Ohio State football: Michigan's AD receiving a prestigious award is a joke, right?

When I saw the email, I did a double-take. I thought, “This has to be some sort of joke.” When I took a closer look at the email from the National Football Foundation announcing they are giving an award to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, I discovered it was not a joke.

At the NFF awards dinner in December, Manuel will receive the John F. Toner Award, which recognizes athletic directors “who have demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics, particularly college football.”

While the press release blathers on about Manuel and how deserving he is of this prestigious award, it leaves out a few things. It doesn’t address Manuel retaining a basketball coach who physically assaulted an opposing coach. Juwan Howard was suspended for the final five games of the 2022 regular season by the Big Ten, not Manuel or the university. When Howard was let go by the school in March of this year, it had nothing to do with his conduct- he simply didn’t win enough games.

It isn’t hard to guess what else is left out of the NFF’s announcement. When the NCAA said they caught the football program running an extensive cheating operation and Manuel was shown some of the evidence, did he fire Jim Harbaugh immediately?

No, he sent a scathing letter to the NCAA screaming how unfairly the investigation was treating the university. Harbaugh was suspended for a few games, but as we know it wasn’t done by Manuel. At no time did Manuel consider firing the coach who oversaw the worst on-field cheating scandal in the history of college football. Yeah, this is someone who really deserves an award.

The National Football Foundation was started in 1947 by General Douglas MacArthur, Army coaching legend Red Blaik, and all-time great sportswriter Grantland Rice. The NFF sets the criteria and oversees the selection process for the College Football Hall of Fame.

They say they are a non-profit organization “that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship, and academic achievement in young people.” So, they choose to hold up a guy like Manuel as a shining example for these young people.

I can’t condemn their choice to honor Manuel strongly enough. I have lost all respect for the National Football Foundation for giving an award to someone with a track record of ignoring egregious offenses committed by his coaches.