Warde Manuel Appreciation/Apology Thread
I'm one of many people who has roundly criticized Warde Manuel around these parts. But after his deft ability to woo Dusty May - using Known Friends and Trusted Agents like John Beilein, Charles Ramsey, etc. - away from every other program vying for his services, he deserves due credit.
History will tell whether his decisions these past few years will bear fruit for our major sports programs, but for now: Warde, sorry I doubted you. Take a bow.
But that works both ways, no? His teams win national championships, but he gets no credit for it, but when coaches leave for SHITloads of money or to fulfill dreams of coaching in the pros (a dream that also pulled Jimmy Johnson, Nick Saban, Pete Carroll, and nameless others, FWIW) it's his fault.
And by the way ... NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. I'm not just saying, "the teams in the athletic department do well." I'm saying they win (or contend for) national championships! And people here say he's doing a shit job!
What ... what job do you want him to do? I know, the assumption is that the national championships would come anyway, but we want him to ... um ... make sure that nothing disappointing ever happens to our favorite teams.
Good luck with that. FFS, Tom Brady left the Patriots. Babe Ruth finished his career outside of New York, and Ty Cobb outside of Detroit. Lombardi finished coaching with the Redskins. Sometimes beloved players and coaches leave, and it's not always the management's "fault." It's part of the sports world.
But winning? WiNNING? Nah, apparently management doesn't get credit for that either.
I thought it was pretty funny that he clearly pushed May to use his token "transformational not transactional" trademarked bullshit in May's first statement after being hired.
Great, what am I gonna do with this meme now?
Do not delete, it will be useful very soon. History will repeat itself
I think he did his job, and he shouldn't receive undue praise for that anymore than he shouldn't receive the undue scrutiny and anger by a bunch of people who seemingly believe anything that went against UM under his leadership was due to his incompetence.
Some people will always have an almost ingrained issue with someone like Manuel being in power. I saw it with Jerry Reese as a Giants fan right after the 2 SBs he won that franchise.
Despite generations of precedent all around the world, these people actually believe it has nothing to do with what it usually has something to do with.
Who are these people? Winner gets a prize.
I was critical, and I think deservedly so. No apologies for that.
This was a nice job by Warde to snag our (presumably) top guy away from another program. Top marks. Nicely done.
Great hire, but “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
- Winston Churchill
- me
March 25th, 2024 at 10:44 PM ^
Fuck Warde.
March 25th, 2024 at 10:46 PM ^
Is this a serious post or just trolling the fan base?
There is no need to apologise to Warde, all of the criticisms of him were valid. It's also valid to appreciate what he did with the basketball program, it just doesn't erase all of the other blunders he's made during his tenure. I'm inclined to think this is more a "even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while" type of thing than Warde all of a sudden being competent at his job, but maybe that's just me.
March 26th, 2024 at 10:02 AM ^
How about no, Scott. That guy can kick rocks.
March 26th, 2024 at 10:47 AM ^
Neither a Warde-hater nor a Warde-lover, but his biggest mistake with the Pearson situation was his inconsistency.
Feb 2022 - Juwan slaps a UW assistant and gets a 5-game suspension.
Spring 2022 - Pearson's hockey culture is called out in a report and Warde fumbles the response.
I think, as some mentioned here, that Warde just wanted the storm to blow over and bring back a guy who had taken his team to the FF4. Just as he kept Juwan after his 2021 team reached the Elite 8 the previous season.
The newspapers wouldn't bury the story and Warde finally moved on with Mel.
Which is worse - slapping an opposing coach (after a blow-up the year before vs. Maryland's coach) or having a toxic locker room???
Personally, I would have moved on with both and set a bar that we could be proud of. At least today, both coaches are gone.
March 26th, 2024 at 11:17 AM ^
During Schlissel's time as Prez, Warde was essentially his own boss. I recall reading where Warde had not had a formal performance review in 5 years. Mark, other than his one good moment firing Brandon and hiring Jim Hackett way back in 2014, seemed more focused on anything BUT sports. As was reported, he seemed to spend more time flirting about some dessert dish with a UM employee than worrying about any of the teams or Warde's performance.
What happens to a person in a high profile job when they are their own boss by default? They either become a heavy-handed dictator who force-feed unpopular changes - OR - become a risk-averse couch potato, which is what happened to Warde (except for the post 2020 season where he forced Jim to accept a much smaller base contract when the fan-base was livid).
Santa is the first guy to really push Warde during his tenure. He does deserve credit for having a plan this time around, involving JB, and hiring a guy I'm really beginning to like as more than a one-hit wonder.
But....that's his job!