Warde Manuel’s exit from Michigan comes with a parting gift that would make any agent whistle: a lump-sum payment of $7,143,346, due within 21 days of his December 31 resignation, according to a settlement agreement obtained by The Detroit News.
The figure amounts to roughly three years of his $2.4 million annual salary — the same money he would have collected had Michigan fired him outright. Instead, Manuel’s personnel file will reflect that he “voluntarily resigns,” and the document is titled a “Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims.”
Manuel signed the agreement on July 17, 2026, along with university president Domenico Grasso. That was one day after the Board of Regents met in Traverse City — a meeting at which, the university said, athletics and the investigation were not discussed. Days earlier, Manuel had told The Detroit News and at least two other outlets he intended to remain at Michigan.
The settlement also includes a $108,000 retirement contribution and full retiree health benefits, with Michigan waiving its standard 20-year service requirement. Manuel, 58, has led the athletic department for 11 years. The school will cover $82,000 in attorney fees and grant him “former athletic director privileges” — sports tickets and golf access. A two-year non-compete clause bars him from working as an athletic director or senior athletic adviser at any Big Ten institution.
Manuel’s departure follows a $12 million investigation by Chicago law firm Jenner & Block, commissioned in December after the firing of head football coach Sherrone Moore. Moore had an inappropriate relationship with executive assistant Paige Shiver and was subsequently arrested after appearing at her apartment holding a butter knife and threatening self-harm. He pleaded no contest in March to trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device, receiving 18 months probation.
No written report from Jenner & Block exists on the record. The regents were only verbally briefed, and two sources told The Detroit News that Manuel himself was not briefed on the findings. The university summarized the results in a Q&A posted to its website, accompanied by a video from Grasso.
The review found that misconduct was not “widespread” but identified “weaknesses in accountability, organizational structure, oversight, and reporting.” On Manuel specifically: “The culture review found that Warde Manuel demonstrated important leadership strengths, particularly his commitment to student-athletes. At the same time, it identified failures to quickly and effectively act on allegations of wrongdoing by Athletic Department employees.”
Subsequent reports suggested the investigation produced evidence that Manuel knew or suspected Moore’s affair as early as 2024.
Manuel’s tenure spanned national championships in football and men’s basketball, a 96% student-athlete graduation rate, and 4,034 Academic All-Big Ten honorees. It also included the Connor Stalions sign-stealing operation — which cost Michigan $30 million in fines and four years of probation — federal computer-hacking charges against former offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, the Mel Pearson hockey culture investigation, the Juwan Howard handshake-line incident, and the $490 million Dr. Robert Anderson sexual abuse settlement.
Grasso asked Manuel to remain through year’s end as a special assistant advising on reforms: strengthening compliance, improving reporting systems, expanding student-athlete wellness support. Manuel, who played football at Michigan and holds three degrees from the university, said in a statement he was “very proud of the successes and accomplishments of our athletic department over the past 11 years” and promised he would “have more to say about my decision at the appropriate time.”
Eleven years, a dozen scandals, a $12 million investigation that produced no written report, and a $7 million handshake on the way out. The film doesn’t lie.