What took so long for Michigan to decide AD Warde Manuel had to go? — Jimmy Watkins

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel thought he cleaned his big, blue house back in December. But apparently, Manuel missed a spot. Seven months after Michigan fired former football coach Sherrone Moore for having an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, the dirt from Moore’s last season is still showing. Michigan announced on Monday morning that Manuel will step down at the end of this year after an internal investigation identified his “failures to quickly and effectively act on allegations of wrongdoing by Athletic Department employees.”It paid nearly $12 million to find what the rest of us already knew. And we only have one question leftover. What took so long? Buckeye Lore: Ohio State’s ultimate gamble and a six-year march toward misery -- Buckeye Talk podcastMichigan AD Warde Manuel to ‘step down’ at end of year as details of investigation emergeOhio State is upgrading its basketball arena: Buckeye BreakfastOhio State football has a promising offensive line. Can it take the next step in 2026?Seriously, guys. There’s a difference between turning a blind eye and pretending you can’t see. We’ve known for three years about the scouting rules Michigan broke under former coach Jim Harbaugh, and we’ve known for seven months about former coach Sherrone Moore’s inappropriate relationship with a staffer. All this time later, Michigan finally found the common denominator. Manuel had to go. As much as Ohio State football fans love watching Michigan squirm, scandalize and put another shoe in its mouth, they also love the rivalry shared by both schools.A Buckeye win tastes sweeter when The Game garners stakes. And it takes two competent programs to put on a good show. Frankly, Michigan has been holding The Game back. The Wolverines strayed further from their foundation with every desperate move — from enabling Harbaugh’s spy ops, to hastily hiring Moore, to pretending like Manuel didn’t know how crooked his department was — designed to maintain their faulty advantage in this rivalry. The team, the team, the team you see today mirrors none of former coach Bo Schembechler’s ideals. In fact, the lack of discipline, character and integrity on display under Manuel could almost make a Buckeye miss the old Michigan. What? I said almost. Of course, Ohio residents never liked the morality-obsessed developers of men or their hoity toity ethics, either. But at least, before Manuel enabled this mess, the block “M” logo harbored an identity. What does UM stand for now? Under Manuel’s nose? Since the former Michigan grad took over as AD in 2016, investigators have treated Ann Arbor football offices like a satellite campus. The NCAA has looked into recruiting violations and, of course, the Wolverines’ sign stealing scandal. The FBI conducted a probe into assistant coach Matt Weiss’ creepy computer hacking scheme. And again, Michigan itself reportedly spent about $12 million on Chicago-based law firm Jenner and Block’s investigation into Moore, which led to Manuel’s exit, but — shocker — the details of it have still not been made public. Somehow, amid constant scandal, the person in charge survived it for years. Manuel got to hire (and got praised for hiring) Moore after presiding over Harbaugh’s cowboy culture (which did, admittedly, produce a national championship). Then Manuel got to hire (and got praised for hiring) Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, the steady hand Michigan needed after Moore’s disastrous tenure (which, again, Manuel hurried into being without interviewing external candidates). Now UM is holding him accountable. And if the proverbial Michigan Man could see this, he’d be blushing enough to spread embarrassment across state borders. Worth noting: The Buckeyes committed their own blunders during this era. They’re the team whose players brawled with Wolverines attempting to plant a UM flag on Ohio Stadium turf in 2024. And their extremist fans lobbed the threats that scared coach Ryan Day’s family into hiring security outside their home. No place for either act. No excuses. At the same time, I’d consider both to be byproducts of the most emotional chapter in this storied game’s history. Buckeye hearts burned believing that Michigan was cheating to beat them (and getting away with it). UM fueled that rage by gaslighting their rival (What stolen signs?). On and on. Even last year, when Day stopped his players from flag planting and held his tongue during his postgame presser, drama surrounded The Game. Michigan fired Moore 10 days later. Police arrested him for stalking, home invasion and breaking and entering that same day. We’re still seeing the fallout seven months later. Maybe UM’s board of regents feel different. But I, for one, have seen enough off-field fireworks for one half decade. The further Michigan nosedives into its own dramatic spiral, the more Buckeye anger morphs into distaste. At this point, the concerned neighbors can only shake their heads. Get your house in order, Michigan. You’re making the block look bad. And if Manuel told you the program was tidy, then it was past time to clean out his office, too.