Michigan Tuesday: The War of Warde

You know how I feel about Warde as Michigan's leader of the athletics department.  He is way over his head and has overseen the most roller coaster time in the history of the program.  My opinion is, that Warde should not be leading this program any longer, his good things (hiring Dusty and Coach Whitt) does not over weigh his huge mistakes.  It's amazing to me how such a powerful University can't find a true leader to lead this athletics organization. 

Angel did an interview with Warde and his answer were very by the book.  My biggest takeaway is that he has no fear of losing his job.  

Q: So you don't have any concerns about your job security?

A: No.

Q: Why are you so confident?

A: I'm confident in what I've done and how I've done it, and what I've asked people to do. Again, I'm not perfect, and I don't know anybody who is, but I'm confident that I have done everything to make sure that we do things the right way within the department. The rest of it, I don't sit and worry. I worry about moving us forward and continuing the success that we've developed over the years since I've been here.”

Let me clear something up completely.  You don't pay a law firm millions of dollars to do an investigation on the Athletics department if your not expecting a change of leadership.  If the findings come out negative or troublesome, there is zero chance Warde retains his job.  Signs are pointing to a negative finding is that the expectation was this investigation was to be completed in January, it's April, and law firms get paid by the hour.  

Want more proof that Warde is poor leader and not getting his message received by the people he leads?  (bold is mine).  The question was did you or the regents ask for the investigation into the athletics department?

You’d have to ask the Regents their conversations about it. The next morning (Dec. 11, 2025 after Moore was fired), I talked to Domenico, and I said I would like the Office of Equity, Integrity and Compliance to work with me to find someone to come in and do a cultural assessment, because apparently my words are not getting through. So I’d like some help in what else can be done.

When you tune out your leader, you don't respect that leader.  There is an old saying in the business world, "employees don't leave companies, they leave leadership"