Former Michigan assistant coach Chris Partridge is suing the University of Michigan, its board of trustees, and athletic director Warde Manuel.
Partridge was fired in relation to the Connor Stalions’ advanced scouting investigation, although the NCAA later cleared Partridge of any wrongdoing. While this damaged Patridge’s reputation despite not doing anything wrong, he was still able to bounce back and win a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks this season as their defensive run game coordinator.
Partridge never destroyed evidence as some outlandish reports suggested, nor did he instruct a player in how to speak to the NCAA — all he did was tell a player to get a lawyer and be honest with the NCAA. This interaction wasn’t deemed nefarious by the NCAA.
Per ESPN’s Dan Wetzel, the lawsuit alleges that at the end of an NCAA hearing in June of 2025, Manuel shook Patridge’s hand and “told him he was sorry Partridge had to go through this.” The lawsuit, per Aaron McMann of MLive, even says that Manuel testified that because of pressure during the NCAA investigation, “he made hasty decisions.”
Partridge’s firing coincided with Michigan seeking an injunction in court against the Big Ten suspending Jim Harbaugh for three games.
Partridge claims Big Ten commissioner Petitti told Michigan that revealing the new information would likely lead to the court denying Michigan’s injunction. Despite Partridge saying Petitti’s claims were false and based on second-hand information, Manuel appears to have caved under pressure from the Big Ten and Petitti.
The complaint says “Manuel offered to fire Partridge and to dismiss Michigan and Harbaugh’s legal claims against the Big Ten and Petitti.” Per that lawsuit, “in exchange, Petitti agreed not to publicly disclose the sensationalized information he had shared with Manuel, to issue a positive public statement about the parties resolving their dispute, and to do nothing further regarding the NCAA’s ‘sign-stealing’ investigation.”
Who knows how the NCAA investigation would have unfolded if Manuel hadn’t fired Partridge and if Michigan and Manuel had decided to head to court for the injunction instead of canceling the hearing? To this day, the NCAA has no evidence that Harbaugh instructed or had knowledge of any wrongdoing.
The decision to let Harbaugh’s suspension happen could have had grave consequences for Michigan, which had narrow wins against Penn State, Maryland, and Ohio State during that stretch. All the more shocking is the fact that Manuel and Michigan didn’t fight harder for a coach and team with a chance at a national title. Somehow, Michigan defied the odds, went 15-0, and won the national championship. Unfortunately, Partridge was fired by then and wasn’t part of the silver lining that was the championship.
Partridge’s firing and Michigan dropping the injunction against the Big Ten look like no more than a bad deal on the part of Manuel and others in charge. They backed down when they needed to stick their necks out. And if Partridge’s allegations prove to be true, it shows another example of poor leadership and bad decision-making by Warde Manuel. It seems like Manuel has acknowledged his errors to Partridge, which seems like an important tidbit in this lawsuit.
