Kornacki: Compassion Guides Manuel in Michigan Journey
4/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | General
Warde Manuel with football coach Jim Harbaugh
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There is toughness in Warde Manuel's eyes and tenderness in his heart that will play well for him as the new athletic director at the University of Michigan, his alma mater. There will be difficult decisions and hard days ahead, and compassion will help him guide through both the hard and joyous times.
"As the athletic director," said Manuel, "there are times you have to be out front. At times, you need to let the coaches and student-athletes have the spotlight. But there are times I need to step out front and deal with issues to deflect the attention so the coaches and student-athletes can do the work they need to do to be successful."
Legendary Wolverines football coach Bo Schembechler, who also served as the athletic director, 1988-90, was in the back of Manuel's mind at his introductory press conference when Jim Harbaugh, the captain of the Wolverines when he was a freshman and now the head coach, strode to the front to present him with his blue No. 79 football jersey with his last name on its back.
"I saw Jim in the audience," said Manuel, "but I had no idea he had a jersey with my name on it. I have it displayed in the sitting area outside of my office, and it was a special moment for me. It really shows the connectedness that we all have from being old teammates and with me coming into this position.
"You know, I have an extreme fondness for my experiences here as a student and an athlete, and Jimmy was a significant part of that because of his leadership as a captain. And so when your captain welcomes you back home, it's special. Jim would've been a great leader in whatever field he had chosen. He has such passion and extreme intelligence, and I'm so proud that he's here as Michigan's head coach."
When asked how Harbaugh had changed over 30 years, Manuel said, "He's grown professionally since he was the captain of the football team. His ability and intellect as a head coach are things that you can see. But the things that haven't changed are his leadership qualities. His passion and drive for success, and the way he encourages and coaches, prods, in the whole psychology of the game, and understanding how to attack both sides now, you can see his leadership coming out in how the team is doing and preparing.
"And he will continue to grow. He challenges himself as much as he challenges others around him, and that's what you want from a leader. I look forward to working with him and seeing him grow in terms of success and as a head coach."
Both Manuel and Harbaugh have credited their fathers and Schembechler as the men who did the most to mold them.
"I'm sure Bo would've been proud of that moment," said Manuel, "and very proud of us coming back together to lead the program. And having spent time with (athletic director) Don Canham, when I was an administrator here, he would have a lot of pride in that moment, too."
Manuel was an assistant athletic director at Michigan beginning in 1998 and became an associate athletic director in 2000. He left in 2005 to become the athletic director at the University of Buffalo, where he stayed until 2012, when he assumed the same post at the University of Connecticut.
However, it was the College of Pharmacy that appealed to Manuel when he came to Ann Arbor from Brother Martin High in New Orleans. He altered his academic direction after one semester, though, and when asked what caused the quick change, Manuel leaned back in his chair and smiled, "Chemistry 101. At the time, I didn't put in the effort I should've put in, being a thousand miles away from home and my father, who wouldn't have accepted anything less than 100-percent effort. But I was enjoying being a thousand miles away from home.
"In the end, I learned how to give 100-percent effort both academically and athletically. And that helped guide me in terms of the academic focus that I have with our students. I don't want our students now to ever feel like they can't do both and to not let this get away. Luckily for me, I changed pretty quickly. I had my father and Bo Schembechler both riding me to be the best that I can be, and that's my expectations of the students here right now."
Manuel was a USA Today and Parade Magazine All-American at Brother Martin. He started for the Wolverines as a redshirt freshman defensive lineman in 1987 but learned his career was over the next year when spinal stenosis was discovered.
He joined the track and field team as a javelin thrower and focused on the classroom.
Manuel has three degrees from Michigan: bachelor's in general studies, master's in social work and an MBA from the Ross School of Business. He also had a significant leadership role in putting together every aspect of the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center for the more than 900 student-athletes at his alma mater.
He said he chose Michigan 30 years ago for the same reason he chose to return.
"At that time, and I still believe this now, Michigan is the best combination of academic and athletic success in the country," said Manuel. "I don't think there's any place that's better, that is ranked as high academically consistently and as high athletically consistently as we are.
"Michigan Stadium had a big part in me choosing Michigan out of high school. Bo Schembechler had a large part along with the assistant coaches and faculty and teammates I met. The other schools I visited were great schools in their own right, but I don't think any of them matched what Michigan offered."
On an early February morning in 1986, after his coach, Bob Conlin, told me that Manuel had chosen the Wolverines, I called Schembechler to confirm it for a story in the Ann Arbor News.
"Last night, we got Warde Manuel and Jeff Tubo," said Schembechler, also commenting on the offensive guard from Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent. "We really wanted those two. Warde just liked us from the beginning. But we were in there with UCLA, Nebraska and Notre Dame."
• Warde Manuel Newspaper Article (February 1986) 
Manuel read that old story, yellowed after years of being pasted in a scrapbook and smiled. There was another article next to it about how the Wolverines had the No. 1 recruiting class that year, according to Tom Lemming and Joe Terranova, the experts on such matters in those days.
The athletic director scanned the names on the class list, commenting on many of them, saying he was still in touch. His name was there, so was Vada Murray's. Murray was his best friend and died of lung cancer in 2011. It was so long ago. But as much as things had changed and life had taken them all down different roads, they held on to each other and what they learned and experienced together.
"I have a special role at a place that's very special to me," said Manuel. "It's something that I don't take lightly. I look at the photos of the athletic directors that line the wall of the athletic director's conference room, and they have worked hard to make this place great.
"My goal is to continue that effort, to work hard to continue that success that we've had and to help them grow the way that Don (Canham) helped me grow."
Canham, the athletic director from 1968-88, was a national innovator by using marketing and his keen business acumen along with a great eye for coaching talent to put Michigan on top in college athletics.
"What stayed with me the most from Don was the support of the programs he gave to have that success," said Manuel. "I didn't really know Don that much as a student-athlete. He was present, and I knew who he was, and our student-athletes will have a chance to meet me and know who I am and have that touch point with the athletic director to know I care deeply about them and their success.
"My joy is knowing they have the things they need to be successful academically and athletically, and that we're seeing them grow as young people and graduating from this great university."
Manuel found his mission in life at Michigan.
"There's no student-athlete we have here who can't be successful and have fun as part of it," said Manuel. "I expect to emphasize the things that are meaningful and the things I received at the University of Michigan.
"I get a lot of joy out of working through the problems that are in front of me for the benefit of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, our university, donors, alums, students and fans. Nobody will put any more pressure on me than I put on myself to have success, and we can do it without cutting corners and a lot of effort. And ultimately we can have a lot of joy out of the effort and seeing the success.
"So, when I say fun, I don't mean easy. It's fun because hard work and getting to a goal and accomplishing things along the way, you should take time to reflect and have some joy. When they walk out of here after four or five years of competing and being taught by the greatest educators, I want them to say, 'That was fun. I love this place, and I'll love it forever.' "
• Part I: Manuel Learned from Michigan Legends (April 7)
