Juwan Howard
Fab Five alum Juwan Howard, who was cut as the University of Michigan basketball coach on March 15, opens up to The Athletic about his health scares, his firing, his attitude toward the school and the February 2022 incident in Madison, Wisc., in which he ended up striking Wisconsin Badger assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the head while going through the post-game handshake line.
“I will always regret how that situation happened, and I will always take full blame for it, because (I) can automatically say, ‘Oh, that wasn’t me,'” the 51-year-old tells The Athletic. “But, yes, it was. I could’ve controlled that and handled that situation better. That’s what I’ll always bang my head about. I had the opportunity to apologize publicly, but I also did so privately to the coaches at Wisconsin. We talked. And we moved on and got past the situation. But I can’t sit here and ask people to forget that that ever happened. I take full ownership of it.”
Asked why he struck Krabbenhoft, Howard says: “I just felt threatened. Someone’s approaching you, they’re saying some words at you, I felt a threat. But look, that’s all it was — just words. He didn’t put his hands on me, I shouldn’t have put my hands on him.”
Howard says he told athletic director Warde Manuel that day: “If you want to fire me or suspend me, you have every right. I apologize.”
Health: Last year, doctors found blood in his lungs and an unruptured aneurysm in his aorta. He went on meds and waited 14 weeks for surgery. “I was scared,” Howard says. “But I never admitted that. I didn’t show it in front of my wife or my family, and I never showed it in front of my staff.” He had surgery on Sept. 15 to address the issues. He multiple complications emerged throughout the season, and he has another surgery set for April 19.
Public Persona: “Folks really don’t know me at all, whatsoever, and part of that is my fault. Could I have been more politically correct like some of these other guys at other programs, done a better job of playing that game? Letting the world into my private life? If that would’ve saved my job, then yeah, I should’ve.”
March 15 Firing: Howard met with the athletic director to talk about improving the team, which ended up 8-24. The director said it was time to move in another direction. “I asked him why,” Howard says. “He said, ‘Well, I don’t trust this will work.’”
The End: “I’m never going to be bitter about the situation and how it ended. I respect that people have jobs to do. Sometimes in this profession, you have to make tough decisions. I’m not saying this was a tough decision, it was probably an easy decision. Who knows? But I’m a Michigan man through and through. … I’m just sad I’m leaving a lot sooner than I expected to.”
You can read the full story in The Athletic, which requires a subscription to read. You can also read it if you have a New York Times subscription.
