Michigan insider sheds light on internal strife between Jim Harbaugh and Warde Manuel

John U. Bacon keeps a pulse on all things Michigan, and he shared the latest information about Harbaugh, Athletics Director Warde Manuel and internal issues at Michigan.

Bacon spoke on WTKA on Friday morning, and shared that Manuel never had a review under former Michigan President Mark Schlissel, and that the Harbaugh-Manuel relationship is “not in a great place.” Bacon spoke about the news of Harbaugh’s return to Michigan being put out by President Santa Ono and Harbaugh and that Manuel was “more of an observer” in this case.

“If they’re not trying to send a message, they did a very poor job of not sending it because that’s the message I got,” Bacon said. “Which is a funny place to be. It shows you where the real hold up was between Harbaugh and Warde Manuel, the terms they’re in.”

Bacon noted, from 2 sources, that Harbaugh and Manuel have “basically not been talking since a bad conversation in May that ended up in shouting.”

As I reported on @michiganinsider with @SamWebb77 this morning on WTKA:
-Former UM Pres. Schlissel never conducted a review of AD Warde Manuel in his six years on the job.
-Manuel and Harbaugh have not spoken directly since May.
Guessing new UM pres. @SantaJOno changes both.

— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) January 20, 2023

Keith Farner

Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.