Michigan head coach Juwan Howard was involved in an altercation with Jon Sanderson, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, at a Wolverines practice this season, per Brendan Quinn of The Athletic.
Regarding various reports of Juwan Howard?s status at Michigan …. pic.twitter.com/ZeiuZDKgMU
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) December 11, 2023
Quinn’s report also stated that Howard remains the team’s head coach. It’s now his third altercation since becoming the head coach at Michigan. Howard charged at Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon, yelling, “I’ll f***ing kill you” at the 2021 Big Ten Tournament. He also struck Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft after a game in February of 2022. He has been under a zero-tolerance policy with the program since the Wisconsin incident.
The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman provided more detail on Wednesday, stating that Howard’s son Jace, a junior on the team, “got into it” with a team trainer. Sanderson overheard the interaction and was “pissed off” and said, “That’s why the f***ing culture is the way it is around here.” Howard then approached Sanderson and got into a “chest-to-chest, nose-to-nose” altercation before requiring to be separated.
Howard remains the team’s head coach and was transitioning back into the head coaching role after undergoing open-heart surgery two months ago. He was on the team’s bench for the first time in Sunday’s victory over Iowa while assistant coach Phil Martelli remained the acting head coach.
This all comes amid a cheating scandal for Michigan’s football program, which claimed the top seed in the College Football Playoff and will compete in the semifinal against Alabama on New Year’s Day.
More details and a decision on Howard’s future are expected to emerge in the coming days. With his history of unruly conduct with the program, all options regarding his future in Ann Arbor will likely be on the table.
