Sports

Three key traits Michigan's next athletic director should have

Michigan Wolverines On SI · Jul 20, 2026 23:00 · 4 min read

Three Key Traits Michigan's Next Athletic Director Should Have — Apr 6, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Justin Cadeau, the brother of Michigan Wolverines guard Elliot Cadeau (3), with the National Championship Trophy after the National Championship of the Final Four of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In order to be successful, Michigan's next athletic director should showcase these three key traits.

With news of University of Michigan and athletic director Warde Manuel parting ways on Monday, the athletic department has now reached an inflection point at a crucial time as college athletics, particularly football and basketball, are rapidly changing as Name, Image and Likeness and player eligibility issues are at the forefront.

The opening in Ann Arbor means that one of the premier athletic director jobs in the country has become available and those calling the shots at U-M should have its pick of the litter when it comes to candidates.

It can't be just any candidate, though. A successful AD in Ann Arbor must check a number of big boxes that seem to expand with every passing year.

Here are three key traits that U-M's next AD, whoever that ends up being, should have to be successful.

A Proven Track Record

While Manuel made some good coaching hires during his tenure, it would seem that one of his big blindspots was giving opportunities to inexperienced coaches to run major programs in football and basketball.

While it's great if it works, it also could be a colossal failure if it doesn't. And it failed spectacularly twice with Juwan Howard and Sherrone Moore. Certain programs at certain schools aren't meant for first-timers to feel their way out by leading a major program.

The same should be said for those who lead the athletic department, too.

Ideally, U-M needs to bring in someone who has a veteran presence and a track record of adapting to the times and helping build and maintain successful programs. That's not to say that the next AD has had to have overseen the best NIL structure or seen their programs win multiple national championships, but experience matters now more than ever in this era of college football and U-M needs to have someone in place who knows how to win and can help continue to bring the athletic department to the forefront with name recognition, not just spinning the tires and staying in place.

Keen PR/Crisis Management Skills

While you hope that U-M has gotten its PR nightmares and NCAA investigations out of its system, things can happen and fall through the cracks when you're responsible for so many independent moving parts in collegiate athletics.

You hope a one-day story doesn't find its way turning into a multi-day one.

Going through its fair share of crises in recent years, there were a number of moments you could pinpoint and say that you had hoped that the public relations and overall crisis management response by the athletic department could've been better.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and you can't ask people to be perfect in every situation, but the organizational and structural issues the Jenner & Block report findings outlined are a big area of improvement, and a new face can bring in a fresh perspective on how to account for potential blind spots and cut off potential issues at the source immediately.

It also helps if you don't commit NCAA violations, too.

An Aggressive Fundraiser and NIL Forward-Thinker

One of the areas that Manuel excelled as an athletic director was his ability to fundraise and drum up support from donors to help pay for major athletics projects happening across campus.

While those fundraising dollars are now competing with NIL dollars, Manuel will be departing a university with a strong NIL foundation, with some opportunities to get even stronger into the future. U-M's next AD must continue that aggressive line of thinking with raising funds, but also focus on efforts to be at the cutting edge of NIL advancements and continue to put the major programs in a position to be competitive with lucrative offers for student-athletes.

That's not to say the next AD needs to reinvent the wheel, the foundation has been laid and the blueprint to success right now is strong, but, again, a fresh perspective and a new set of eyes could find avenues that may never been thought of before.

In an era when you adapt or die in college athletics, having an athletic director who values growth and prioritizes evolution will set the athletic department up for prosperity for many years to come.