3 potential candidates to replace Michigan AD Warde Manuel
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Michigan’s athletic department (almost) officially has a vacancy at the top, with Warde Manuel set to leave the university at the end of the year. The athletic director position at Michigan should be one of the most coveted positions in the country thanks to the school’s large operating budget, pool of boosters and alumni, and history of success in nearly every sport.
Despite the off-field issues that have contributed to Manuel’s departure, whoever replaces him has some big shoes to fill and will be tasked with continuing the Wolverines’ recent run of big success, especially in its highest-revenue sports. The new athletic director will also be tasked with continuing to usher in the era of NIL, conference realignment and major media deals for one of the nation’s most prominent universities.
We’ll take a close look at three candidates for the job, and offer some quick-hitters on a few more names to keep on your radar.
Candice Storey Lee – Vanderbilt AD
My personal favorite candidate for Michigan’s vacancy, Candice Storey Lee has been a pioneer in Nashville as the first female athletic director at Vanderbilt, assuming her role in 2020. She’s also made some big moves leading the athletic program, as she hired head football coach Clark Lea, who’s turned a historically bad program into a legitimate competitor in the SEC. She also hired Mark Byington and Shea Ralph, who engineered quick turnarounds of the men’s and women’s basketball programs, respectively.
Under her leadership, Vanderbilt has become a major player in the NIL space in the SEC and is competitive in all its major sports. Not only that, but her current position at Vanderbilt mirrors Michigan pretty well as a major academic institution. Vanderbilt doesn’t exactly have a small budget when it comes to athletics, but she’d be much more well-resourced at Michigan and would have the chance to do some big things while still working in a major conference.
David Benedict – UConn AD
He’s replaced Warde Manuel once, so why not do it again? David Benedict has been the athletic director at UConn since Manuel left in 2016. Since then, he’s overseen what’s been the best basketball school in the country on both the men’s and women’s sides, with four national titles between the two programs during his tenure. In perhaps his biggest move, Benedict hired Danny Hurley as the men’s head coach and helped retain his services after hot pursuits from the Los Angeles Lakers and Kentucky in 2024.
Additionally, he’s had some success on the football side by hiring Jim Mora in 2022, who helped lead the Huskies to back-to-back nine-win seasons. After Mora left for Colorado State this offseason, he was able to land Jason Candle from Toledo. And while Benedict has only been an athletic director at UConn, he does have experience in the Big Ten and SEC, holding lesser roles at Minnesota and Auburn in the past.
Martin Jarmond – UCLA AD
Michigan has historically hired athletic directors with previous ties to the university — “Michigan men,” so to speak. Let’s talk about someone who is the exact opposite in Martin Jarmond, who has previous experience as an assistant athletic director at Michigan State and Ohio State.
Jarmond is just 46 years old but has had quite the rise in the world of athletics administration. He got his first role as an athletic director in 2017 at Boston College, but only stayed until 2020 when he took the same job at UCLA. During his time, the Bruins’ programs have won five national titles and 18 conference championships. UCLA isn’t exactly a major player in the NIL space, and its men’s basketball and football programs haven’t been big successes in the Big Ten yet, but he’s made some big moves in his current role, like moving into the Big Ten and negotiating massive deals with Nike and JMI Sports.
Others to Watch
Jeramiah Dickey – Boise State AD: Dickey has been Boise State’s athletic director since 2021 and has been rather successful during his time. He was the winner of the NACDA and Sports Business Journal’s AD of the Year awards in 2025, and promoted Spencer Danielson to be the football team’s head coach before he got the Broncos to the College Football Playoff in 2024. He’d be afforded a massive budget upgrade at Michigan.
Desiree Reed-Francois – Arizona AD: She’s only held her current position since 2024, but has previous stops as the athletic director at Missouri and UNLV. She walked into a pretty difficult position at Arizona, an athletic department that faced a $177 million deficit when she was hired, but fundraising has been a big skill of hers in the past.
Katie Fraumann – Former Michigan Senior Associate AD: Fraumann has served as an administrator at DePaul University since 2023, but previously held several positions at Michigan since 2005, including 10 years in the athletic department. Of anyone to consider for the job, she has the strongest ties to the university and alumni base, but is pretty thin on experience at the highest level of leading an athletic department.
Dan Bartholomae – Western Michigan AD: Bartholomae was hired as Western Michigan’s AD in 2022. He’s built some connections in the state during his time in charge and oversaw a national championship in men’s ice hockey just last year. His programs have reeled in a whopping 37 conference championships in his time, showing commitment across the whole department.
Jonathan Botros – Texas Tech Deputy AD: Probably an unrealistic option, and he also has the Brenden Sorsby debacle on his resume, but Botros is the second-in-command in Texas Tech’s athletic department. He is the supervisor for the football and men’s basketball programs, and both have been massively successful as of late. Furthermore, few schools have skyrocketed in the NIL era like Texas Tech.
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