Terry Foster: Will Warde Manuel Be Harbaugh's Yes Man?
By Terry Foster
@TerryFoster971
You will hear a lot of nice things about incoming University of Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel.
Sources say he secured a five-year deal to be Michigan's new athletic director, an official announcement is expected at 11:15 a.m. today.
He is a Michigan man who won't need to shout every 15 minutes that he is a Michigan man. Do you remember Rich Rodriguez?
He understands the Michigan culture because he played under Bo Schembechler and was an administrator at the school. He knows many of the top characters at Michigan and is a very good fund raiser.
This is his dream job and will do all he can to improve the block M brand. He will come up with marketing campaigns and strategies that you will sit back and say "wow, that was pretty cool." And he won't put a halo around famed Michigan Stadium.
However, let's talk about the elephant in the room. Manuel's job is to stay out of football coach Jim Harbaugh's way and make sure the rest of the athletic department thrives. Harbaugh is the face of Michigan athletics. He is the man that will push this program to the next level. And if he does that then everything will fall in place for Manuel and the rest of the coaches.
This is the new Bo and Don Canham administration. The Michigan football man meets the Michigan marketing man. The Wolverines hope this is a match made in heaven.
Now will Manuel become Harbaugh's yes man?
No. But he knows better than to grab him by the throat and make demands. There could be times of friction between the two, if Manuel believes Harbaugh is going down a dangerous path that harms the school. He understands that Michigan comes before Harbaugh.
Manuel is used to dealing with high profile personalities and egomaniacs. He did it at UConn with famed men's coach Jim Calhoun and women's coach Geno Auriemma. He hired current basketball coach Kevin Olllie and the Huskies won the 2014 National championship.
He should get along with Harbaugh. They know one another. They understand what the goals are and neither wants to rock the boat for a program that is on the rise.
Here is one more piece of advice for Manuel. Do not forget the students. Previous administrations did that and made their game day experience less desirable.
They are too young and too poor to be big boosters, but they are an important part of the process.
(Foster can be reached at Terry.Foster@cbsradio.com)
