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GOOD LUCK CHARM

W

hen Warde Manuel 
stepped out of the 
elevator and into the 

press box 
Saturday 
morning at 
Michigan 
Stadium, 
he greeted 
staffers with 
a familiar 
refrain.

“Who’s got 

it better than 
us?” he asked.

It was 

just before 9 a.m. on his first 
game day as Michigan’s athletic 
director, a day that one might 
assume Manuel would get to bask 
in. And it was a big day, just not 
in the way you might expect.

Throughout the day, Manuel 

will draw the attention of a 
celebrity, but his first game 
day morning isn’t especially 
glamorous. He looks over 
paperwork. He visits tailgates and 
plays host. It is not like his first 
home game as a player in 1986.

Oddly enough, he doesn’t 

remember the opponent or 
the score of that game. He 
just knows that his team won. 
(Michigan beat Oregon State, 
31-12, on Sept. 20, 1986.) But 
he remembers clearly what it 
was like to run onto the field 
the first time — a feeling that 
this day, however special, can’t 
possibly recapture.

“There’s nothing that would 

ever compare to running on the 
field the first time as a freshman 
and seeing the 100,000,” Manuel 
said. “The difference is, that 
was the first time I’d ever been 
in the stadium. On this one I’m 
returning. And, while very, very 
special, that first time running on 
the field was — I’ll never forget it.”

Manuel will get down to the 

field Saturday, too, but first, he 
has some things to take care of 
that he never had to as a player. 

Almost immediately after he 
arrives at the press box, he goes 
off to his suite to start looking 
over paperwork.

Each day, he gets a morning 

briefing, and on Saturday it’s 
easy to understand why. He 
moves from place to place 
quickly on this game day, with 
timing and locations subject 
to change. First, though, he 
sits in the athletic director’s 
suite, head buried in his folder, 
joined by his chief of staff, Doug 
Gnodtke, and his guest, James 
Hall, a member of the 1997 
national title team.

There’s plenty of room. 

Manuel sits at one of the two 
counter top tables, in front 
of the two high-tops and the 
kitchenette for food and drinks. 
The shelves conjure some of 
his memories. One has a photo 
of Manuel as a player. Another 

features a small Michigan teddy 
bear and a picture of the moment 
Jim Harbaugh handed him a 
jersey bearing his name at his 
introductory press conference.

These are the subtle 

personalizations in a suite that’s 
not significantly different than 
the standard issue. It’s larger, but 
it wouldn’t be a big deal without 
Manuel in it.

On this morning, he doesn’t 

dwell there long. He has a radio 
interview to do, so he and his 
entourage walk down the hall, 
take the elevator to the ground 
level and start walking toward the 
Pioneer High School tailgates.

Manuel is a large, swaggering 

man, and he’s very easy to 
recognize. Fans holler to 
Manuel and frequently ask for 
pictures. Usually, he hollers back, 
sometimes in kind, others with 
a “Go Blue!” He poses for a lot of 

photos.

At the intersection of Main 

and West Stadium, Manuel 
greets a police officer. He does 
this many times on game day, 
and it stands out. He even asks 
one about his wife and kids. 
Later, Manuel explains that he 
got to know the force through 
the late Vada Murray, a police 
officer and Manuel’s best friend. 
He doesn’t have much spare 
time today, but he still stops 
when he can, nearly always with 
a charismatic greeting.

That’s the nature of his 

Saturday: so little time, so many 
hands to shake and so many 
people to catch up with.

***

Manuel actually beats the 

softball team to its tailgate on 
the grass next to Alumni Field, 

and he teases them about the 
low volleyball net they are using. 
Senior shortstop Abby Ramirez 
justifies it by saying, “It’s my 
height!” Not one to just stand by 
and watch, the athletic director 
joins the game — in his dress 
slacks and blazer, no less — and 
aces his first serve. He misses his 
second short of the net.

Then he moves to play corn 

hole. Manuel is a natural, just as 
he is at the art of conversation. 
He is a people person, and it’s 
remarkable how he’s able to make 
a connection with seemingly 
every person he interacts with. 
He’s right next to the softball 
fields, so it only makes sense that, 
on multiple occasions, he retells 
the story of how he and Murray 
once flooded the field, which he 
also recalled at his introductory 
press conference.

“If they didn’t need our help for 

a few more weeks,” he tells two 
softball players, “I think we would 
have been fired on the spot.”

Then, once more, Manuel 

is on the move, headed to the 
basketball tailgate. As his golf 
cart drives up the sidewalk, 
two young men are sauntering 
by with a case of Labatt Blue 
before they appear to realize who 
they’re carrying it past.

As they motor toward the 

Crisler Center parking lots, 
Manuel, who says he has not yet 
eaten since 5:45 a.m., takes a bite 
of a nutrition bar that he thinks 
is “kale or something.” He hands 
it back to Hall, who declares it 
has no taste. Manuel says it’s 
good with iced coffee. “Hint of 
cardboard,” he says.

