Michigan Athletics Dept breaks its own record set last year
Michigan Athletics Dept set a record last year by winning 12 BIG championships. Given the weekend results, it has 13 BIG championships this year.
Field hockey, Football, Women’s track and field (2), Women’s gymnastics (2), Men’s gymnastics (2), Hockey, Women’s tennis (2), Men’s lacrosse, Rowing.
Besides, a few teams are still on the hunt for national championships.
The whole athletics dept, including the much-hated Warde, must be doing something right.
Unacceptable. FIRE EVERYBODY.
This is great news, and congrats to ALL of the athletes and staff who are part of this accomplishment.
Now lets start converting some of these to National Championships!
...and Warde haters here are experiencing an elevated level of cognitive dissonance....
Perhaps. But my issue with Warde is less about the eventual decisions he makes, than the path he took to get to the decision.
- Mel Pearson was let go. Why was the path to get there secretive, long, and torturous?
- Jim Harbaugh was retained successfully. Why did it seem the President of the University had to step in to get it resolved?
- Brandon Naurato is UM's hockey coach. Why drove the long timing to remove the interim tag?
I was really happy when Warde was made AD. Seemed like a great choice and he had done good work at UCONN (I lived in Hartford at the time).
But the Mel Pearson situation, and what it looked like was happening from far away, was a real turning point for me. Not a Warde hater, but certainly not a Warde fan.
I work for a large company. Do you know how many people in the company think they have a better way the CEO should have made every decision? Every single employee. Do you know how many people would actually be competent at being CEO? A handful.
Society has always been reluctant to be tolerant, lacking in self awareness, and focused on self gratification so I'm not going to pull a "back in my day"...but I really can't stand how many people think things don't happen fast enough or think they should have access to more info just so they can sleep better at night.
Most of the time, you simply don't need to know the behind the scenes details of an AD's decision making. If you did, it probably would not help you sleep better. I'd also wager, that if Michigan did have an AD that was as public and quick with decisions as what some people want, those same people would be complaining that the AD just wants publicity, the focus on him/her, doesn't always need to air Michigan's dirty laundry publicly, and Michigan would do better with an AD who kept things more in-house.
I will not be a fan of an AD (or a CEO) who reads a report that one of their key leaders (or their managers) "acted unprofessionally — especially in interactions with female staff members and in treatment of student athletes" and that the report writers "have concerns about the culture and operation of the men's hockey program" and that they find the leader himself as "not credible", and then sits on it for 4 months, and takes action only after the report becomes public. That person does not deserve my esteem.
I agree that people do question ADs and CEOs (with imperfect information), they are not always right, but that shouldn't disqualify them from questioning decisions.
It makes me upset to see employees who trust in those in power to always do the right thing. My experience is that those leaders who fear transparency do so for a reason. Sunlight is a fantastic disinfectant.
It's not an either or argument. No one is ever completely right, not even my spouse.
Most of the complaints I have seen about Warde show very little understanding of how college administration works. It's like my 6 year old giving me recommendations on how I should be driving. I don't put a lot of stock in them, even if he is right one out of 20 times.
The one with Naurato, I think Warde did the right thing... the team was stacked, and with many coaches they would have been in the same spot most of the season, and he had to see how Naurato was doing as the top guy.... imagine if we got worse after getting his big contract, then we'd be stuck, like MSU is with Tucker.
It also doesn’t really do much if you remove the tag earlier. It doesn’t change anything, except you have a “permanent” coach a few months earlier to recruit kids who won’t be on the ice for 3 years anyway.
Recruiting is done so far in advance for college hockey that you’re not really giving yourself any advantage there. So really, there was no rush.
How so? He really doesn't get any credit for this other than not getting in the way of a good thing, because doing nothing is his MO. When the smartest thing to do is nothing, you can count on Warde to do just that. When the absolute worst possible thing is to do nothing, you can count on Warde to do just that.
So of course successful programs are going to succeed because he's not a Dave Brandon constantly mucking things up. That's nice. But when it comes to signing our football coach it seems his boss literally had to do it for him.
