On The Pearson Report
Well, it's out: 70 pages of Wilmer-Hale billable hours on what went down with Mel Pearson and the hockey program over the last couple years. Pearson chased off team captain Strauss Mann, was ineffectual at best when dealing with a subordinate's abusive behavior towards women, instructed players to lie about positive COVID tests before the 2021 NCAA tournament, and repeatedly lied to investigators.
So what are we doing here? It is August 2nd. This report was issued to the university in May. Warde Manuel has done nothing either way since. The report was made available to the public by MLive, not the actual university. Mel Pearson costs zero dollars to fire. What could possibly justify the three months of limbo the hockey program has been in? A week, maybe two is understandable. Three months is absurd.
As for what happens now, I cannot imagine that Pearson is allowed to continue. I mean:
The evidence shows that, despite what [Pearson] us in his interviews, [Pearson] was aware of Complainant’s concerns about mistreatment of female staff members
That's on page five and should be a fireable offense. There are 65 more pages, many of which make it clear that Pearson shouldn't be in charge of Michigan's hockey program. John U Bacon is probably the most careful member of the media out there and he says it's "not clear to me how U-M could retain Pearson and claim it is serious about protecting students and employees." And well, yeah:
The investigators raise the question of Pearson’s “inability or unwillingness to hold Mr. Bancroft accountable for his conduct.” In other words, Pearson was well aware of the abuse, or should have been, and did nothing.
— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) August 2, 2022
He's got to go.
That Pearson is still Michgian's hockey coach brings Warde Manuel's competency into question. His reaction to Strauss Mann's situation seems naïve at best:
Manuel, the athletic director, testified that he confronted Pearson about the allegations of retaliation but that he “never felt (Pearson) was retaliating against (Mann)’” and that Mann left the university “on his own.” But that belief was not shared by some of the players and staffers who participated in the survey. “Several responses noted that Coach Pearson recently removed Strauss Mann, the former team captain and starting goaltender, from the team in retaliation,” the summary reads.
Manuel's been a cipher since day one, and while that's a huge improvement over his (non-interim) predecessor he hasn't exactly been the kind of bold leader who has much of a track record to oppose what appears to be an inexplicable do-nothing approach to this situation. Manuel's made a few obvious hires, extended some contracts, done nothing to improve the fan experience, and generally faded into the background. That provided an extended honeymoon that now seems over.
As for what future awaits the hockey program: if I was in charge I'd axe Mel immediately and just replace him with Bill Muckalt, who everyone seems to love. If that's not possible because he is implicated in the report—it does not seem like he is but it might be a tough sell to promote Pearson's right hand man—then I guess Brian Wiseman just left a job with the Islanders. At this point making a splash hire outside the program seems tough because, you know, it's August.
Interesting how many of the commenters are starting to turn their ire towards Manuel. I have to say, I'm starting to wonder myself.
I don't much care about how much public outrage he expresses about "unfair" losses -- such explosions satisfy us, the fans, but I'm not sure it's the only way, or even the best way, to be effective as an administrator. And I think he deserves a fair amount of credit for hiring Howard and for not firing Harbaugh after the 2020 season.
But ... I think there is a benefit to making some public announcements, of some kind. He's supposed to be the face of the athletic department, and ... I don't honestly know anything about him, or his personality. Does he even work? Does he reprimand athletic department staff (including coaches) who need it, and encourage those who need it? Does he instruct and guide? Does he have positions on the expansion of the Big Ten? Does he have a plan for the future, other than "gee, I hope no coaches get in trouble this week?" What does he do all day?
I like a lot of what's happened under his watch. I wish I had more confidence that he was actually behind the wheel, instead of sipping a soda in the passenger seat as the car drives off the road.
Actually, just to follow up on this ... even this criticism Warde is facing lets him off the hook somewhat. I can certainly imagine an athletic department where he's aware of these problems as they're happening, steps in, and fixes the damn problem. Says to Pearson, "get your program in order, now, or you're out."
I don't mean to blame Warde for everything, obviously, but he seems to be only receiving some criticism for not acting more aggressively after receiving the report. But ... how the hell did he let this culture of bullying and dishonesty develop and flourish in the first place? I'm sure he can demonstrate that he had no knowledge. My question is ... why not? Isn't staying informed also a pretty important part of his job?
Honestly - I don't care if the AD isn't the face of Michigan athletics. I think that's preferable to the AD cutting down the nets, in fact. I also don't mind if the AD takes a hands off approach to the team, and delegates investigations of a team culture to a neutral 3rd party. He is an administrator, not a coach, and one of his predecessor's problems was trying too hard to be the face of the AD and micromanaging the teams.
