Sherrone Moore, head coach of the University of Michigan, stands next to Warde Manuel, Michigan's director of athletics, during a press conference inside the Junge Family Champions Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.

Sherrone Moore isn’t the only person in Michigan’s athletic department who should be out of a job.

The Moore allegations – an "inappropriate relationship" with a staffer – are seedy enough. But the Michigan athletic department has long been a cesspool, and that’s squarely on athletic director Warde Manuel.

There was the basketball coach who smacked an opposing assistant in the face. Not to be confused with that same coach’s altercation with someone on his own staff. There was the toxic and misogynistic atmosphere in the hockey program. There was the gymnastics coach fired after police found him engaged in sexual activity with a student in a car. There was football’s sign-stealing scandal. The recruiting violations uncovered during the sign-stealing scandal.

The failure to monitor. The laundry list of staffers who’ve been arrested or sanctioned by the NCAA.

And these are just the things we know about!

“This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy,” Manuel said in a statement Wednesday announcing Moore’s dismissal, “and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”

Zero tolerance? Anything goes at Michigan, until you're caught

Since when? Manuel has been running a department where anything goes, no sin too big to paper over or forgive. Unless the Michigan regents enjoy their school being the perpetual source of national embarrassment, Manuel has to go, too.

Whether Manuel had direct knowledge of or involvement in any of these scandals is irrelevant. He hired Moore despite all his baggage. He hired Juwan Howard and then stood by his basketball coach despite knowing the men’s basketball program was a ticking time bomb. He hired hockey coach Mel Pearson.

Manuel created an atmosphere in Michigan’s department where the big names and underlings alike saw rules as mere suggestions and the sole guiding principle was "by any means necessary." This is Manuel’s athletic department. Everything that occurs in it, the good, the bad and the criminal, is a reflection of his leadership.

(Manuel also hired Kevin Ollie when he was the AD at UConn, for what it’s worth, and we all know how well that turned out.)

This 'Michigan man' wins, but keeps damaging the university's reputation

Manuel is a “Michigan man,” a defensive tackle under the legendary Bo Schembechler, and the Michigan regents might be reluctant to throw one of their own under the bus. Especially one who’s overseen as much success as Manuel has.

In addition to football’s national title in 2023, the women’s gymnastics team were NCAA champions in 2021 while John Beilein took the Wolverines to the men’s basketball title game in 2018.

But that success has come at what cost to Michigan’s reputation?

Michigan prides itself on being one of the country’s elite academic institutions, and its athletic programs are meant to reflect that higher-minded pursuit. The Wolverines do not chase fads or fashion, their block M and football’s winged helmets visible testaments to their time-honored traditions and values. They have produced champions and role models, not embarrassments and cringe-worthy memories.

They are supposed to be, in Michigan’s mind, the country’s best, setting a standard both on the field of play and off.

Yet Moore’s firing, and the circumstances around it, cement Michigan’s status as just another one of the renegades. A school with no moral compass or code of values. A school that prizes wins above else and thinks playing by the rules is for suckers.

This is Manuel’s legacy at Michigan, even more than those national titles and All-Americans.

Yes, Moore is the one who did wrong. Same as all those others at Michigan who cut corners and thought rules didn’t apply to them. But Manuel allowed it to happen. He is just as much to blame for Michigan's shame.

(This story has been updated with additional information)

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AD Warde Manuel created Michigan's lawless environment. He should go

Reporting by Nancy Armour, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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