Michigan Did This to Itself — and Warde Manuel Has to Answer for It

Michigan didn’t just fire a head football coach on Wednesday. It ignited yet another off-field earthquake for a department that, for all its on-field brilliance, cannot go more than a few months without tripping over its own feet.

Sherrone Moore is out after two seasons and disgraced. And yes — the results on Saturdays weren’t up to what Michigan expects. The offense stagnated, the identity blurred, and the execution fell short of a championship blueprint. Those are football issues. Those are correctable.

But this? This is something different. This is Michigan, once again, finding itself in a mess that could have been mitigated, prevented, handled earlier, or at least handled better. And the frustration — the exhaustion — around the program right now is entirely justified.

The Timing Makes No Sense — and That’s the Problem

There’s no clean way to fire a head coach in December, but there are ways to avoid torpedoing your own program. Firing Moore now — after letting him hire Kerry Coombs as special teams coordinator, after putting him in front of the media on Monday — raises more questions than it answers.

Why now?

Why let Moore sit at the podium and answer questions about Texas, player development, and offensive philosophy if an active investigation was already pointing the department toward inevitable termination? Why was Moore not at least suspended during the investigation? Why allow a multi-decade veteran like Coombs, a major hire, to join a staff with this happening?

And perhaps the most pressing question: Why did Warde Manuel, overseeing a department still bruised from past mismanagement, move at this glacial pace? Was Manuel protecting Moore and himself?

Michigan’s athletic director has to answer that — because history matters here.

Michigan Athletics: Elite on the Field, Chaotic Everywhere Else

Michigan athletics keeps winning. Titles. Trophies. Tournament runs. Record seasons.

And yet, almost shockingly, no major athletic department has stepped in more holes than Michigan the last decade. Many self-inflicted. Many stemming from slow, inconsistent, or poor leadership decisions.

The Mel Pearson saga was a clear example of Manuel allowing his judgment to be impacted in an investigation. Harbaugh, Stalions, Weiss, Schembechler. Now Moore — despite months of scrutiny surrounding the program — is fired in a way that suggests Michigan learned little from any of it.

This isn’t about whether Moore deserved to be let go.

This is about process. Transparency. Accountability. Competence.

Michigan hasn’t shown enough of any of those qualities.

The Stakes Now Couldn’t Be Higher

The transfer portal is about to swing wide open. Assistant coaches around the country are already locked into new jobs. Signing Day has passed. Major vacancies have been filled. And now Michigan — a program two years removed from a National Championship — is suddenly searching for a head coach after the coach it hired was supposed to bring continuity and stability.

This is the worst possible moment for a leadership void. And that’s exactly what Michigan has and created.

Players are stunned. Recruits will have questions. Staffers are in limbo. And other programs, already circling Michigan roster talent, will smell vulnerability.

All because Michigan’s administration, once again, couldn’t get out of its own way.

Warde Manuel Cannot Escape the Spotlight Now

This lands squarely at Manuel’s feet.

He kept Moore in place through months of smoke, only to remove him when he was finally forced in a move that maximizes damage.

He allowed public messaging that projected stability — bowl prep, staff additions, recruiting pitches — while privately preparing for upheaval.

He has overseen crises that dragged too long, repeated too often, and eroded confidence in how the department handles internal issues.

Michigan fans are tired of a pattern. They’re tired of preventable chaos. They’re tired of Michigan — the Leaders and Best — acting like an athletic department that can’t coordinate its own shadow.

What Comes Next Will Define Michigan Football for a Decade

The next head coach hire isn’t just a football decision. It’s a credibility decision.

Michigan must:

• Move quickly without rushing
• Land stability without settling
• Reassure players without misleading them
• Rebuild trust while still competing for championships

It’s the hardest tightrope Michigan has ever had to walk. And it’s a tightrope it helped create.

Because today wasn’t just the day Michigan fired Sherrone Moore.

It was the day Michigan proved, again, that winning games isn’t enough when the leadership behind the scenes keeps losing the plot.

The Wolverines deserve better than this.
Frankly, everyone in the building does.