As the golf cart moves through 

crowds, Manuel says the cart 
needs a Dukes of Hazzard horn.

Manuel’s next tailgate is on the 

roof of the Player Development 
Center, where Manuel gets to 
chat briefly with point guard 
Derrick Walton Jr. and men’s 
basketball coach John Beilein. 
Nearly all of his remaining time 
there is spent meeting people 
whom it’s his job to meet.

This is where it’s most clear. 

The PDC roof has a beautiful 
view of campus, a perfect setting 
to just sit down and soak in how 
good it must feel to be athletic 
director at his alma mater. But 
Manuel just doesn’t have time 
to bask. Soon, he has to be on 
the field, where two men named 
Michael and Derek will also be.

Then, right before noon, he 

will watch the team run out of 
the tunnel, and maybe he’ll think 
back to his first time doing the 
same nearly 30 years ago. But 
there’s one thing he is sure of.

“I’m not gonna throw up like I 

used to as a player.”

Bultman can be reached at 

bultmanm@umich.edu and 

on Twitter @m_bultman.

2B — September 6, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsTuesday

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Warde Manuel may have a glamorous job title, but his first game day as Michigan’s athletic director was not about leisure.

A morning with Warde Manuel

SPORTSTUESDAY COLUMN

Michigan defense stifles Hawaii

By JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

Before the Michigan football 

team’s season opener against 
Hawaii on Saturday, Channing 
Stribling asked Jourdan Lewis if 
he was OK, and Lewis said yes.

But Lewis had been battling 

an injury in practice leading up 
to the game, and Michigan coach 
Jim Harbaugh wanted to make 
sure he didn’t rush him back. So 
Harbaugh sat his All-American 
cornerback as a precaution, and 
his defense still delivered an 

electric performance.

“We made sure this season,” 

said senior defensive back Chan-
ning Stribling, “that even though 
somebody goes down, we gotta 
make sure that we keep it going.”

Last year, the Wolverines 

were dominant in several games, 
but most of them came when the 
defense was at full strength and 
playing its best football of the 
season. When defensive tackle 
Ryan Glasgow injured his pec-
toral Nov. 7, and other injuries 
such as defensive end Mario Oje-
mudia’s Achilles began to take 

their toll, the unit faded.

Not Saturday. Despite not 

learning of Lewis’ absence until 
just before game time and not 
practicing without him all week, 
Michigan stifled Hawaii for the 
duration of the afternoon.

The 
Wolverines 
allowed 

just 232 total yards, forced six 
punts and made four sacks. They 
returned two interceptions for 
touchdowns for the first time 
since the 1999 Citrus Bowl.

As it did last year, the defense’s 

pressure best showed in its effect 
on the opposing offense. In the 
first half especially, the Rain-
bow Warriors rushed throws, 
struggled with blocks and faced 
jarring hits. Michigan kicked 
off to start the game and didn’t 
allow Hawaii so much as a posi-
tive play until its third series, a 
first down until its seventh or a 
point until its 10th.

“(Defensive 

coordinator 
Don 
Brown) 

talked to the 
D-line 
(and) 

said, 
‘We’re 

gonna bring a 
lot of pressure 
early, 
making 

sure that this 
quarterback 
is rattled,’ and he got rattled,” 
Stribling said. “Just kept it going 
for the whole game.”

But before long, the defense 

suffered 
even 
more 
attri-

tion. Senior end Taco Charl-
ton and redshirt sophomore 
tackle Bryan Mone, two start-
ing linemen, each went down 
in the second quarter and did 
not return. Reserve defensive 
tackle Maurice Hurst sat out 
the game for the same reason 
Lewis did.

Still, the Wolverines managed 

to rotate eight defensive line-
men with their first team. Still, 
the secondary locked down on 
Hawaii’s passing game.

“Watching our defense go 

through the first half and even 
into the third quarter, there 
wasn’t a mistake made,” Har-
baugh said. “There wasn’t an 
alignment mistake made. … It 

was very impressive. Everybody 
knew exactly what they were 
doing.”

Hawaii — which lost to Cali-

fornia in Sydney last weekend 
and then traveled halfway across 
the world to Ann Arbor with a 
stop at home in between — found 
no relief.

A Michigan interception gave 

the Rainbow Warriors good field 
position, and they moved back-
ward. A long ensuing drive gave 
them some rest, and they went 
three-and-out again. Mone and 
Charlton left the game, and the 
Wolverines had replacements 
for them. Then came the second 
string, and Michigan just kept 
firing fresh bullets from the side-
line. And so on, and so on.