I don't really hate Warde so much as, I feel we could get similar results for a lot less money by promoting a lump of coal to AD. Our women's gymnastics program would remain awesome either way. Or is OP actually giving Warde credit for the work of a coach who's been winning B1G titles since the early 90s?
Your lack of knowledge of what goes on behind the scene is obvious. He has found and retained many of the coaches who are experiencing success. Sure, he has very little to do with the success of Bev Plocki, but he has had a direct impact on Men's Gym, Men & Women's Lax, Track&Field, ... etc. Very few athletic depts are on par with Mich in terms of success. I have served on two search committees at my institution for new ADs, and a lump of coal is not what we tried to find. Also, I have seen the negative impacts of a poor hire.
I am not sure a lump of coal at Stanford or OSU would not generate the results we see. The same goes for UM.
I agree with most of what you wrote, but I would say Warde does have an impact on the success Bev Plocki is having. For one, her success is at Michigan, not somewhere else. She is choosing to stay at Michigan. That means the work environment and support from her leadership must be worth it. because she could basically write her own contract at most other schools. The AD must also be supporting the student-athletes on her team. Again, if that wasn't the case, they and the coach would be gone.
Be careful what you wish for...thinking that we can get similar results for a lot less money. Maybe the results are coincidental as you suggest, but to think promoting any AD and things would go the same, really doesn't appreciate the bad affect with Martin, Goss, Brandon. This is the trap, when experiencing good success... to believe that its inevitable, versus realizing it was achieved.
It absolutely was achieved. Every bit of it was achieved through immense commitment, hard work, and sacrifice. And I mean, Warde is fine. After Dave Brandon, an admin wonk who makes the job look boring was a badly needed breath of fresh air. The part that rankles is pulling all the credit out of, say, the hands of Plocki and her teams and handing it to a desk jockey who arrived decades after she did. That reeks of idolatry and is going to get the "now hold on a second" treatment.
Let's see more positive comments about the teams' success!! I think Warde Manuel's results have been pretty adequately covered!
Although I'm not a fan of Warde's, I wouldn't call myself a 'hater' - that seems a bit too dramatic. But this is the internet, so whatever... LOL! In any case, not all dislikers of Warde need to be experiencing any dissonance. My problem with Warde isn't how well the AD is running - I've mentioned many times the guy is a good administrator. As others have stated, running an operation the size and complexity of Michigan's AD is not something most people can do (myself included), and he does it quite well.
But then there is the Harbaugh contract negotiation... His boss had to step in to stave off calamity. And pretty much everyone on this board was calling for his head. I posed the question/statement that Santa had to decide between the Mel report and Harbaugh situation vs how well the AD was humming along. Maybe now we better understand why Santa kept him - lots of championships, good finances, NIL (football) coming around, happy students/coaches/staff...
We counter all that with his absolute refusal to back his coaches publicly, or to take a stand against objectively horrible officiating and/or attacks from others on Michigan's players and coaches. Witness 2016, Twitter comments, UW's indignation at being the instigator, the Tunnel, et all. Warde simply does not defend his minions in the face of public outcry, right or wrong. He lets them flail. He even let the Tunnel take all the heat, fer crissakes...
That is my problem with Warde. But I don't envy the decisions Santa has to live with. Warde is a good administrator, but he is not a leader.
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I think the phrase ‘much hated’ is inappropriate for Warde. Could he be more responsive to the wishes of the fan base? Certainly, but he answers to all kinds of amped-up segments of Michigan alumni, administrators, doners, boosters (I’ll make a distinction between the two), and the rest of us. In balance, he doesn’t have a lot of leverage with high-visibility issues, so I believe his modus operandi is to stay in the background to work compromises with these diverse forces. Other than his handling of letting Mel go, I don’t have a lot of specific complaints. I can’t complain too much about his results, either. I certainly wouldn’t use the H-word.
I am a big supporter of Warde and have expressed those sentiments on this forum in the past. That sentence needed "/s" at the end.
