Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel opened up about how easy and hard firing Sherrone Moore over romance with Paige Shiver.
Warde Manuel wants everyone to know two things; He is a professional, and has feelings.
The Michigan athletic director recently spoke about firing head coach Sherrone Moore. According to Warde, the decision was “easy professionally” but “hard personally.” Which is a very fancy way of saying, “My job said yes, my heart said please stop.”
On paper, it was simple. Paper loves simplicity.
Professionally, Warde didn’t hesitate. That’s what he wants us to believe. He looked at the situation, adjusted his tie, and checked the box. Boom! Decision made. Michigan moves on. The machine keeps moving.
But personally? That part hurt. Apparently, Sherrone Moore wasn’t just a coach. He was a colleague, and a human. Someone Warde probably shared hallway talks with.
‘Listen man, it’s hard,’ the Michigan director admitted, via Detroit Free Press. ‘It’s hard when you have a colleague that is going through something personally, professionally, in his family and [knowing the] people and impact that it has on so many staff, student-athletes and the Michigan community.
‘Personally, I’ve known him for seven or eight years, so it was difficult to see him, as a person, go through what he went through.
‘But professionally, it was an easy decision to make because of the expectations that we have for everyone on our side.’
The real question is why the woman that Moore had an affair with, Paige Shiver, is still employed.
Manuel didn’t have a good answer for that.
‘There’s not much I can say. There’s an investigation continuing into coach Moore, there’s a cultural evaluation around the department and so we will we obviously know some facts,’ he explained.
‘There’s some things that are out there that I can’t comment on, that are untrue, and there may be some things that they find, but that’s why we do an investigation, and I’m very open to that. Wanted the cultural analysis to be done to help us get better.
‘I asked the President to help with a cultural analysis and have somebody come in. So yes, I am very supportive of that, because as a leader, I face reality. There are things that happen. I don’t step away from it. Never have, never will. So we need to get better, and that’s part of is getting somebody to come in and to assess.’
In the end, Warde Manuel did his job, or did he?. That’s the headline. He separated work from feelings, or at least tried to. Michigan football turns the page. Another era ends. Another begins.
Easy professionally. Hard personally. College football in one sentence.
Flip the page for photos of Paige Shiver the woman who destroyed Sherrone Moore.
