Danny White isn’t the only former UB athletic director climbing the ranks of college athletics. Various media outlets reported Wednesday that Warde Manuel, who served as Buffalo’s AD before White, accepted the same position at the University of Michigan – ending his nearly four-year tenure at the University of Connecticut.
Michigan has yet to confirm the news.
Manuel was in the fourth year of a five-year deal at UConn with a base salary of $450,000, with an incentive-laden contract that allowed him to make up to an extra $100,00 each year, according to ESPN.
Manuel, an alumnus of Michigan, will take over for interim AD Jim Hackett, who spent 15 months on the job after replacing Dave Brandon, who resigned in October of 2014. Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday that Manuel used Michigan’s program as an example of what he wanted Buffalo’s athletic program to be like while he was its athletic director from 2005-12.
Manuel was known for making academics a priority for student-athletes during his time at UB. When Manuel took over Buffalo, the program was struggling academically, with four teams below the NCAA-mandated Academic Progress Rate score of 925. All four teams increased their score above the cutline by the time he left. Currently, UB Athletics has had a cumulative grade point average of more than 3.0 for eight consecutive semesters.
Manuel’s biggest hire was Turner Gill to run the football program from in 2006. Gill was the first Buffalo coach to guide the Bulls to a Mid-American Conference Championship and bowl game.
Manuel continued his success at UConn, where the women’s basketball program has won three straight NCAA Tournaments and the men’s team won the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
Since Manuel left UB, the program has had two athletic directors: White, who left for the University of Central Florida in November, and current AD Allen Greene.
Jordan Grossman is the co-senior sports editor and can be reached at jordan.grossman@ubspectrum.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jordanmgrossman.
