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5 CommentsNow that I’ve had some time to actually look at the situation at hand, it finally is starting to set in that Lloyd Carr’s days as Michigan’s football coach are numbered. Sure, he’ll be there for the bowl game, but really, this next month or so is going to be very weird. Ever since I’ve been a Michigan football fan, Lloyd Carr has been the head coach. Knowing that he is going to retire today still really is hard to believe. Even though we’ve known for the last week that this probably was going to happen, and even though we’ve sort of known for the last year that this was probably his final season, it’s still hard to believe that that day is finally here.
Following Carr’s news conference at 10:00 a.m. (you can watch it here), we will know much more on the entire situation. The main thing that I’m wondering about is just what Carr is feeling right now. Sure, the specifics of how the retirement will happen (e.g. when he will officially retire) are important, but I just want to know what he is thinking right now.
After the news conference is finished, we will all have to start the transition of moving on. Carr will still be the coach until the bowl game is finished, but the coaching search begins now. As of right now, Les Miles, LSU’s head coach, is by far the front runner. Although it seems like many people have handed him the job already, there are many factors that play into whether or not he will get the job. I tend to believe that he would take the job if he was offered, but there is much more to whether or not he will be offered, and I’ll get to that later today.
For the search itself, as I already have said, I hope Bill Martin and the search committee compile a list of the best candidates for the job, and then go down the list to see who would accept an offer to become head coach. I am thinking that someone with Michigan ties like Les Miles would be near or at the top of the list, but there are many other factors off the field that could change that. Again, I’ll get to that later. As for the coaching search, my hope is that Martin will open it up to anyone in America, because right now, change can be a very good thing if the right man is hired. That doesn’t mean that the new coach has to be without Michigan ties, but that is something that I’m sure a lot of people would like to see. Personally, I say it depends on what kind of Michigan ties a coach has and who the coach is.
Getting lost in all of this discussion of Lloyd Carr retiring is where Michigan will play in a bowl game. Running through the list, it looks like Michigan could end up anywhere from the Alamo Bowl to the Capital One Bowl. It all depends on how the rest of the season plays out, believe it or not, as Illinois surprisingly could make the BCS. Confused? You should be. I’ll talk about Michigan’s bowl chances along with my other bowl projections later today in a separate post.
Also getting lost in the breaking news from yesterday is that Michigan lost to Ohio State. It surprisingly is the farthest thought from my mind right now, but I will have to recap it. Since the score was only 14-3 and nothing really happened, it shouldn’t be too tough to write in that sense. Going back and reliving it, though, is a completely different story, as that game was just straight up painful.
Check back to MSC for continuing updates on all of the things mentioned above and especially the Lloyd Carr news conference. I probably won’t be back on a computer until 11:30 a.m., so sit tight until I have a chance to get all of my thoughts together and into a post.
I think Lloyd made it clear that Les will not be the next coach.
If that’s the case that’s a shame.
If they were smart they would leave Lloyd out of this. He is not Bo nor should he try to carry the same power as Bo did after he left.
It’s time to stop living in the past. If U-M wants to be considered a top flight program then they really need to gut the whole thing and start from scratch. The last time they did that was in 1969, and that didn?t turn out half bad did it?
Lloyd won’t be appointing the next coah anyway…
don’t know that Lloyd “made it clear”. That’s all speculation by people interpreting what he said.
My bowl thoughts:
BCS: ohio state, whether it be the Rose or (heaven forbid) the MNC game again. Big Ten’s only BCS rep.
Citrus (CapOne): if Florida is there, then it will be Illinois. Florida-Illinois could also be the Outback matchup if the Citrus takes the SEC runner-up (call it Georgia).
Outback: Michigan is technically tied for 2nd in the conference with Illinois. This will be a tossup between Michigan and Wisconsin. If I’m on the Outback committee, suddenly Michigan looks very enticing due to the storylines (Hart, Henne, Long, Carr all gone after the game). UM also hasn’t been since ’03. PSU screwed the pooch vs MSU and drops. Wisconsin maybe, but again, I think storyline wins out and UM goes to the outback to face Tennessee (revenge for the ’02 Citrus?) or Georgia (scary).
Alamo: Wisconsin falls here.
Champs Sports: PSU falls here.
don’t know/care about the rest.
Gary Pinkel will be the fall back when Miles says no and will be the next coach at Michigan.