Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel has eliminated 21 department positions to slow the bleeding from what he projects will be a financial gut punch of $100 million, roughly half of the athletic department’s normal budget, because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the Big Ten’s suspension of fall sports, including football, the cash cow of the athletic department, Manuel was forced to make the job cuts, and that’s on top of a hiring freeze earlier this summer that has resulted in 15 unfilled positions. Manuel, football coach Jim Harbaugh and basketball coach Juwan Howard already have taken 10% cuts and there have been salary reductions ranging between 5 and 10% in the athletic department.