Michigan AD Warde Manuel seeking more steadiness around program - ESPN

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. — Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel is seeking more steadiness around the program after a period that featured football and men's basketball national championships but also several high-profile controversies.

Manuel, who has led the athletic department since January 2016, acknowledged the challenges Michigan has faced during the past five years, even amid great success. Michigan won three straight Big Ten titles and a national title in football, and in April captured its first men's basketball national championship since 1989. Michigan also went through the signal-stealing scandal involving football staff member Connor Stalions, the federal indictment of former assistant football coach Matt Weiss and football coach Sherrone Moore's firing and arrest in December.

«I always aim for steadiness, believe me,» Manuel told reporters Tuesday during the Big Ten spring meetings. «This is not anything that I've desired or wanted or hoped for, but I deal with it, and then you know my goal as a leader is to provide the steadiness to… the rest of the department, and my staff, and student-athletes, and I think I and we have done that as a department in the organization. I don't take any of it lightly.

»It's not something that I welcome, but we've dealt with it."

Manuel noted the competitive accomplishments of Michigan's teams during the stretch, as well as the athletes' academic success. He said his goal as AD is to «limit the impact» of negative situations.

In August, the NCAA announced sanctions for Michigan, which included probation and financial penalties expected to exceed $20 million, significant show-cause penalties for Stalions and former coach Jim Harbaugh, and a suspension for Moore, then the