Lloyd Carr to Retire

[MWM]

It's the right time, but I have a lot of respect for Looyd Carr. He was great for college football and I hope his legacy gets the respect it deserves.

Let the speculation begin on who replaces him. The obvious choice is Les Miles, but I don't think Michigan will go after him. His temperament doesn't mesh well with the Michigan culture. Plus, he's psychotic. Michigan fans should want no part of this guy.

Some might say he shouldn't want the job, but there's a few reasons why he would beyond his attachment to the University. First, he's not very popular down there in Baton Rouge. Many of the fans give Pelini more credit than Miles and they say he's just riding the coat tails of Saban's recruits. They also think he's lost too many game they should have won. Not saying I agree, just that he's not as beloved there as one would think given his success.

Second, I'm not sure how well he's recruited, but afte this year, Saban's recruits will be gone and the south is tough to recruit. Recruiting in the midwest with Michigan's name I would think would be a little easier.

Another obvious choice would be Jim Harbaugh. The only problem is some might wonder if he's ready for the big time yet. He hasn't had the success yet you could command from a coach for Michigan. I think he's a long shot.

They might consider going after Bob Stoops. Some might ask why he would leave OU. First, Michigan has got to be one of the most appealing college coaching jobs out there. Stoops grew up in Big Ten country in Ohio and he's done about as much as he can do in Oklahoma. He's hit a plateau there and I think he'd be much better suited to contend for National Titles at Michigan. I could be WAY off on his interest, but I think he might just be.

Jeff Tedford from Cal would be a good choice. He's done good work at Cal, but he's always going to play second fiddle to USC and Cal isn't the sports school that Michigan is. He'll never have the resources at Cal that he would at Michigan. The only downside is that he's never shown he knows how to build a defense.

Even Bo Pelini from LSU might be a candidate. He played at Ohio State, and the last time they got a guy with Ohio State ties, he did OK, IIRC. He's defensive minded and Michigan has historically gone after defensive minded coaches.

Heck, Mar D'Antonio might even be considered. I doubt it, but he wouldn't be a bad choice. If this were to happen, Michigan State might become as big a rival as OSU.

Some people have suggested Lloyd Carr, but he might too old at this point. they might be looking for someone who will be around longer. Plus, I've heard Chow is a pretty polarizing individual and has no interest in doing the "non-football" things required of coaches, such as schmoozing alumni, etc... He doesn't like dealing with university beauracrats. That won't go over very wel in Ann Arbor. My understanding is this is why someone with a record like his has never been a head coach.

I've also heard Ron English, but I think they need to go outside. English isn't ready yet, IMO.

Of course, they could go after an NFL coordinator as well.
My money is on Tedford. That's who I think will ultimately get the job.

[MWM]

Oh yeah, here's the article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3116338

It appears that Michigan lost a little more than just the game against Ohio State.

ESPN has learned that Michigan coach Lloyd Carr will hold a 10 a.m. press conference on Monday at which time he is expected to announce his retirement.

Carr led many to believe he would retire after this season when he altered his contract last winter and made sure all of his assistants were given unprecedented, two-year deals in the spring. Speculation has run rampant about 62-year-old coach's future.

"There will be a day to discuss that, and this isn't it," he said Saturday.

With a 14-3 home loss Saturday, Carr became the first coach at Michigan (No. 21 BCS, No. 23 AP) to go 1-7 over a seven-year stretch against No. 7 Ohio State (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten).

Cornerback Morgan Trent said Carr did not address his future before or after the game.

"We'll just have to wait and see like everyone else," Trent said.


Carr's Coaching Career
A look at Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr's coaching resume:

Years Position
1995-2007 Michigan head coach
1987-94 Michigan defensive coordinator*
1980-86 Michigan DB coach
1978-79 Illinois DB coach
1976-77 Eastern Michigan DB coach
* -- Also served as assistant head coach from 1990-94.

Signs have been pointing toward this being the 62-year-old's 13th and final year at the helm for Michigan (8-4, 6-2). Carr altered his contract last December, allowing him to easily make this his final season as coach and still collect deferred compensation. In March, his assistant coaches were given two-year deals to pay them through Feb. 28, 2009, even if they are not coaching at Michigan.

Michigan opened the season ranked fifth in The Associated Press Top 25 but quickly fell out of the national championship discussion. Since becoming head coach in 1995, Carr is 121-40 and 81-23 in the Big Ten. He has won five Big Ten titles, one national title and led the Wolverines to a bowl game every season.

Many others, however, have been talking about his possible successor for months, if not years.

LSU coach Les Miles seems to be at the top of the list because he played for the late Bo Schembechler at Michigan. That is where Miles met his wife, and he was an assistant there under Schembechler.

Even though Miles appears to be in a great situation leading the top-ranked Tigers in a talent-rich area of the country, the school seemed concerned enough about him bolting for Ann Arbor that it put a specific clause in his contract to make it an expensive move.

