. When you win the national championship, it's the culmination of a lot of hard work that they put in throughout the year. Almost every team sets that as the goal. It's really hard to accomplish. There are a lot of great teams across the country. When you get to that moment and where you are crowned the national champion in a sport, it's re- ally a time of great celebration. "It's almost a release and a relief, that you have achieved the highest goal you can have. It was great to see. In the sport of gymnastics, when it comes down to scoring and judging and really tenths and hundredths of points, I was sitting there looking at the board, trying to figure it out in my mind — without much help from gymnastics experts around me, just from being around it so long and getting a sense for what we needed based on what teams are doing. "To see Fred [Richard, senior] hit the vault that he hit, and to go 14.400 and to figure out what Paul [Juda, grad] needs. Then you see one little step to the side [on the landing] and you go, 'Oh my gosh, is that going to cost all that great work?' He had to get like a 13.800, and got a 13.966. He got barely more than what he needed. It was electric, for the team and for ev- erybody there. It was remarkable to expe- rience and to watch how close this comes to perfection that you have to achieve in that sport against great competition. "It was amazing to watch." ATHLETICS DIRECTOR EXCLUSIVE Warde Manuel Gives His Takes On The Wolverines' Landscape Manuel, a former U-M football player who has been the university's director of athletics since January 2016, celebrated Big Ten titles with five teams last year (field hockey, men's basketball, men's gymnas- tics, women's tennis and softball) along with a national championship in men's gymnastics. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL