The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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bered sitting in the back of the football team meeting room as a freshman, while the senior captain sat up front. "I couldn't imagine … that one day Jim would be leading our football team as well as he is, and doing a great job, and that I would one day come to work with him as the athletic director," Manuel said. "To me, when you come full circle like that, that's meaningful. I look forward to work- ing with Jim and all the other head coaches. "We have a bond that's hard to ex- plain. He was my captain, my first year. He went through the same thing I went through." Like he has in his previous two AD stops, Manuel will delve into a host of sports beyond football. He's inter- ested in casting a vision not unfamiliar to Michi- gan athletes. "We're going to focus on having our student- athletes compete in the classroom, compete on the field of play, with a goal of winning cham- pionships, grow as great young people who will graduate from Michigan and make an impact on the world, and do all of that within the rules, and have fun in the process," Manuel said. "Michigan itself is very attractive to me. It's embedded in me for the rest of my life. "To see what Jim has accomplished in football in a year, and the excite- ment that has been created in a very short time, to know Carol Hutchins was in the World Series championship games … my wife, daughter and son, we were all watching. "To see the level of performance, what John [Beilein] has done with the basketball program, just to name a few. There should be excitement here, about the future and potential for Michigan to not only win Big Ten championships, but national champi- onships." ENDORSEMENT FROM THE EAST Manuel made a number of moves at Connecticut that have drawn praise from Huskies fans. He hired former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco to become UConn's head football coach in 2014. The Huskies went from 2-10 to 6-7 in Diaco's first two seasons at the helm. Aman Kidwai, publisher of the Rivals.com website UConnReport.com, noted Manuel's efforts were mostly well received at UConn. "It would be really hard to grade him as anything but a strong 'A' for his coaching hires," Kidwai said. "Bob Diaco, with football, it looks like it's going well. He also did a very good job with the hiring of our hockey coach, Mike Cavanaugh. "He helped in a $35-million fundrais- ing project. We have a new basketball facility. We have a new soccer facility on the way. We've made enhancements and improvements all over." Manuel "There should be excitement here, about the future and potential for Michigan to not only win Big Ten championships, but national championships."