Warde Manuel is dealing with the cost of Jim Harbaugh's success and it's not easy
HOUSTON — Warde Manuel prefers to hang in the background and keep his mouth shut. He rarely conducts interviews or holds news conferences. The Michigan athletic director, despite his prodigious presence and front-facing role as the leader of a college sports powerhouse, would like to stay as inconspicuous as possible.
“Y’all say I don’t talk a lot,” Manuel said. “That’s just me. It’s the way I am.”
But on Monday, after watching Michigan football claim its first national title since 1997 in a 34-13 victory over Washington, Manuel broke character.
Surrounded by a pack of reporters on an NRG Stadium field dusted in confetti, he was loud and brassy — just like the same Wolverines team that defied critics and laughed off skeptics during its rollicking crusade toward a perfect 15-0 record. With Jim Harbaugh standing nearby, he puffed out his chest and boasted, “Three, four years ago, when people wanted me to get rid of him, I didn’t because I believed in him.”
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That was at a time when Michigan entered a depression and Harbaugh arrived at a low point in his career. The circumstances have since flipped upside down.
The Wolverines have been crowned college football’s best team and Harbaugh has again become a scalding hot candidate for a job in the NFL, where he once stood among the vanguard of coaches.
This is the price of success, as Manuel has come to discover. It has shifted the power dynamics in their relationship, which has long been rumored to be fractious after Manuel retained Harbaugh in 2021 but slashed his salary in half following a 2-4 season during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The whispers about friction between the two former Michigan teammates have persisted, rankling Manuel.
“People put stuff out there on social media who have no effing clue,” Manuel grumbled on a joyful night.
Still, the gossip continues. It hovered in the background as the Wolverines pieced together their run to the title. There were reports of a new contract for Harbaugh that would make him the highest-paid coach in the Big Ten with a compensation package north of $12 million. Before it was initially tabled in the wake of the much-publicized cheating scandal that rocked Schembechler Hall this fall, Harbaugh seemed receptive to an extension.
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“You want to be somewhere where they like how you do it, and what you do,” Harbaugh said in early October.
But Harbaugh had previously gone on record saying that a Super Bowl win, and the quest to get one, intrigued him as much as anything. This wasn’t some idle fantasy, especially after he led the San Francisco 49ers to the doorstep of a championship in February 2013.
This past summer, a person in Harbaugh’s inner circle confirmed to the Free Press that he still harbored aspirations of lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. If he were to pursue that dream, this would appear to be the opportune time. At 60, as the redeemed coach of the best team in the college ranks, Harbaugh may never be more marketable than he is now. Yet, Harbaugh wouldn’t reveal his intentions even as he faced repeated questions from reporters over the past two weeks.
The latest came in the afterglow of his greatest triumph late Monday night.
“I just want to enjoy this,” he responded. “I hope you give me that. Can a guy have that? Does it always have to be what's next, what's the future?”
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When it comes to Harbaugh, yes it does, as Manuel could attest. During the previous two offseasons, Harbaugh entertained a return to the NFL. He flew to Minnesota for an interview with the Vikings in February 2022 before coming back to Ann Arbor without an offer. Last January, he had conversations with the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers about their openings, leaving Michigan in a holding pattern as it waited for Harbaugh to explore his options.
When Harbaugh finally decided to stay put, he told school president Santa Ono — not Manuel. It seemed to violate the chain of command and led to more speculation about Harbaugh’s rapport with his boss.
But it didn’t seem to matter in the long run. Manuel remained steadfastly in Harbaugh’s corner.
He backed the embattled coach in November when the Big Ten moved to suspend Harbaugh for the final three games for violating the league’s sportsmanship policy in the mushrooming sign-stealing controversy. He called conference commissioner Tony Petitti’s ruling “unethical” and “insulting." Harbaugh welcomed the strong defense, saying, “Warde’s been 10 toes down. He’s been standing right here with us.”
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The question now is: will Harbaugh continue to stay at Michigan, beside Manuel?
“I want to keep him as our coach,” Manuel proclaimed emphatically. “That’s my cross to bear. I am proud that Jim is our coach. It doesn’t matter all the stuff that has happened in the past. It doesn’t really matter what happens in the future. He’s always going to be somebody I’m proud of, who coached the University of Michigan, who led this team. And if he decides he wants to coach in the pros, I’m going to be happy for him, sad for us, we’re going to move on and find the next person to lead. But I want him to stay at Michigan.”
Manuel knows that is no guarantee, because to the victor goes the spoils. In Harbaugh’s case, that means more interest from the NFL and increased leverage at the bargaining table. It has left Manuel at the mercy of his famous subordinate. Perhaps that’s why he broke his silence Monday night.
With no influence over Harbaugh’s next move, the least he could do was try to control the narrative for once.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Warde Manuel speaks out on Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh's future
