Thank you, Part II

One night in April of 1995 was a dark spot in the history of Michigan football. Then head coach Gary Moeller's night of bad judgement at a metro Detroit restaurant promptly led to his dismissal. A short while later, his defensive coordinator and good friend was named interim head coach. Exactly 6 months later, 10 games into his first season as head coach, the 'interim' label was removed, and Lloyd Carr officially became the 16th head coach at the University of Michigan.

Born in Tennessee, Carr's family moved to Riverview, MI when he was 10. He was a star quarterback at Riverview and later at Northern Michigan. He returned to the metro Detroit area and taught and coached at several high schools before becoming an assistant at Eastern Michigan. In 1980, he was hired as an assistant on Bo Schembechler's staff at Michigan. For 27 years now he has walked the sidelines of Michigan Stadium in some capacity or another. He is a Michigan Man.

Carr's career as head coach has been marked by both incredible highs, and frustrating lows, but now, after nearly 13 years, it appears to be coming to a close.

It's been a familiar drill this time of year for each of the past several seasons. The internet starts to rattle and hum with rumor and speculation that this could be the end of the Carr era. Each year the speculation grows more intense, but this year, it would appear to finally be correct. Multiple sources, most notably Brian Cook at MGoBlog have reported that the decision is final and that all that's left to decide--for Carr anyways--is the timing of the announcement. Carr would never be one to put the center of attention on himself rather than the players or THE GAME, so there will be nothing before Saturday. But an announcement could be coming as early as next week.

To say that Lloyd Carr has been universally beloved by Michigan fans would be a gross overstatement, if not an outright lie. A fanbase used to high expectations has grown increasingly weary of disappointment against lesser teams. Struggles against middling teams early in his career, and a failure to win against Ohio State or in bowl games over the past several years has turned many a Michigan fan against him. The historic upset against Appalachian State and utter dismantling at the hands of Oregon early this season were the final nail in the coffin for many, and helped seal even most ardent Carr supporters' opinions that regardless of the successes he's had, it was time for him to go.

But yes--Don't for a second be fooled into thinking that Carr has not been a successful coach at Michigan. During 12 full seasons under Carr, Michigan has posted a winning percentage of 0.75839, good enough for 9th in the nation. By the time this season is complete, they will probably be 7th. Only five active coaches have a higher winning mark. For comparison's sake, during the last 12 years of Bo Schembechler's career, Michigan's winning percentage was 0.75172--also 9th in the nation over that span. Carr's 121 victories and 5 conference championships put him third all-time at Michigan in both categories, behind only Bo and Fielding H. Yost.

And of course, Carr did manage to do what no other Michigan coach--including Bo--had done since Bennie Oosterbaan did it in 1948: win a National Championship.

In 1997, Carr was entering his third year as Michigan's head coach, and the pressure was starting to build. His first two seasons each featured 4 losses, including disappointing bowl losses to Texas A&M and Alabama. Going back to Moeller's last 2 seasons, Michigan was riding a streak of 4-straight 4-loss seasons. Michigan had not been to the Rose Bowl in 5 seasons, marking the first time since 1975 that a group of seniors had played a full career at Michigan without getting to play in Pasadena.

As if the pressure of the losses wasn't trouble enough for Carr, he had himself a quarterback controversy to resolve. Over the two previous seasons, both Scott Dreisbach and Brian Griese had split considerable playing time. Dreisbach had shown considerable promise early on, including leading a 17-point fourth quarter comeback against Virginia in Carr's very first game as head coach. But injuries and confidence issues had opened the door for Griese later in the season both in '95 and '96. Griese struggled at times, though he did lead Michigan to victories over Ohio State in both of those seasons. The fanbase was somewhat divided, though the majority seemed to like the potential of the younger Dreisbach, and were quite displeased when Carr opted for the 5th year senior Griese.

But, Carr, it seems, knew what he was doing afterall. Four months later, the Wolverines found themselves in Pasadena, celebrating their first undefeated season and National Championship in 49 years. While Charles Woodson took home the Heisman Trophy in December, the MVP of that Rose Bowl game was Brian Griese. Carr, for his part, was named national Coach of the Year.

Aside from 1997, some highlights of Lloyd Carr's tenure have included an utter domination of rivals Penn State and Michigan State. After losing 3 of his first 4 games in East Lansing, the last on a highly controversial "last second" play, Carr's Wolverines have now won 6 straight games over MSU, including three in a row at Spartan Stadium. Against the Nittany Lions, the domination has been simply unfathomable as Michigan has defeated PSU in 8 straight meetings going back to the "Judgement Day" domination in 1997 that launched the Wolverines into the #1 spot for the first time all season.

One black hole for Lloyd Carr's Wolverine teams had always been South Bend. Despite taking favored teams into games against the Fighting Irish, time and time again, they came up short when playing on the road. Add in a frustrating upset at home in 2005, and it was beginning to look like Notre Dame had a decided edge over Carr's teams. But in 2006, Lloyd's boys got over the hump in grand fashion, destroying the #2 ranked Irish on their own field, 47-21. This season, a 38-0 whitewashing gave Lloyd his 3rd blowout victory over Notre Dame in 5 meetings, not to mention a much needed shot of penicillin to cure the ails of an 0-2 start.

When it comes to Ohio State, Lloyd's career is a tale of two halves. Not coincidentally, those halves are split in Columbus along a different and distinct line: The Cooper-Tressell line. In the first six games of his career, Lloyd Carr held a 5-1 record against John Cooper and the Buckeyes. In the 6 years since, Jim Tressell has held up a mirror to that record, levelling Carr's all-time record in THE GAME to 6-6. Assuming that this is, in fact, his final season, this week's game will seal Carr's legacy in THE GAME.


Lloyd Carr has been called many things, a good number of which are not suitable for print here. Yet throughout his tenure, across his ups and downs, no one has ever seriously questioned his integrity. Even his most ardent detractors acknowledge him to be great person, and a fine representative of the University. His teams have won without scandal and all who have met him speak very highly of his personal interactions with the fanbase. This alone, coupled with the success of his teams, indicates that he deserves to go out with dignity and on his own terms.

Lloyd, as a fan who has attended every home game of your tenure save for the very first, and more than my fair share of road and bowl games, I thank you for all that you've given to Michigan. I wish you all the best in your retirement, and in your remaining games as Michigan's head coach, whether it be just two, or more.

Thanks, coach. Thanks for what you've been and done for Michigan.

GO BLUE!