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Reports: Warde Manuel may be bought out of contract after investigation
Despite national championships in football and men's basketball, Warde Manuel may be out due to a number of scandals which raised questions about the institutional control and culture.
FOX 2 - Numerous reports are suggesting that Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel may be on his way out.
This all stems from an ongoing third-party investigation into the Wolverines' athletic culture. And now the question everyone is asking: What will happen with Athletic Director Warde Manuel?
The Michigan Board of Regents is expected to meet this week as the investigation into the culture at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor wraps up.
FOX 2 is told the results and findings of the investigation will be released on Thursday.
This comes after Athletic Director Warde Manuel's tenure has been plagued with scandals, including former football coach Jim Harbaugh and the scouting and sign-stealing investigation involving Connor Stallions.
Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel
Most recently, football coach Sherrone Moore was fired following a criminal investigation he eventually pleaded no contest to lesser charges to, connected to an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. That incident prompted the broader investigation.
A Chicago-based firm has been conducting the investigation.
Defenders of Manuel will point out he presided over NCAA championships in football, coming in 2023 and in men's basketball in 2026.
Timeline:
The Moore case was part of a series of incidents after the Harbaugh suspensions.
Former University of Michigan quarterback coach Matt Weiss is currently facing federal charges accusing him of hacking female athletes' accounts.
Weiss was fired in 2023 after failing to cooperate with the university's investigation into the case, was recently charged with 24 federal counts including unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft.
According to a federal indictment, Weiss allegedly began accessing information, including social media, email, and cloud storage accounts, as early as 2015, before he worked at U of M. Authorities said he continued to do so until 2023.
Meanwhile Latroy Lewis, a former UM defensive graduate assistant and defensive analyst is under a criminal investigation.
Police are accusing him of an alleged sexual assault in December 2024, while Lewis worked for the University of Michigan under former football coach Sherrone Moore.
The victim’s attorney said her client and Lewis first met on a dating app and met in person in December 2024. The attorney said that Lewis sexually assaulted her client. A second sex assault allegedly happened in January of 2025 at the victim's residence.
She also says that between the two incidents, her client told Sherrone Moore what had happened.
Manuel hired U-M basketball coach Dusty May, who left for the Dallas Mavericks this spring, but also hand-picked Moore to take over the football program for Harbaugh when he left for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Related:
- Ex-Michigan coach Sherrone Moore sentenced 18 months probation after no contest plea
- Former Michigan defensive graduate assistant under investigation for alleged sexual assault
- Ex-UM football QB coach hacked accounts of female athletes, feds say
Manuel is a Michigan alum who played in the late 1980s under legendary coach Bo Schembechler.
Stay with FOX 2 for more information on this developing story.
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