Michigan reportedly extending athletic director Warde Manuel

Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel might have a hefty extension headed his way. As Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports reported on Thursday, Manuel and Michigan are finalizing a five year contract extension. A Michigan alumnus, Manuel first became athletics director in January of 2016.

Michigan finalizing extension with Warde Manuel

Since his tenure began, several different sports have seen success. Most notable was the national championship in football last year. The men’s basketball program took a turn for the worse with the loss of head coach John Beilein, but after a disastrous five years under Juwan Howard, it seems Manuel found the answer in Dusty May. 

Manuel was a member of the college football playoff selection committee for two years before he was named chair of the committee for the 2024 season. The recent CFP rankings sparked controversy as three-loss Alabama (No. 11) was ranked one spot over two-loss Miami (No. 12). As the final ranking approaches, it could have massive implications.

“What it came down to is as we evaluated both teams and looked at how they rank, obviously we think highly of both teams,” Manuel said. “One’s at 11, one’s at 12. But what it really came down to is Alabama is 3-1 against current top 25 teams and Miami is 0-1. Alabama is 6-1 against teams above .500 and Miami’s 4-2. Both have had some losses that weren’t what they wanted out of those games, but in the last three games, Miami has lost twice.”

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