U-M Board of Regents approves raise, 5-year extension for Michigan AD Warde Manuel
The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved a five-year contract extension for athletic director Warde Manuel on Thursday.
Under the terms of his new deal, Manuel will remain in his post through June 30, 2026, and will have his salary increased to $1.1 million on March 14. He'll also have an opportunity to earn an additional $150,000 each year through incentives. As of December, following an announced 10 percent pay cut this past summer due to the fallout from COVID-19, Manuel received a salary of $940,500.
"I am pleased to recommend the reappointment of Warde Manuel as the Donald R. Shepherd Director of Intercollegiate Athletics," said U-M president Mark Schlissel. "With the support of Mr. Manuel's leadership as the athletic director, Michigan Athletics has excelled in the classroom and on the fields of play."
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Michigan recently set a department record in the 2020 NCAA Graduation Success Rate report with a four-year average of 94 percent.
Since Manuel's arrival in 2016, the Wolverines have won 40 team conference championships and have finished as a national runner-up in women's basketball, men's basketball and baseball.
Manuel's original contract was set to expire March 13, and the 52-year-old career administrator endured a rocky year confronting several crises, including the financial fallout of COVID-19 and multiple shutdowns caused by the virus.
He also dealt with the failures of a football program that went 2-4 as he tried to determine the future of head coach Jim Harbaugh.
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In January, Harbaugh agreed to a new five-year deal that halved his salary and dramatically reduced the university’s buyout obligation.
It was one of the few victories Manuel could claim during that period. Just months before, 21 athletic department employees were laid off and pay cuts were instituted. Manuel projected an $80 million budget deficit as Michigan continued to feel the ripple effect of the virus.
Manuel’s tenure began in January 2016 under much better circumstances. Not long before he left his post as the University of Connecticut’s athletic director and returned to the university where he played football for Bo Schembechler and later worked in several administrative roles, Michigan signed a massive apparel deal with Nike.
Harbaugh was already in place as coach and just completed an impressive first season, winning 10 games and defying expectations.
Until 2020, Manuel hadn’t faced too many challenges. And when he was forced to make major moves, he seemed to push the right buttons. Manuel hired Michigan Tech’s Mel Pearson to head the hockey program in 2017 and he promptly guided the Wolverines to the Frozen Four in 2018. The following year basketball coach John Beilein left for the NBA, and Manuel turned to Juwan Howard of the famous Fab Five to be his replacement.
Thus far, Howard has won 33 of his first 46 games, and Michigan is now ranked No. 3 in the nation with a 14-1 record.
"Warde is a tremendous advocate for the health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes along with their intellectual and emotional growth," Schlissel said.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Big Ten newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: U-M Board of Regents OKs raise, extension for Michigan AD Warde Manuel