“The D-line’s gonna do their 

job, the linebackers are gonna 
do their job and in the back end 
… we make their job better, and 

then 
they 

make our job 
better,” Strib-
ling said. “So 
a lot of pres-
sure 
equals 

a 
lot 
more 

turnovers; 
a 

lot more turn-
overs equal a 
lot more pres-

sure.”

Stribling had one of the pick-

sixes, atoning for a missed inter-
ception earlier and recovering 
from another that was called 
back for a penalty elsewhere.

Even without Lewis, the Wol-

verines started Stribling and 
three other seniors (Delano Hill, 
Dymonte Thomas and Jeremy 
Clark) in the secondary. Lewis’ 
return will give them a fifth.

And 
Harbaugh 
expects 

the All-American back at full 
strength next week, when he can 
provide one thing Stribling said 
Michigan lacked.

“I think what was missing 

was the trash talk,” Stribling 
said with a smirk. “That was 
missing. (Clark) kind of made up 
for it, but when (Lewis) makes a 
play, you hear him.”

The All-American not com-

pletely replaceable? Go figure.

FOOTBALL

Evans stars for ‘M’

By MAX BULTMAN

Managing Sports Editor

Chris Evans doesn’t like wear-

ing his contacts.

The freshman running back 

only sheds his glasses in games 
because once, in high school, they 
flew out of his helmet when he 
took a hit. He wouldn’t need the 
contacts at all if he weren’t far-
sighted, which is funny because 
on Saturday, Evans was the one 
who must have seemed like a blur 
up close.

Evans ran for 112 yards in 

Michigan’s 63-3 win over Hawaii, 
the most in school history for a 
true freshman running back mak-
ing his debut. All through train-
ing camp, teammates and coaches 
raved about Evans and his ability 
to make plays in space, and Michi-
gan coach Jim Harbaugh said the 
team plans to use Evans in a vari-
ety of ways, including returns and 
as a receiver. Against the Rain-
bow Warriors, it wasn’t hard to 
see why.

“He really can do everything 

you’d want a back to do,” Har-
baugh said. “He blocks. He runs 
the ball between the tackles. He 
can run on the edge. He can catch 
the ball out of the backfield. He’s 
a good contributor on special 
teams as well. There’s a lot of 
ways he’ll be used. He’s a special 
player.”

Evans said he knew he would 

get the ball in the Wolverines’ 
season opener. He just didn’t 
know he would get it quite so 
much. His first carry came on the 
Wolverines’ third drive — though 
it was functionally their second, 
since Wilton Speight threw an 
interception on their first — and 
he took it for seven yards. Then 
Speight gave him the ball again. 
And then again.

By halftime, he already had 

seven carries — the most of any 
Michigan ball carrier — and his 
seventh was his most impressive. 
With the Wolverines leading 28-0 
with just over six minutes left in 
the first half, Evans took a toss 
going left, stiff-armed one tackler, 
shook off another, and dove to the 
pylon for his first college touch-
down.

“It was just crazy,” Evans said. 

“I’ve seen the big house roar, but 
I’ve never seen it roar for me.”

On his next and final carry, he 

needed no such frills. He went 
straight up the middle, untouched, 
for a 43-yard touchdown. There 
wasn’t ever a question of whether 
he was fast — Evans was a star 
hurdler at Ben Davis (Ind.) High 
School — but on this play he just 
shot through the hole. By the time 
he hit the line of scrimmage, three 
Rainbow Warriors appeared to 
have a shot at Evans, and a fourth 
soon threw off a block to join 
them. It just didn’t matter.

Evans split them down the 

middle, leaving one defender 
flat on his stomach after col-
liding with an official and the 
other three hopelessly chasing 
him.

All of this was from a player 

who, when he arrived, felt rela-
tively unknown. Evans didn’t 
carry the hype that Rashan Gary 
or Brandon Peters did, and he 
said he wondered, when he first 
arrived, if he belonged at Michi-
gan.

“After two days of training 

camp, we all knew who Chris 
Evans was,” Speight said.

Now, so does the Michigan 

fan base. And while the Hawaii 
rush defense is far from a reli-
able measuring stick, don’t expect 
Evans to turn shy when stronger 
defenses 
present 
themselves. 

When Michael Jordan spoke to 
the team last night, Evans was the 
first Wolverine to speak up and 
ask Jordan a question about his 
famous “flu game.” 

It says something that the 

freshman didn’t shy away from 
breaking the ice with an all-time 
great athlete. And that confidence 
extended to the football field 
against Hawaii.

“In high school, I was kind of 

like, ‘Oh, I hope he blocks him, 
I hope he blocks him,’ ” Evans 
recalled. “But out there today, I 
was like, ‘All right, I know he’s 
going to block him, I know he’s 
going to block him,’ so it’s really 
on me. It’s really on me to do it 
because I know everything’s 
going to be perfect.”

Saturday, it was close.

FOOTBALL

“When (Lewis) 
makes a play, 
you hear him.”

MAX
BULTMAN

