UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel dismisses the talk that his actual job title is chief Harbaugh facilitator. He’s his own man. He’ll have his own specific vision for the direction of an athletic department with one of the biggest annual operating budgets in the NCAA. And if called for, he’ll remind Harbaugh there are limits to the head coach’s high-profile emotional spillage regardless of intentions. But Manuel’s primary responsibility is making sure he doesn’t become another Dave Brandon. It’s much easier tolerating megalomania from the coach than it is from the athletic director. Manuel is wired correctly for his new responsibilities. That doesn’t make him a pushover. It just means he’s not pushy. He learned how to properly conduct business outside of the limelight at Connecticut where his most prominent head coaches — men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun and women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma — were microphone-shy and often conveyed a public air of arrogance. -Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press, Read More