This could be a consequential week for Michigan as the school deals with continued fallout from scandals surrounding former football coach Sherrone Moore.
Michigan’s board of regents has a previously scheduled meeting set for Thursday in Traverse City, Mich., where issues related to Michigan’s athletic department are expected to be discussed. The meeting comes amid questions about the future of athletic director Warde Manuel and calls for Michigan to release findings of an external investigation into Moore’s relationship with a former executive assistant and the athletic department’s handling of the matter.
It’s unclear if Michigan will release findings from the investigation conducted by the law firm Jenner & Block as part of Thursday’s meeting. University spokesman Paul Corliss said Sunday that “as of now” the school had no plans to make the report public this week and said the school had “nothing to report on the rumors about Warde’s future at this time.”
People in and around Michigan have spent months bracing for the findings of the investigation, which has cost the university nearly $12 million. A source contacted by Jenner & Block, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said people at Michigan are in “survival mode,” anticipating that the investigation will show that Michigan failed to heed warning signs about Moore’s conduct.
Revelations about Moore’s conduct raised questions about Manuel’s future at Michigan. Now in his 11th year as athletic director, Manuel has guided Michigan during a tumultuous period that included national championships in football and men’s basketball, as well as numerous NCAA infractions and scandals involving coaches and staff members.
Manuel’s contract at Michigan runs through 2030 with a base salary of $1.9 million, plus a $350,000 annual retirement contribution. He would be owed the equivalent of three years of salary and retirement contributions if he is fired without cause.
“Look, my record … I don’t know a place in America that doesn’t have issues,” Manuel said in April. “I don’t know a household, I don’t know a family, I don’t know a company that doesn’t have issues. What I’m proud of is the way that our people continue to move forward.”
The Jenner & Block investigation began after Michigan received an anonymous tip that Moore was engaged in a relationship with Paige Shiver, his executive assistant. Shiver’s lawyers sued Michigan last week in Washtenaw County court, alleging that the school is violating the Michigan Freedom of Information Act by withholding records related to the investigation.
According to the complaint, Shiver requested numerous documents from Michigan, including the “entire investigatory file relating to the termination of Sherrone Moore” and a transcript, notes or recording of the interview in which Shiver disclosed her relationship with Moore to school officials.
Shiver, who previously stated that she had an abortion after becoming pregnant with Moore’s child, also requested emails between Manuel and Moore containing the words “affair, discipline, pregnancy, baby” and “abortion.” In its response, the university said it was withholding “two responsive email records” and argued that disclosing the emails would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Manuel has denied knowing about Moore’s relationship with Shiver until she disclosed it in December. After Shiver told school officials about the relationship, Moore was fired for cause and subsequently arrested after confronting Shiver at her apartment. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months of probation as part of a plea agreement.
Manuel hired former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham as Moore’s replacement, then faced another coaching vacancy in June when men’s basketball coach Dusty May left for the Dallas Mavericks, two months after winning the national title. Michigan announced a two-year deal Friday for new coach Mike Boynton, who initially was promoted on an interim basis.
With coaches in place for both programs, the future of Michigan’s athletic director now becomes the focus.