But 3 months after receiving the report, sitting on it, making no decision on it - I'm willing to give him some benefit of the doubt. I do think we deserve an explanation of what he was doing. He clearly didn't have confidence in Mel, hence no contract. He clearly didn't show him the door. I'm mostly confused as to what was going on.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:46 PM ^
I agree but I also think some of this criticism about what someone should have known is easier to identify in hindsight and presupposes that there's a raft of ADs out there who do everything Manuel does well plus don't have many of his flaws. Maybe those ADs exist and if so UM should look into them but running a massive department with numerous reports and dozens of teams could absolutely leave you with blindspots or assumptions about how certain programs are doing. This report makes me wonder about the quality of the reporting structure at UM and that responsibility does fall, ultimately, on the AD but I also don't necessarily find it atypical for an AD to generally know there's some discontent on a team and trust the coach will figure it out. What seems to be lacking here was some overseer of the coaching staff who could report (or act properly on reports from the staff) on issues at that level.
Well he has hired winners as coaches. But I guess they have “issues.” This is probably the final straw as far as he is more inclined to move the line a la OSU than hold it.
I thought he caved to Harbaugh after the Vikings debacle and gave him a low buyout at the expense of our recruiting. But I thought Others were right and I was too harsh given his last season.
I thought he should have fired Howard for the unprovoked assault on the Wisky assistant. But I thought others were right and I was too harsh given his success and recruiting.
And this stuff with Pearson is outrageous. How do you get to lie to investigators and not get fired? If you have a great record and are successful, I guess.
I’m sick of this money trumps the right thing shit. Give someone a chance who will do both.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:39 PM ^
I'll defend Manuel with respect to Harbaugh - by accounts I've read he's the one who pushed to keep Harbaugh after 2021 and had him take that salary cut. Harbaugh earned his right to talk to the Vikings and I've seen little evidence that UM is losing out on guys because they're worried about Harbaugh maybe leaving for the NFL again (despite being very publicly rebuffed).
The Howard-Wisconsin wasn't "unprovoked" and you comparing him to Bobby Knight's decades of abusive behavior in the last comment you made before this one was likely more of the pushback. You absolutely can feel Howard should be fired but trying to compare him to Knight isn't a great argument.
Pearson should be fired. I'm not sure he's dramatically different than a lot of other hockey HCs but I do agree UM should give someone else that shot.
I was not trying to compare Howard to Knight at all. The fact is Howard took a swing at someone who had not touched him or reasonably created an apprehension of imminent battery towards him. That is a crime with no justification whatsoever and there was a time when virtually all UM fans would agree on that and would have supported moving on, no matter how charismatic the coach.
The loss of football recruits in the wake of UMs fantastic season has been well documented on this page. That they have shorn up the class does not obviate that fact. Harbaugh may have “earned” the right to interview with the Vikings, but the manner in which he did so showed callous disregard for the interests of Michigan, his players and his staff. The staff voted significantly with their feet.
The sexual harassment environment stuff alone should be enough to toss Pearson. Wtf has happened to our culture? We are now OSU lite.
This is a well-worn, well-known path. Say the right thing contritely, go quiet for a while, keep doing the same old shit. I don't care if he'd never lost a game as coach, the consequence of this shit should be firing with cause and permanent suspension from any future employment by the NCAA.
This bullshit game we play where perpetrators get to lie low for a while, then get hired again has got to fucking stop because all it does is encourage more of the same shit.
And then the powers that be act shocked that the perp has perped again.
I agree this is serious and haven't read the report, but a permanent ban on coaching, anywhere, seems extreme.
I mean, we Michigan kept a basketball coach that threw a punch on the court. Michigan retaining Pearson because he gets results is kind of what the school is these days.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:26 PM ^
I'll admit I assumed this report wasn't going to show violations justifying the removal of Pearson but clearly that wasn't the case. This report is damning both for UM Hockey as well as the AD, and the fact Pearson hasn't been extended yet now reads like both sides seemingly ignoring the elephant in the room.
This report is a bit weird in its findings - it largely paints Pearson as an incompetent troll who seemed convinced of grand conspiracies against him, but also made a point of noting that the Complainant's firing wasn't likely due to concerns said individual had about Pearson's knowledge of the Dr. Anderson abuse, sexual harassment, or player mistreatment. It more came to the conclusion Pearson fired this individual because he felt they were undermining him in front of players and generally not "seeming" like they wanted to be involved with hockey program anymore. Which seems to be more due to the constraints of the questions asked and legalese than functional differences in the result, but perhaps matters at the fringes if you're figuring out whether to fire him or not.
I'd fire him for the COVID violations because those were profoundly stupid and show a complete lack of care and interest in the well-being of others. The mishandling of female staff members sadly doesn't surprise me and are fireable offenses in a better world than this one but alone probably wouldn't get him booted. The Anderson discussion seemed a bit of a grab-bag; this firm did that analysis as well so I assume they had spoken to Pearson about that already. And the Strass Mann situation, while wrong, probably happens at a lot of programs across universities and sports; when I was in college I absolutely heard about men and women being put into various dog houses to the point they left the teams. It sucks but also isn't a surprise. Again, all of these added together are enough to shit can Pearson but individually largely just seem like what you'd expect from old hockey coaches.
