MGoBlue Exclusive: Warde Manuel Q&A
1/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | General
Jan. 29, 2016
Warde Manuel is back home.
A former University of Michigan student-athlete (football, track and field) and administrator, Manuel was reintroduced to the community on Friday (Jan. 29) as the Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics, the 12th in school history. He returns to Ann Arbor following similar tenures at Buffalo and Connecticut. His first day on the job will be March 14.
After meeting with the media at the Michigan Union, Manuel sat down with MGoBlue.com for this exclusive Q&A.
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Q. Talk about how this process unfolded? You were mentioned as a candidate -- even a favorite -- by local media outlets and fan blogs almost immediately.
A. I was contacted by the search firm in early-to-mid December to ask me if I was interested. My response was, 'Are you really asking me that question?' They said, 'Yeah, we need to hear what you have to say.' I said something like, 'Hell yeah, I'm interested.' I had a few conversations with them and heard back to hold the Jan. 20 date. I ended up meeting with president Schlissel that day. We spoke again that weekend. He called me back and made me an offer a few days later, on Monday of this week. On Tuesday, I accepted, and by Wednesday, we had everything worked out. I flew in yesterday (Thursday) and I'm here today.
Q. Why is now the right time for you to make this move?
A. Well, there's never a great time to transition from a job. The University of Connecticut is a great place. In terms of timing, it's a great opportunity for me, and one that I felt I couldn't pass on. The president at UConn, Susan Herbst, is very understanding of these processes and that timing is never perfect. She allowed me to have the conversation. Michigan is a great place and a great university, obviously one that I spent 16 years at between schools and jobs before I left. It's a place that I love. And president Schlissel -- he has a great vision for the university and for Michigan Athletics that fits perfectly with my vision of both. That fit was great. This is home. I wanted to come back.
Q. Do you think that being a former student-athlete here will help you better connect with the current student-athletes?
A. I think being a former student-athlete in general, they know that I understand what they're going through. But more importantly, now that I'm back here as athletic director, I understand what they are going through on this campus. That's going to resonate with them. I understand the level of commitment it takes to be excellent here.
Q. Both you and president Schlissel stressed academics several times throughout today's opening press conference. How important will it be to continue develop a strong working relationship between athletics and the university as a whole?
A. Based on what I've seen right now, I think our coaches are doing a tremendous job recruiting, our student-athletes are working hard in the classroom, and our academic staff is doing a great job in supporting them in conjunction with our university faculty and staff. They're learning, they're thriving, and they're moving forward. My role is to continue to emphasize the importance of it. We must maintain that level of effort so that we can successful in the classroom and on the fields of play.
Q. You were at Buffalo a few years after it got back to FBS status and now you're coming back to one of the most established football programs in the country. What did you learn about college athletics from that?
A. It was really about establishing an understanding of what it takes to win and focusing on the aspects of the program that needed to be successful, which meant recruiting great students who are also great athletes, upgrading facilities so we could recruit and train those student-athletes and then building them up personally, mentally and physically to believe in themselves and in the team so that they could win. That experience taught me a lot about how to take what I believe, what I was taught under Bo, and bring that to another university.
Q. When you were at Connecticut and the Huskies played Michigan, what was it like to be on the other side? Was it difficult to cheer against your alma mater?
A. I'm a competitor. I love my alma mater, except for those three hours in football and two hours in basketball. I wanted to win. While it's not easy, when you're a competitor, you compete with the team you have, and at the time, UConn was my team.
Q. To the fans that read this that may not know much about you, what can you tell them about who Warde Manuel is?
A. I'm passionate about the University of Michigan and passionate about the success of all our programs. I will work with all of our head coaches to help them drive our student-athletes towards success both in the classroom and on the fields of play. I want these young people to develop and prosper. Specifically as it relates to football, I'm proud of what Jim (Harbaugh ) is doing, and I look forward to working with him to continue the success that he's already started to bring back to the program.
• Manuel Named U-M Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
• Comments Regarding the Hiring of Athletic Director Warde Manuel
