The Sherrone Moore scandal is not dead and buried. Investigations are still ongoing, and fingers have been pointing at University of Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel as the next victim. As rumors around his possible firing continue to grow, Manuel has spoken about his future.

Warde Manuel had an interview with The Michigan Insider radio show, where he exposed those spreading rumors and shared the reality about his Michigan future. His statement was not different from what he said to Yahoo Sports on Monday, urging the public not to believe rumors about his possible sack.

“Don’t believe everything out there. … I think I’ve been fired by social media three times. It’s nonsense,” said Warde to Yahoo Sports. “It affects my staff and my family.”

His statement seems as though there is discord within the program’s athletic department.

“People with zero knowledge of what’s going on are talking about things are happening. I wish we got to the point in society where people put their names to things,” Warde said in an interview.

The AD also stated that people who didn’t want him at Michigan were leaking information.

Manuel was hired as the athletic director of the Michigan Wolverines in 2016. According to his five-year contract, he earns $2 million and is set to be with the program until 2030. Talking about his sack would mean putting the program in a situation where they have to pay him a buyout for the remainder of his contract. “A buyout provision in his contract requires severance of 36 months of pay unless the school and Manuel reach a settlement agreement,” per Yahoo Sports.

The reason for the sack rumors stems from the numerous scandals that have plagued the program during Manuel’s tenure as AD. In the last two years of former head coach Jim Harbaugh’s tenure, a member of the Michigan staff, Connor Stallions, directed an off-campus, in-person scouting and sign-stealing operation, where he purchased tickets to games of future opponents to record their sidelines and decode their signals. Next, Harbaugh himself was also found guilty of impermissible contact with recruits and players during the COVID-19 dead periods. Both situations attracted severe penalties from the NCAA.

The most recent was the Sherrone Moore scandal, where the former coach was involved in an inappropriate relationship with his assistant. He has been placed on an 18-month probation. To add to the problems around Warde, the lady, Paige Shiver, recently sued the program for denying her public records requests after accusing them of protecting Moore during the course of their relationship.

While he is uncertain about what the future holds for him, Manuel expressed his confidence about the work he has done in the program over the course of his tenure. “I’ve had several conversations over the last 6 or 7 months about the future and things that have happened, different opportunities and different ways it could go.”

As things stand, Manuel remains the AD of the Michigan Wolverines despite rumors. An announcement on his future would be made later this week when the Michigan Regents sit for a board meeting on Thursday. And if the rumors are true, we would be seeing both a new coach and AD at Ann Arbor in 2026.