While initial reports indicated that Glenn “Shemy” Schembechler resigned from the Michigan football team just three days after he was officially hired, records obtained by The Michigan Daily show he was in the hiring process for far longer.
According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Michigan Athletics started the hiring process as early as Feb. 24 — more than 12 weeks before Schembechler’s resignation. He resigned May 20 due to public outcry regarding his racist social media interactions.
The morning of Feb. 24, Michigan Athletics staff exchanged emails preparing a document that Schembechler had accepted the assistant director of recruiting position. The document listed his start date as March 1, 2023, with a base salary of $95,000. Whether this email was sent to Schembechler cannot be confirmed through available records.
Regardless of whether the email was sent, Schembechler signed an offer letter on March 21, accepting his position as assistant director of recruiting — this time with an elevated $120,000 base salary. Athletics director Warde Manuel sent the document through email, with multiple staffers and Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh copied on the message. It also outlined Schembechler’s work term as March 15, 2023 to Feb. 29, 2024.
“I am offering you the following terms to your appointment as Assistant Director of Recruiting at the University of Michigan,” the email reads. “Your employment is contingent upon the successful completion of the University’s pre-employment requirements.”
Those pre-employment requirements included passing a background check, which Schembechler apparently did. The background report allegedly did not show Schembechler’s racist social media presence. That included Twitter likes of content that praised Jim Crow laws as a benefit for Black people. A simple check of his Twitter account and likes would have revealed this, as numerous social media users did so almost immediately upon public announcement of Schembechler’s hiring.
After passing the background check, Schembechler received onboarding documents to complete the hiring process. These officially labeled his start date May 16, 2023. He filled out some forms far earlier, however, including an I-9 form filed March 6.
Schembechler resigned May 20, 2023, through a text message to executive associate athletics director Doug Gnodtke. A statement from Manuel and comments by Harbaugh confirm Schembechler’s resignation was a result of public backlash about his racist social media use.
But Schembechler wasn’t the only one to lose a job. In a June 1 interview during a recruiting camp at Wayne State University, Harbaugh said that Michigan also changed the HR firm it uses to conduct background checks.
“I read the report myself,” Harbaugh said. “We have a company that vets that — social media — and they came back and (cleared him). We’ve got a new company doing that (now), but they’ve got to be better. I’ll take responsibility for that. If somebody can find that in a day, then we have to be better ourselves.”
Michigan football communications director Dave Ablauf confirmed to The Daily that Michigan is using a new firm to vet hiring candidates because of the firestorm that Schembechler’s hiring caused.
“I can confirm that our athletic department is changing the vendor that handles our HR background checks following the Schembechler resignation,” Ablauf wrote via text. “We currently utilize two background checks for vetting athletic department staff but are re-evaluating that process moving forward.”
Ablauf declined to identify either the former or current vendors Michigan Athletics uses to conduct background checks. However, the Feb. 24 email lists HireRight as Michigan’s HR vendor. HireRight did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
This controversy is just the latest public relations issue to face Michigan Athletics and its football coaching staff. In January, Harbaugh and Michigan football came under NCAA investigation for multiple alleged recruiting violations. And later that month, Michigan fired former co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss for committing computer access crimes.
Initially, it seemed that Michigan had acted swiftly to move on from Schembechler — the image being that he resigned only a few days after a May hiring. In reality, Michigan had the opportunity to vet him months sooner and failed to adequately do so.
Connor Earegood can be reached at earegood@umich.edu, or on Twitter @ConnorEaregood.