It’s official. Lloyd Carr is no longer Michigan’s head coach. No real surprise here considering I said it from the beginning of the season. Carr had an interesting tenor at UM, to say the least. There was plenty of up’s and down’s.
As a life long Michigan fan (all 25 years of it), Carr is the coach of my generation. I remember Bo walking the sidelines but just barely and Gary Moller’s reign was over quicker than Gigli going to DVD. I love Carr and think is a great coach but there’s no question it was time for him to step down. He probably should have done it last year. The game has passed him by.
All Michigan fans will remember something different about Carr. Everyone will remember his first game against Ohio State when Tshimanga Biakabutuka ran for 313 yards. They’ll remember him getting the Gatorade bath as the final seconds ran of the clock in the Rose Bowl after the 1997 season which gave them the national championship. They remember his 5-1 record against John Copper and his 1-6record against Jim Tressel.
What I’ll remember is his priceless halftime interviews with sideline reporters. I can’t think of a worse task for a sideline reporter (and there are tons of them) than having to interview Carr at halftime when his team losing. My favorite came at halftime of the 2003 OSU-UM game. ABC’s Todd Harris had the task of asking Carr why he didn’t try to move the ball down field with two timeouts. Here’s what happened.
Harris: ”Well coach I know you get second guessed all week long, how come you did go with anything when you have two timeouts left in the half?
Carr: “Why would you ask a dumb question like that?”
Harris: “Well, I’m just curious with 44 seconds left with a chance to make a move down the field and possibly get a field goal.”
Carr: [stares for a second then walks away, appearing to smile and shake his head, disappointed in the young man or disgusted or both]
Harris: “All right Keith [Jackson], back to you. I guess coach didn’t want to answer that.”
In the Rose Bowl that year, Harris again had to interview Carr at halftime. After Harris’s first question, Carr said something like “It’s nice to see you again,” with a sly smile on his face. Come on. That’s good stuff.
Now the University of Michigan has to replace the man who has been in charge for 13 years. If Carr would have retired last year, Michigan could have gone after, and probably got, Mark Dantonio. The former Cincinnati coach and current Michigan State coach. He would have been perfect. I don’t think he is going to leave MSU after one season though, especially not after the way he trashed Michigan after the game this year. Dantonio was a former assistant and current good friend of Tressel. That could have brought a major spark back to the OSU-UM game. You know Dantonio would have had extra motivation to beat his mentor. Sounds a lot like Bo and Woody doesn’t?
Alas, it won’t happen. That means Les Miles will be the top choice to come in. Miles is a Michigan Man, having played and coached there and his wife is from Michigan too. He even has a clause in his LSU contract saying if he leaves for Michigan he owes the school $1.25 million. It’s the lonely school listed. Miles would be a great coach and it makes sense for him to come here, but I don’t see it happening. He won’t want even think about it after the season and Michigan can’t wait that long for a coach.
Other names have been Kirk Ferentz, Bobby Petrino and Jon Gruden. Of those, Petrino would be my choice. He was great at the college game, not so much at the NFL. He would bring a new philosophy to the Michigan football family. A philosophy that isn’t so predictable.
That’s what Michigan needs. They need someone outside of the Michigan family. (At least Ron English is no longer being mentioned) Someone who has new ideas. The college football world is changing and Michigan needs to keep up. They’ll always be good since they are Michigan and people will want to play there, but they need to be great again. They need to embrace the spread. Possibly get an athletic quarterback. If that’s what has been beating you, don’t you think you should at least look into it. What’s that saying, if you can’t beat them, join them. Maybe Michigan should do something like that instead of having John Navarre reincarnated year after year.
The last time Michigan went “outside the family” they brought in this guy name Glenn Schemblecher, or Bo. That worked out pretty well. Another UC coach, Brian Kelly, is a possibility. A young, energetic guy is the way to go. It work with Woody. It worked with Bo. It worked with Tressel. Michigan needs it to work for them.