This is misleading. While it's true that Michigan only had 12 B1G titles last year, it had 13 CONFERENCE titles. Women's Water Polo plays in the CWPA b/c there isn't a B1G conference. So, this year's Michigan teams actually tied last year's mark. Michigan is an "everything" school!!!
All of those conference championships we won last year means that Michigan and Michigan State combined for 13 conference titles a year ago. The entire state should be proud!
Underrated comment!
A lot of these sports have coaches that weren't hired by Warde. For example, the women's tennis coach, Bernstein has been around forever. DB might have been a jerk but he built a lot of facilities 10 years ago. Then, you have the rising academic standards of the university in recent years that attract nonrevenue athletes. Give Warde some credit but the university would be doing well in these sports regardless of who was AD.
Found a Warde hater.
/jk
Give Warde some credit but the university would be doing well in these sports regardless of who was AD.
isn’t this the knock on Warde though? I don’t think most criticism I’ve seen expressed of him is of the “he sucks” variety, as much as the “he’s kind of just there.”
i don’t really have much opinions on ADs as I don’t know shit about what it’s like to do their jobs. That said I don’t know if teams winning B1G championships is a clear indicator of AD success either way
Yeah OP was a pleasant read until it turned into strawman-infused shilling for a seatwarmer.
I guess it was a joke but it didn't land because the group being mocked basically doesn't exist. The guy's too invisible to be hated.
"That said I don’t know if teams winning B1G championships is a clear indicator of AD success either way."
There are two very different answers to your question depending on how you define "AD". Winning championships is very much a sign of a successful Athletic Department. It may or may not be a sign of success for an Athletic Director.
Acutally, most of the ones that won this year were hired by Warde.
I count 4 coaches that he hired that won Big Ten titles this year. One of them, Kevin Sullivan had already been here from before Warde's tenure as the cross country coach.
In a complementary question - what role, or factor, has the "Ross Athletic Campus" played in this achievement?
My view is - it's been VERY impactful. It seems each team has it's own practice / training facility - and, where both men and women field a team - each has their own area. (I'm not sure about Track and Field - and the swim teams both us Canham.) So - Michigan's facilities seem to "meet or exceed" most every other school in the country.
Does anyone know of an Athletic Campus which supports more Varsity teams than Michigan's does? If so, which school(s)?
Presumably, you are aware that the annual all-sports trophy often goes to the M of the west, Stanford. So, just checking gostanford.com, I find that Stanford fields men's and women's teams in 36 sports. No wonder they win that trophy more than M since M fields 9 fewer teams, or the grand total of 27. On a per-sport basis, I would say that M does pretty well in that competition! (Sorry to inform you! Didn't check any other programs.)
Jim,
I'm aware of the Director's Trophy - or whatever it's called these days, and certainly - Stanford is a perennial contender for it.
Stanford fields both men's and women's teams in both Fencing, Sailing, and Squash - and, also has a men's team in rowing / crew and volleyball.
As an alum, I'm very proud of Michigan's accomplishments - both academically and athletically. Though I've visited Stanford on several occasions, I've never looked into detail about their athletic facilities.
As far as I could tell, The Director's Trophy / Cup has been awarded 28 times - Stanford has finished second three times - and won it the other 25. Michigan's been in the Top Ten 22 times in the 28 years which were tracked. I believe the standings track the "Top19" sports from any given institution.
I think Stephen Ross' donation to Michigan has helped and certainly hope every program finds success when they compete. I'm always "Go Blue".
“Only 13 championships? Pfft.”
- 14 Championships, probably.
Oh but "Baby Fish Mouth" is sweeping the nation.
It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine! Go Blue!
I had a sense the championships were piling up. Go Blue!
I had a sense the championships were piling up. Go Blue!
[EDIT: this may seem like one of those annoying double posts but MAYBE it's my second sight. Just be thankful it's not my sixth sense.]
I had a sense the double posts were piling up. Go Blue!
the "no, really, warde sucks because reasons" posts here by all the usual suspects are the most predictable thing i'll read today.