Jordan Strack: Sources indicate poor energy around Michigan, recommends firing Warde
https://x.com/jordanstrack/status/1754895580474622331?s=46
”After talking with some people connected to Michigan & some in the coaching profession - things are not great right now in Ann Arbor. Jim Harbaugh held things together.
President Ono is going to have to make the decision to move on from Warde Manuel & it has to happen soon.”
February 6th, 2024 at 12:20 PM ^
When the vibes are bad, you must FIRE WARDE!
It's almost like Michigan didn't just win a national championship in football.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:23 PM ^
Warde was born on 3rd and promptly retreated to first.
February 6th, 2024 at 2:22 PM ^
Born on third and picked off trying to steal second.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:24 PM ^
Where is WD when you need him to get the AD fired?
February 6th, 2024 at 12:26 PM ^
Warde’s claim to fame is Kevin Ollie. Let that sink in.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:48 PM ^
Exactly. I'm not sure why there has been so much hesitancy to put blame at the feet of Warde for how the past couple of weeks have gone (and this is coming from someone who thinks the ONE thing Warde has done correct up to this point is handle Harbaugh).
Warde is an AD that is ideologically driven about what he thinks College Sports should be. If you look at all the decisions he's made (and I mean ALL) as an AD, anywhere he has been, from the perspective of a person who thinks it's his primary job to run the Athletic Department by spending as little money as possible, everything makes a lot of sense. I do not think it is a coincidence that the only quick hires that he has made in his career tend to be internal promotions or unproven coaches that do not demand the salary of the mostly highly sought out national talents.
Examples of this abound (e.g., instead of firing Harbaugh after COVDI season and spending millions more on a national search/salary for a premier coach, he severely cut Jim's salary).
February 6th, 2024 at 12:30 PM ^
Jordan Strack knows nothing. This dude is a low rent reporter that thinks he is important.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:47 PM ^
But the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:45 PM ^
To act like this is breaking news or surprising to anyone who follows Michigan sports is funny. Does any fan not feel like Warde has hindered what could have been one of the best times of Michigan sports.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:52 PM ^
Two things come to mind.
One, let’s say Warde is an incompetent hack. Guys like that are good at CYA. If Santa wants to get rid of him, it’ll be costly. Not exactly an at will arrangement, though it may technically be. Not sayin, just sayin.
Two, Warde may not be great, but he may be adept within the culture he’s in. Consider that UM’s primary interest is in protecting its brand image. There’s a reason for that, and I would attribute it to the culture of the big moneyed stakeholders who fuel the university. Warde may be deemed incompetent from the perspective of creating a high-performance operating environment for his coaches, but if the people upstream with all the money, who really call the shots, are happy with his risk aversion, things like caving to the NCAA and B1G because it upholds the image they want, then to the people that matter most to him, he’s doing a bang up job. That’s a possibility, one that fans don’t want to hear, but the things we don’t like about Warde might make him a star to the blue hairs and major donors he’s actually beholden to.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:39 PM ^
I cant imagine a worse example of "protecting the school brand", than what Warde let transpire from Oct - Dec 2023. He effectively allowed the jackals in media and our rivals to completely dictate the narrative of the ridiculous sign-gate as "the worst cheating in the history of sports" with zero pushback. Neutering everyone by saying "we arent allowed to comment" and then tucking his tail and allowing it all to transpire exactly as OSU et al. had hoped. The players and coaches bailed him out by balling their asses off to finish the season. He could have at LEAST set up a stealth media blowback campaign to push back and not tarnish the brand and the season. He did exactly nothing, which is apparently his MO.
He's gotta go
February 6th, 2024 at 6:17 PM ^
Obviously the situation was a bad look, but you can’t say that the folks who just loved our self-flagellation in the early 2000’s didn’t think Warde handled it with aplomb. Perhaps, in their view, responding with a shadow PR campaign, pushing back, acting like upstarts, rocking the boat, etc etc are things that would be unbecoming of a noble Michigan man, and would have made a bad situation worse. There are people with money and influence who sincerely see the world that way.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:17 PM ^
Football transition.
Basketball dumpster fire
The vibes are not great.
(but we knew this and this observation doesn't add anything)
February 6th, 2024 at 1:27 PM ^
Serious question : What does Warde really do? Sort of like the NCAA - too much power and what are we getting for the 1.227 million salary?! patience= do nothing?
February 6th, 2024 at 1:39 PM ^
Warde just fucking sucks. He can take himself and his dipshit basketballl coach and go find a new school to swindle.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:41 PM ^
Look, I think Jim gets a lot of unwarranted criticism for the way he is, but "Jim Harbaugh held things together" doesn't pass the sniff test.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:46 PM ^
The way I took it is that Harbaugh held the football team together this year in spite of not getting any support from Warde. The TN AD didn't sit back and watch the media and other teams pile on, he immediately supported the program. As a result, you are not hearing a daily drum beat from the main stream beating up their program. Warde let Harbaugh twist and handle it on his own. Harbaugh was a de facto AD since Warde was MIA.