I’m going to miss Carr. (Not for his inability to beat Ohio State, that’s the only reason I’m not sad to see him go) He may be remember as the guy who couldn’t beat Tressel but hopefully he’ll be remember for a lot more than that. Hopefully he’ll be remember for his national title, his five Big Ten titles and his 121 wins. And, of course, his awesome halftime interviews.
I am a die hard Buckeye fan (Not an ignorant one as you claim all Buckeye fans are). I am very sad to see Lloyd Carr go as he has provided me with numerous days of joy on the third Saturday in November over the past seven years. I am sad that we will no longer have Lloyd to kick around anymore. I will also miss his insane temper tantrums that he would have on the sidelines about once a quarter arguing a call that most of the time was the right call, but he always felt the need to make an ass of himself on the sideline. Michigan fans should be thrilled to get him out of there. As you said, the game has passed him by and Michigan has fallen off from being a national power. I hope for the sake of the rivalry they hire someone that will get people excited about the rivalry again. It is not good for the rivalry when one team (Ohio State) has clearly risen above the other (Michigan). I remember the John Cooper years so I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to smack talk. I had to put up with a lot. But I also know that it can turn around with the hiring of a new coach. So, I guess good luck in finding a coach to measure up to The Vest. For the rivalry’s sake.
Les Miles is NOT a good coach. He’s too much of a “riverboat gambler” for the old people from UM.
Brian Kelly is a sexy option. One thing is for sure, the offense wouldn’t suck with Kelly.
Carr is a pompous ass. I remember that halftime interview, he should be ashamed for treating Harris like that.
Carr is a great human being and an excellent coach. Unfortunately, he stayed too long, as the game has passed him by. Michigan needs a non-Michigan man to come in and modernize the football philosophy, yet one who will maintain the high Michigan standards. Those who trash Carr do so either because they are anti-Michigan, or, even worse, because they are completely and totally ignorant of the kind of person Lloyd Carr is. I want Michigan to win; but I also want them to win with a man who possesses the identical moral fiber and passion for the game that is so clearly demonstrated by Lloyd Carr.
And that right there is why The Mayor won his election with 73 percent of the votes. Well, said Mayor.
How about the halftime interview earlier this year? After the 3rd game at home in a row, the female reporter (forget who it was) comes up to talk to Carr and Carr replies, “Good god, have you moved here?”
On what basis can anyone conclude that Mark Dantonio would have accepted the Michigan job? If anything, his disdain for Michigan and the arrogance of their football program (Lloyd Carr was a nice man but out of control) and fans was already present before he even became head coach at Michigan State. “Pride comes before the fall” did not come out of a vacuum.
Besides, Dantonio’s not a “Michigan Man”, that mythological character who, by his association with the school in Ann Arbor, renders himself somehow superior and therefore fit to be considered for the job. If you think that I’m making this stuff up, you a. are not from the state of Michigan, b. are ill informed, or c. a University of Michigan fan (or possibly all 3).
In my current job, I have coworkers who attended Yale, Harvard (law), Princeton, etc. None is anywhere near as insufferable as any Michigan fan I have ever met.
Full disclosure: I could have attended the University of Michigan but chose not to and went to Michigan State. I had a full ride good at either school. One of my better choices.
Wow, easy there 6thgenerationmichingander. If Michigan would have come calling last year for Dantonio do you really think he would have said “No” to the nation’s all-time winningest school to stay at UC? He would have been in Ann Arbor before Bill Martin could finishing asking him the question.
And him not being a “Michigan Man” is why I would want him. I said the last time UM went out of the Michigan family was to get Bo and that worked out good. That’s why Dantonio would have been a good fit. Not associated with UM and friends with Tressel which would have made it a firery rivalry again.
Sounds like you are doing really well for yourself up there with those Yale, Harvard and Princeton gurus. Oh sorry I mean Harvard (law). I’m so proud of you. I don’t know you compared being a Michigan fan to working with those people though. Michigan has the best of both worlds. Great academics and great athletics. So I have know idea what part you are trying to prove. I guess that’s because you aren’t good at explaining yourself (since you went to MSU) or I’m not good at understanding (since I didn’t go to Harvard [law]).