In the "termination by coach" section of his deal, Michigan is the only other school mentioned. It states that Miles will not seek or accept employment as Michigan's coach. If Miles does leave LSU to coach the Wolverines, he must pay LSU $1.25 million.

[KronoRed]

Brian Kelly from UC should be in the mix.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

Brian Kelly from UC should be in the mix.

Could be, but I would think guys like Tedford would be higher on the list. He wouldn't be a bad choice.

[Chip R]

Nick Saban? Charlie Weis?

Seriously, Bo's not around anymore so they don't have to get a "Michigan Man". I think Harbaugh's burned his bridges since he trashed Michigan right before the season started. Pellini might be a good choice but Nebraska might go after him. Tedford may be a good choice if they keep English around. Perhaps they get someone from Urban Meyer's staff.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by Chip R

Nick Saban? Charlie Weis?

Seriously, Bo's not around anymore so they don't have to get a "Michigan Man". I think Harbaugh's burned his bridges since he trashed Michigan right before the season started. Pellini might be a good choice but Nebraska might go after him. Tedford may be a good choice if they keep English around. Perhaps they get someone from Urban Meyer's staff.

If Pelini is given the choice between Michigan and Nebraska, I think taking the Michigan offer would be a no brainer. That Nebraska program is a mess. Michigan has talent and a guy who's probably going to be a pretty good QB and one of the best RBs out of last year's class. the Michigan job is an appealing one.

[KronoRed]

Originally Posted by MWM

Could be, but I would think guys like Tedford would be higher on the list. He wouldn't be a bad choice.

I'd be a little leery of Tedford, his teams never seem to take that next step.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

I'd be a little leery of Tedford, his teams never seem to take that next step.

True, but the deck is stacked against him. To be able to do what he's done at Cal is impressive. Remember, they have high academic standards, so they can't just recruit anyone. Plus, the best of the home state recruits are going to USC, so he's trying to build a program without the second best recruits from his own back yard.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by MWM

If Pelini is given the choice between Michigan and Nebraska, I think taking the Michigan offer would be a no brainer. That Nebraska program is a mess. Michigan has talent and a guy who's probably going to be a pretty good QB and one of the best RBs out of last year's class. the Michigan job is an appealing one.

Absolutely. But he was at Nebraska for a while and was head coach there for about 5 minutes so they may hold some appeal to him.

[MWM]

This is REALLY out there and I doubt he'd ever leave the warm weather of the south, but what aobut Steve Spurrier? yes, I know it's a HUGE long shot, but I could see why the job would appeal to him. He could do a lot more at Michigan than he'll ever do at South Carolina. He could be BIG-TIME at Michigan, but he'll struggle to recruit at SC.

Even more importantly, I'm not sure Spurrier fits the Michigan culture, but you never know. It's worth a phone call.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by MWM

This is REALLY out there and I doubt he'd ever leave the warm weather of the south, but what aobut Steve Spurrier? yes, I know it's a HUGE long shot, but I could see why the job would appeal to him. He could do a lot more at Michigan than he'll ever do at South Carolina. He could be BIG-TIME at Michigan, but he'll struggle to recruit at SC.

Even more importantly, I'm not sure Spurrier fits the Michigan culture, but you never know. It's worth a phone call.

Not in a thousand years. You can't play golf year round in Ann Arbor. And you talk about teams that don't play defense. Spurrier didn't win anything at Florida till one of the Stoops brothers was coaching his defense.

[KronoRed]

Originally Posted by Chip R

Spurrier didn't win anything at Florida till one of the Stoops brothers was coaching his defense.

Whoa now, that's way off, he had 5 SEC titles before Bob Stoops showed up, in fact in Stoops' 3 years they only won one SEC crown.

But Spurrier isn't going anywhere IMO, he'll either get USC turned around or call it quits, the man is looking old.

[15fan]

Yesterday after the game, I pointed out to my neighbor (who has 2 degrees from Michigan) that Michigan ought to consider John Cooper.

When he was on the sidelines, Michigan almost always won the last game of the regular season.

[GoReds33]

Marvin Lewis?

I am a Michigan fan. I want to get that out of the way. Now that I say that, it's about time. I thought he would do that last year. I hope that they make the right choice... other than Brian Kelly.

[WVRed]

If Michigan would get Rich Rodriguez out of the state, I would be so happy...

Seriously though, assuming he would leave WVU, he would be the perfect fit to return Michigan to prominence and would even give the Buckeyes a run.

The one thing to notice is that Ohio St cannot contain teams that run a spread offense, most noticeably Florida and Illinois. Bring in one of the main innovators and get some of the players in to run it, and I believe Coach Rod would be the best fit in Michigan.

That being said, I don't think he will get past what happened with Bama.