Rapid Reactions: Juwan Howard to return to head coaching role
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard will return to his head coaching role today on Saturday for the first time this season.
Warde Manuel announced the news in a Friday evening statement along with the fact that “nothing was found to warrant disciplinary action for anyone involved” from the practice incident last week.
Manuel’s full statement is below:
“Juwan Howard will return to the Michigan bench Saturday (Dec. 16) against Eastern Michigan in his total capacity as head coach. Coach Howard, his doctors and our medical experts remain aligned in taking this next step as he recovers from a September heart procedure.
“We greatly appreciate associate head coach Phil Martelli’s guidance of our program on an interim basis to start the season. I want to personally thank Phil for what he has done in the past few months to lead the program. We will continue to benefit from his wisdom moving forward.
“The return of our usual coaching structure comes after a review of an incident involving several individuals during a team practice last week. Based on a thorough internal review, nothing was found to warrant disciplinary action for anyone involved. As such, we will move forward with a focus on our team and our season.”
Howard underwent heart surgery to address an aortic aneurysm and repair his aortic valve on September 15th. He returned to the program as an “observer” during Michigan’s games at the Battle 4 Atlantis and then served as an assistant coach in games against Oregon, Indiana, and Iowa.
Now he’s fully cleared to take the seat at the end of the bench, replacing acting head coach Phil Martelli.
Here are some quick thoughts on Howard’s return, the incident, Manuel’s statement, and more.
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