Warde Manuel’s future as Michigan’s athletic director is uncertain. The university’s Board of Regents is meeting on Thursday to review the findings of an external investigation into the workings of its athletic department amid the Sherrone Moore scandal.

For some reporters, Warde Manuel is lucky that he’s at Michigan. Things would have been entirely different at other programs, and even Michigan may end up changing how it has hired its ADs in the past.

“So, you’re gone, and your AD is gone,” college football journalist Steven Godfrey said to Ross Dellenger and On3 reporter Andy Staples on Yahoo Sports’ YouTube channel on July 14. “And no one cares where your degree came from in those places [Ohio State and Alabama], because they are run like a corporate mindset.”

For Godfrey, even with the number of scandals during Manuel’s tenure, the university may not change the practice of ‘leadership inbreeding’ that he believes has perpetuated the issues in Ann Arbor. “Do you guys think that the next Michigan athletic director won’t have a big gold M somewhere on that resume?” he asked Dellenger and Staples.

According to Staples, the vibes are different this time. “It’s always when ADs leave for whatever reason, whether it’s good or bad, and a new AD has to be found, the initial posts are always a bunch of names you’ve heard of with connections to the school, and it almost never ends up being that,” he said.

“You got a couple of those posts on the Michigan message board on Sunday and Monday, and very quickly, underneath, Michigan fans are going, ‘How about somebody from outside the family?’”

And it’s no secret that Michigan hires its own. Current president Domenico Grasso attended other programs for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but he earned his doctorate at the University of Michigan. Manuel, on the other hand, bagged all his degrees in Ann Arbor. When you consider Manuel’s predecessors, dating back to 1993, who all had at least one degree from the University of Michigan: Jim Hackett, David Brandon, Bill Martin, Thomas Goss, and Joe Roberson.

Given the recent returns from these Michigan-linked appointees, it may be time for the program to try something different. However, the Board’s plan following the Moore scandal was also derailed by unavoidable circumstances.

Even though it still followed the Michigan alumni pattern, the program was meant to have a new president in 2026. Just before the appointment of Kent Syrevud, who was the former Syracuse University chancellor, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. As a result, he was unable to take the role. Andy Staples believed that some of the recent chaos around the university would have been uncovered earlier if the new president had resumed office.

At the moment, the program has two lawsuits: one from former linebackers coach Chris Partridge and one from former staffer Paige Shiver. As they battle these, they are keen on reaching a decision regarding Manuel as well. The University will owe him around $2.4 million if it lets him go, but is that enough to save him?