February 6th, 2024 at 2:08 PM ^
A beloved championship winning coach leaves. A new coach is hired. So, we all break into camps and fight. It’s what we do.
(No, I’m not comparing Moore to Rich Rod. It’s just that history is kinda repeating.)
February 6th, 2024 at 2:12 PM ^
Is Jordan Strack related to Dave Strack?
(for the youngsters here, Dave Strack was Michigan's basketball head coach through most of the 1960s; one of his Michigan teams lost to UCLA and John Wooden in the 1965 NCAA championship game.)
February 6th, 2024 at 2:16 PM ^
It's too late. Warde should have been gone long ago. Damage done.
February 6th, 2024 at 2:19 PM ^
What happens when Warde gets fired or leaves and nothing changes? What happens when we find out it’s a Michigan problem and the University has been using Warde as shield with or without his knowledge?
February 6th, 2024 at 4:39 PM ^
If Warde gets fired and nothing changes, then we'll have confirmation of your theory, and Warde will have a job at a G5 school. He can take as little action as he wants, there.
Dave Brandon was epically bad at his job (except for hiring Bakich) and a dick, fans and AD employees hated him, got canned.
Hackett came out of retirement, hired Jim, put things on the right track, re-retired.
Warde came in, watched Beilein, Bakich, and Harbaugh walk, stuck up for a shady hockey coach for as long as he could, and let U-M get dragged in the media for almost an entire football season. Still has a job.
How would this be a Michigan problem?
February 6th, 2024 at 2:30 PM ^
Oh goody, more insider sources.
February 6th, 2024 at 2:38 PM ^
I’m sure the job of Athletic Director is tougher and more complicated than any of us will ever know.
But from all appearances, Warde is a very passive leader in a time when proactive leadership is needed. It’s not JUST the football program, or the basketball program, or the hockey program.
We need a Michigan AD that is interested in being on the forefront of how college athletics is going to evolve. Specifically the business aspect of it. If there’s a problem with the current system, we need a leader who can articulate an alternative. If we’re stuck in a Wild West, we need a leader who can offer a way out. All the while continuing to set Michigan athletics up for success.
That’s not an easy ask. It’s going to take some fairly controversial decisions, and probably some very HARD lobbying. It’s going to take a leader who has the spine to stand up for what’s right, and provide cover for those who might be wronged by folks who are on personal or professional vendettas. It’s going to take a leader who can build consensus and coalitions, but who cannot be bullied into accepting an unfair and inequitable position.
That leader is not Warde Manuel. I’m sure he cares about Michigan as much as any of us, but he hasn’t shown the judgement nor leadership to be an AD in a changing environment.
February 6th, 2024 at 2:55 PM ^
Aside from all the keyboard jockey nerds on this board, Warde looks like the best AD in America for the Harbaugh contract from 2020. He ain’t going nowhere unless and until things go south for several years. You and I don’t have to like it, you better get used to it.
February 6th, 2024 at 4:36 PM ^
To who? Warde is deeply popular and is constantly being pilloried in the media.
Sure, some poobahs at the university may things he is the cat’s pajamas and that matters ton. But his public image is in the toilet.
His greatest achievement was literally doing nothing. Yikes.
February 6th, 2024 at 4:03 PM ^
Let's rip this Band-Aid off as soon as possible. There's very little, if any, affirmative case for keeping Warde at this point
February 6th, 2024 at 4:45 PM ^
I dont care about his credibility and Im diving into this head first. Fire Warde.
February 6th, 2024 at 5:12 PM ^
I agree with the conclusion (fire Warde) but fuck this noise.
February 6th, 2024 at 5:54 PM ^
I'm not surprised there is a dip in football morale. Going from what may have been an all time high and then the driving force behind the program (Jim) gone, the strongest team leaders gone, most of the coaching staff gone (and everyone wondering who's next ) a very thin recruiting class, Warde doing nothing, the basketball program with no energy, apathetic, dead, with no hope of improvement, ...
February 6th, 2024 at 6:20 PM ^
Judging by his total voluntary pantsing when the NCAA came knocking, I just assume Warde is the kind of guy who performs a reach around without being asked.
Fire this clown.
February 6th, 2024 at 7:45 PM ^
Without wading through all the comments, my insta-reaction is this is probably just another wannabe insider telling us what we want to hear. "Jim Harbaugh holding everything together" sounds like it's probably a bit over the top, hero-worship stuff.
March 29th, 2024 at 10:36 PM ^
Recruited Braden Fiske