I still don't know what to make of Manuel. Part of me assumes there's some coaching search going on, or they're trying to figure out if they can salvage the team via elevating Muckalt, and they just didn't do so publicly. But on the other hand outside of resigning Harbaugh after 2020 he hasn't really gone against the general fan sentiment and this feels like a situation where Pearson has to be gone and the fact he isn't means something.
I guess we'll see. I hope Pearson is gone; UM hockey doesn't need him to be successful and I'd rather take the short-term pain of a down year or two versus explicitly condoning his misdeeds with continued employment.
August 2nd, 2022 at 11:03 PM ^
I say fuck off to anyone that calls MGoBlog, its writers, or the fans that frequent it "blind homers". This piece right here is yet another prime example of a community of fervent Michigan supporters calling for the firing of a very successful head coach who, amongst many other accolades, just gave the NHL 3 of its top 5 draft picks.
There are very few places in the sports world that are like this. It's an ironically proud moment.
August 3rd, 2022 at 12:14 AM ^
Fire Pearson and Manuel
Warde lost the baseball coach, almost lost Harbaugh, and has the Mel Pearson scandal. Additionally, our NIL approach is terrible. That is not a good track record.
He lied. He should be gone. Michigan should be better than even debating it.
You don't need "beyond a reasonable doubt" to fire an employee who can't be trusted to tell the truth. Not if you're an institution that wants people to believe in "transformational instead of transactional."
Think for a moment: What would we say if tOSU kept a coach who lied?
August 3rd, 2022 at 11:03 AM ^
Well Mel is no Mike Babcock.....
August 3rd, 2022 at 11:15 AM ^
Warde Manuel is a chucklefuck ninnybitch
Don't lecture me you poopyhead shit turd
Manuel's made a few obvious hires, extended some contracts, done nothing to improve the fan experience, and generally faded into the background.
Man - this seems incredibly harsh. Greatly minimizes all the success he's helped lead. He hired two elite coaches - in Juwan and Pearson. Unless he missed some red flag in Pearson's past, I don't think you can hold his conduct against Warde. He handled expertly handled the post-2020 Harbaugh contract situation. I'm not sure how many other ADs would have been able to navigate that.
Michigan athletics has had an absurd amount of success under his watch the last several years. Finishing second and third in the Director's Cup. I don't get what him complaining more after 2016 OSU would have accomplished. I actually think he handled the Juwan situation about as well as he could.
I probably need a refresher on the final outcomes of the Anderson scandal, but it seems like he went down the correct path hiring a third party law firm for a review. I know people are mad that the statue of Bo is still up, so I get that. Personally, I could go either way. My recollection is Warde did a fine (not great) job with the situation.
I would agree Pearson needs to be fired - and assume he will. The lying and lack of accountability are what makes it a no brainer in my eyes. Assuming Pearson gets fired, all of Warde's pros seem to greatly outweigh his cons, imo.
I wouldn't give Pearson a new contract because I do not like the way his teams play. Even before last year, they were soft defensively with too many players taking too many shifts off and games at 3/4 effort. This past year, lots and lots of talent but too often plagued by a lack of chemistry, selfishness, and/or a lack of effort. The report confirms for me that the team atmosphere was poisonous last year. They played like a group with factions who did not trust the coach or each other.
Sad, but if we want to be the institution that we all say we do, you just can't cut corners like that and follow it up with lies to investigators. Freaking OSU fired Tressel after his successes for similar offenses. End of discussion.
August 3rd, 2022 at 11:13 PM ^
Warde was hired to be the AD that faded into the background. He is the exact opposite of Brandon, which is fine.
My wild guess here is Manuel has been waiting to speak with Santa Ono about this. He's a bit busy getting settled.
August 5th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
Ono won't be here until October. He is meeting with EOs via zoom but he's not the president yet. Perhaps Manuel does want Ono to weigh in, and perhaps that's already happened or will happen soon--but he can't be waiting for Ono to "get settled" because that's months off.
It's easy to forget the timeline of transition because Ono has been on the charm offensive on Twitter, posting a lot about UM and what he's looking forward to. But he's a ways off yet!
August 5th, 2022 at 11:01 AM ^
To me, I have a hard time seeing how the U would justify retaining Pearson. Maybe there's some big contextual factors we don't know about.
As an employee of the University I want to see the U address Bancroft's behavior and how that was allowed to persist through the inaction of people who should have acted. Whether or not that is a factor in Pearson's status, that can't be ignored. Address it separately, but ADDRESS IT; it's another way the institution failed its employees. I love the University but I'm tired of that list getting longer.
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