In order to accomplish any intimidating challenge, you must start at the bottom. Buffalo Athletic Director Warde Manuel is three years into his challenge of making the University at Buffalo a competitive school in the Mid-American Conference.
Manuel arrived on the Buffalo scene in 2005, after spending time as Assistant Athletic Director at the University of Michigan where he worked with both the basketball and football teams. Manuel became Buffalo's first official Athletic Director after a 23-month period in which Manuel says the athletics department was stuck in a "holding pattern," without an official leader.
"The challenge in the last two years (was) getting everybody to believe that we can have success, to get them to understand that that's the expectation," Manuel said. "The expectation is that we are here to win. We are here to win championships on behalf of Buffalo. We haven't had that success but we've invested in the right places to start to build the success..."
In order to obtain the success that Manuel experienced at Michigan, one of his biggest concerns is recruiting. And while people may have a bad impression of Buffalo and the inclement weather that occurs here, Manuel does not buy that as an excuse, explaining how he left his native New Orleans, Louisiana to play football at the University of Michigan.
One thing that Manuel says will help athletes outside of New York State consider Buffalo is the building of an indoor practice facility. At this time, Manuel says that a sports architecture firm is working on a plan for an indoor facility, but nothing is final. When Manuel came to interview for his current job about two years ago, he noted the absence of an indoor practice facility to President Simpson.
"Geographically we are where we are. We can't prevent inclement weather from coming to Buffalo," Manuel said. "...At Division I athletics, we have to prepare year-round to be successful."
Besides being used for the student athletes, Manuel envisions a building much like the one currently used at the University of Michigan: it gives students a place to compete in intramurals and is also a good practice environment for club sports. The main purpose for the building is to attract recruits, which Manuel stresses is the most important aspect to ensuring Buffalo is consistently competitive in the MAC.
"We need to recruit, recruits make us all look good," Manuel said. "The more we recruit the more we can attract a superior athlete, the more we can keep great athletes at home."
One of Manuel's loftiest goals is one he shares with everyone associated with Buffalo athletics: to win 10 conference titles over the next four years. The Bulls have not won a conference title during Manuel's regime, and have won only one title since joining the MAC in 2000.
"...I didn't say 10 championships in one year, it's going to take some time," Manuel said.
While a lot of attention is poured upon the football and basketball teams, Manuel recalls a moment at a men's soccer game that really showed the kind of support of which the fans were capable.
"I remember it was a downpour and our men's (soccer) team was ranked for the first time, and we were playing Akron who was ranked number one or number two, and I want to say that there were 900 people in the stands, and probably a third to a half were students," Manuel said. "That made me feel really good, I think it made the kids feel really good... They want to see success, they want to support us."
While the consistent winning and the championships have been out of Buffalo's grasps since joining the MAC, Manuel feels as if the effort needed to win is there, and it is only a matter of time until one team breaks through and brings home a title.
"I think since I've gotten here I've continued to emphasized that I want to see effort, I don't want to see teams giving up, and I think we're doing that," Manuel said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
