Warde Manuel, University of Michigan’s Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics, oversees an athletic department that sponsors 29 varsity teams with more than 950 student-athletes and around 400 staff members. To run it, the former collegiate athlete relies on more than just his 30 years of experience in athletic departments. Warde also leans on his MBA. In this episode of the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast, sponsored by Old National Bank, the official bank of the Big Ten Conference, Warde talks about hiring top talent, maintaining culture, funding in the age of NIL, and how much running an athletic department is like running a business. Here’s an excerpt:
“If all they want to talk about is the transaction piece of NIL, this is probably not the place for them. But if they want to talk about the totality of academics and athletics and growing as young people and NIL and what the University of Michigan has to offer through all of that, those are the type of individuals that we want here. Because if you are only talking transactional, the next time somebody offers them more money, they're leaving.”
