Michigan Director of Athletics Warde Manuel was faced with the biggest challenge of his tenure in Ann Arbor.

Manuel was tasked with finding a replacement for John Beilein who left Michigan for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beilein’s departure came at an odd time in the college basketball calendar, but Manuel found his guy anyway in Juwan Howard.

Talking with Jon Jansen on the “In The Trenches” podcast, Manuel detailed the process that led him to hire Howard as the next head coach.

“I’m not going to lament and whine about the timing of it because I think the outcome for us was a great outcome,” Manuel said on the podcast. “I am biased and I think in Juwan, we have a terrific coach and a terrific person. Obviously, those that saw the press conference understand his love of this place, his passion, how deep it is. I’m so happy with the outcome.”

In meeting with Howard during the interview process, Manuel saw exactly the type of person he wanted to hire to replace Beilein.

“I just thought he was a genuine person,” Manuel said. “Just a down-to-earth, very smart [person]. Had really educated himself about the college game. He knew about me. As he said at the press conference, he did his homework on me … He just really had been prepared in a thorough manner. What struck me was how genuine and how humble he was as a person. He didn’t walk in wearing either one of his championship rings.”

Instead of talking about himself or his personal statistics, Howard instead talked about the team and what they were able to accomplish as a group. Manuel said that’s the type of thing he was looking for.

In addition to meeting with Howard, Manuel called Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra to ask him about Howard and what type of coach he was.

“Erick in particular was really effusive about Juwan’s growth and development as a coach in the X’s and O’s, how impressed he was at his work ethic around that and his desire to learn both sides of the ball,” Manuel said. “He told me he relied on [Juwan] heavily for the defensive scheme. He said he was also impressed by Juwan’s understanding of the offensive side of the ball.”

Spoelstra told Manuel that he had high expectations for all his assistants and Howard had developed into one of the top people on his staff.

While Howard became one of Spoelstra’s top assistants, he does not have any collegiate experience. Manuel said that he would put his top compliance person in close contact with Howard and make sure he knows all the new rules.

“I’m going to be there to talk to him, to answer questions he has,” Manuel said. “He can rely on me … We’re going to make sure we give him everything he needs to be successful.”

While Manuel’s job hiring a new men’s basketball coach is done, his work in finding new coaches for U-M is not over.

“I go from interviewing basketball coaches to later on, I’m going to be interviewing one of our applicants for our men’s golf team,” Manuel said. “You go from replacing one coach to a process which is in its third or fourth week. It’s not as quick of a process.”

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