Grade Warde Manuel's tenure

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on January 16th, 2019 at 8:19 PM

So we're going on 3 calendar years in March and this is his third full athletic season.

Talking about the AD was all the rage back in the day here (for all the wrong reasons)

Pros: Strong hires for M Lax, W Lax, convinced M Tennis coach Adam Steinberg to not go to Arizona State when he accepted the job, staved off the Pistons and got Beilein to sign an extension (along with WBB coach Kim Barnes Arico). Said 'no' to Friday night Football games home or away. Hired Mel Pearson away from his alma mater and named Yost's rink after Red Berenson. 

Cons: Hasn't gotten the rivalry games flip flopped on the FB schedules, the poor handling of the Rhonda Faehn hiring by sneaking her in essentially and hoping no one noticed then retroactively sending out a release, hasn't done much in the form of backing up his head football coach (see: 2016 OSU ref scandal)

B

Yooper

January 16th, 2019 at 8:26 PM ^

A.  Has kept Harbaugh and Beilein happy and on board. Hired A caliber hockey coach. Facilities are first rate. Other sports are more than competitive. No hint of scandal. Big issues handled very well. Everything else is nitpicking 

WestQuad

January 16th, 2019 at 9:06 PM ^

ND is back on the schedule.   (Was that Warde?)

I want to win all of the games, but because of Raghib Ismail, I actually care about beating ND first and then OSU, and MSU in that order.   There are a lot of OSU people where I live now, but the god damned catholics are everywhere (I mean that with rivalry love.)     

Wisconsin and PSU are second tier rivals. 

I like the brown jug.

Northwestern is a good school and Fitzgerald is the man.  

GoBlueGladstone

January 17th, 2019 at 10:54 AM ^

Fellow West Quadder who is burnt more by those leprechaun shenanigans of the late 80s and early 90s. When State and tOSU beat us, it's usually fair and square and they don't bring "we're Jesus' favorite team" nonsense which offends non-Catholics and Catholics alike. I have no rivalry love, though. I want us to beat the snot out of them at home next year and deliver a desist letter right after and be done with it.  Warde has been much better than average - missteps that he has taken are understandable and don't have the stink of incompetence or arrogance. 

jmblue

January 17th, 2019 at 12:06 PM ^

When State and tOSU beat us, it's usually fair and square and they don't bring "we're Jesus' favorite team" nonsense which offends non-Catholics and Catholics alike

While MSU/OSU don't necessarily play the religion card, 1990 MSU (the trip), 2001 MSU (Spartan Bob) and 2016 OSU (eh, you know) were pretty dodgy outcomes.  To say nothing of the 2015 MSU insanity.

trueblueintexas

January 16th, 2019 at 11:13 PM ^

I truly do not understand the willful ignorance of many people on this board regarding the football scheduling. 

Michigan is in the same division as PSU, MSU, and OSU. Math and logic dictate you will play two of those three on the road every other year. Look up the historic performance of those three programs and please tell me which two you want on the road in the same year. 

If you have any common sense... are not hung up on nostalgia....are not still pissed Michigan had to play at MSU twice in a row over five years ago (under a different AD and coach)...I garauntee you your answer is MSU and OSU.

Had Michigan had to play OSU and PSU on the road either this year or last year, the same people who bitch about the current schedule would bitch about that schedule even more.

Warde is doing the right thing regarding B1G football scheduling by not caving to the stupidity of wanting PSU and OSU on the road in the same year.

raleighwood

January 17th, 2019 at 11:27 AM ^

This!  I really don't get all of the bitching about OSU and MSU being on the same cycle.  Don't forget that Michigan currently has Wisconsin and Nebraska on the schedule, too.  Michigan will play OSU in Columbus every two years and they'll have to play others on the road as well.  MSU is as good of option as many other teams.  MSU has won 53% of its games over the past three years.  To quote Mark Dantonio, "Where's the threat?"

SAMgO

January 16th, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^

If we’re giving Warde’s tenure an A then we truly do only deserve 10 win seasons. First of all, you cannot watch the majority of Michigan hockey games on television. This is our third sport and is supposed to be a revenue producer. Warde clearly couldn’t give a shit about it.

Beyond that, he hasn’t cleaned up the conference schedule, hasn’t scheduled well out of conference, hasn’t managed soccer coaching well, hasn’t bumped Harbaugh’s assistant salary pool, and then folded to the media on this most recent gymnastics hire that the student athletes supported.

On the plus side, he said no to Friday night games. I can’t think of anything else that is value above a median replacement. People are just in charge of things. C-

4th phase

January 16th, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^

Good point on tv stuff. You would think Michigan hockey (and other teams like baseball maybe) could get on TV more. Fox sports Detroit has 2 channels and basically only plays wings and pistons games. There has to be air time for Michigan sports.

Disagree on him not increasing Harbaughs assistant pool. Harbaugh and Beilein have basically had carte blanche to sign any assistants they want. This is how you end up with Pep being one of the highest paid assistants in the country. I don't remember a coach leaving because we wouldnt pay a fair value. 

stephenrjking

January 16th, 2019 at 11:04 PM ^

There’s no money in college hockey for FSD. They can’t get a big UM-MSU package like they used to have because BTN owns the rights. FSN has the rights to Minnie games because they used to broadcast EVERY Minnie home game and a fair number of their road games and people up here actually watch in significant numbers. It’s a completely different market and always has been. 

Change needs to come from BTN, not from Warde. 

Blueverine

January 17th, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^

The issue is not FSD or BTN. It's Michigan. Warde needs to wield his leverage. Bundling is standard fare in media deals. We need to tell the B10 that we are taking our rights to all non-broadcast hockey games if they won't air them. There are a lot or options for airing/streaming the games. I just don't think the ADept. is getting good counsel on the media landscape. And hockey is just a blip on the radar of the changes that are coming in the broadcast/streaming world.

mgowill

January 16th, 2019 at 11:05 PM ^

I know there is a current joke about emailing the AD/coaches, but I’m going to send an email about hockey broadcasting to the AD. If what you say is true about Minnesota hockey, then I’m truly baffled that we don’t have more televised Michigan hockey broadcasts. 

Dayton Blue

January 16th, 2019 at 8:28 PM ^

Giving jimmy the wrong meds after The Spot.   Not telling jimmy to ditch the horn rimmed Woody glasses.  

MichGoBlue858

January 16th, 2019 at 8:28 PM ^

Incomplete because the amount of things he has done publicly has been minimal. I know that he is well liked by people in the athletic department and the university as a whole though.

Arinix

January 16th, 2019 at 9:06 PM ^

Yes, Dave Brandon was quite talented as AD; increasing revenue, firing RR, playing concussed players (which garnered media attention, always a plus) and overall being a down to earth, likeable chap.