John U. Bacon discusses ‘jumbled’ situation at Michigan: Warde Manuel's future, coaching search, more

Michigan football historian, insider and author John U. Bacon joined the ‘Paul Finebaum Show’ on SEC Network to discuss the situation in Ann Arbor following Sherrone Moore‘s firing, the third-party investigation into the athletic department, including athletic director Warde Manuel, and the head-coaching search. Here are notable quotes from Bacon’s appearance:

On how obvious Sherrone Moore’s extramarital affair with a staffer was

“All too obvious, and this is on Michigan, frankly. Look. I was working on this book behind me, of course, The Gales of November [The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald]. Obviously, it’s not related to Michigan football. But even I was hearing these rumors this summer about mainly affairs. I was not aware of the specificity of the administrative assistant — one of the top people in the building — that she was involved with the head coach, former head coach.

“And, of course, Michigan has said they’ve had some internal investigations with those two to pursue the rumors, but what does that mean, exactly? Did you ask both parties and both, obviously, said nothing and no how and no way. But, also, by the way, I know this as a trustee of Michigan Tech University, way up north, that any university owns your cell phones. All they have to do is ask for your cell phones back and probably crack the mystery. We know for sure Sherrone Moore is not a criminal mastermind, based on his Instagram account with 300 OnlyFans models on it, and that was true after he was fired.

“So, they could’ve gotten to the bottom of this, I believe, before the season started. When it finally broke last week is because the assistant in question, she brought the receipts, if you will — the text messages, the emails, the voicemails, you name it — to the authorities at the University of Michigan on the hill. Not athletics, but where the administration is. That ended things very quickly.”

On what Warde Manuel knew and when he knew it

“You can add a third thing: What did you do about it? If you had the information, did you let it ride? Which is what Warde Manuel did with a hockey report a few years ago that I had covered. It had been sitting in the office privately for three months. When it finally cracked it was because somebody leaked it. The head coach was fired pretty quickly for not his conduct but the conduct of one of his underlings towards some female staffers. So, Warde has a history of sitting on evidence, and that’s not going to serve him well with the outcome of the investigation, I believe.

“So, we don’t know yet what he knew and when he knew it and what he did about it. But Michigan has hired a hot-shot Chicago law firm with a D.C. office to investigate all of this right now. So, on that probably hinges Warde Manuel’s future.”

On if Warde Manuel is conducting the Michigan coaching search

“That is a hell of a question, because think about it. The people I talk to, the higher-ups, say they’re trying to get a head coach in five to 10 days, and that was about seven days ago. So, what you have here: You’re trying to get a coach in as quickly as you can to make sure [freshman] Bryce Underwood, your star quarterback to be, he stays, people don’t enter the transfer portal, but you have an AD that is being investigated, basically, right now. You have regents who are clearly unhappy with the situation, and you’ve got an interim president who’s not going to be there probably by the end of next year, by design.

“So, A, who’s making these calls? And, B, who are you going to get? Are you going to get a guy like [Alabama head coach Kalen] DeBoer or [Arizona State head coach Kenny] Dillingham if that guy does not know who your boss is going to be or your boss’ boss is going to be. These are things that head coaches should know going in.

“Everyone says the timing is right. I think the timing is miserable for Michigan, frankly.”

On Kalen DeBoer’s prior interest in the Michigan job

“The timing didn’t work out. Everything that I have heard from very good sources is that DeBoer, if not actively lobbied for that job, made his interest known that he was available and was going to leave Washington. Michigan, at the time, was his first time, until Alabama opens up. I’m not sure if that’s his first or second choice. But, at that point, Michigan’s taking too long, and he can’t wait.

“One of the few things Jim Harbaugh, the previous coach, and AD Warde Manuel agreed on is that Sherrone Moore should be the next guy. Obviously, that’s not going to happen anymore, and you could also argue this team was not well-coached this season, frankly. Ohio State was the better program — that’s not coaching, that’s just talent, basically — but plenty of games, you saw Michigan unprepared, taking bad penalties and the quarterback not be developed.

“I’m not sure it’s a great loss in Sherrone Moore’s case, but DeBoer had flirted with Michigan before. There are flirtations and there are marriages, and they’re not the same thing. But that gives Michigan fans some hope that DeBoer may be a candidate this time around. That remains to be seen.”

On if Alabama loses to Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff

“If you are Michigan and DeBoer loses on Friday night, I think your pitch is basically, ‘Yeah, we’re not sure about the AD. We’ll see what happens there. But, if in fact Warde Manuel is let go based on the findings of the investigation — of what he knew and when — then you will have a strong hand in picking the next AD. You can basically pick the next AD, to some degree, and you’ll probably have a vote in who the next president is.’ So, if you take that approach, maybe it’s more appealing that way.

“But, man, how many unknown pieces are we talking about here? Not a few. So, this is still a very jumbled situation.”

On Kalen DeBoer’s public comments that he plans to be with the Crimson Tide next season

“Keep in mind, what else can you say? You have to say this, or else you’re answering the same questions at every press conference while you’re trying to prepare for one of the biggest games of your career.

“I saw some wiggle room, maybe, short of, ‘Absolutely no how, no way.’ He said the right things from Alabama’s point of view, and he said the right things where, if he does not want to go to Michigan or something in other ways falls apart, you’ve not embarrassed yourself, you’ve not burned the bridge and you’d be safe at Alabama, I would say.”