Warde Manuel ‘glad to have Jim back,’ commends Sherrone Moore and Michigan football team

ANN ARBOR - It’s been a stressful football season for Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, but he had reason to smile on Saturday.

Michigan beat Ohio State 30-24 at Michigan Stadium in a battle of 11-0 teams, with the Wolverines punching a ticket to the Big Ten championship for the third straight year.

They did it without head coach Jim Harbaugh, who served the last of his Big Ten-imposed three-game suspension for Michigan’s alleged sign-stealing operation. Manuel had gone back and forth with the conference over that. He’d also suspended Harbaugh for the first three games of the season for a different NCAA investigation.

The players dealt with all of that and stayed focus, stuck together, and kept winning. As a former Michigan football player, Manuel can appreciate that.

“It goes to what our coaches in our history have built,” Manuel told a small group of reporters outside Michigan’s postgame press conference. “I played when Bo (Schembechler) had a heart attack, and we went to a bowl game (the 1970 Rose Bowl). We were led by Coach (Gary) Moeller. We pulled together.

“We kept doing what he always told us to do and what Jim tells these young men to do, and that is: Nobody’s bigger than the team and we go out there and we give our all to win for Michigan and for each other. And that’s what they did. I’m so proud of the way they have handled it and the way they’ve handled this change in the environment.”

Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, was tabbed to replace Harbaugh for the past three games. Moore guided Michigan in its toughest tests to date: road games against No. 10 Penn State and Maryland and Saturday’s showdown with No. 2 Ohio State.

“Jim has a lot of faith in his staff and a lot of faith in Sherrone,” Manuel said. “That gives me great comfort with him being the one leading this team. He’s done an outstanding job. Nothing that I didn’t expect.”

Manuel was asked about whether the past three games helped dismiss any notion that Michigan’s previous wins were fraudulent, if they proved the Wolverines’ success had nothing to do with play-call signs.

“I think it proved that this team was a great team,” he said. “And they can play through the adversity of their coach being suspended. (I’m) just really proud of ‘em and their effort, the way they stick together, their passion to play for each other. It’s just remarkable. That’s what it shows more than anything else.”

The NCAA may eventually punish Michigan further, but the Big Ten closed its investigation. Harbaugh can return to the sidelines in next Saturday’s Big Ten championship in Indianapolis against Iowa.

Is Manuel glad the suspension is over?

“I’m glad to have Jim back,” he said. “I really am. Yes, sir.”