T1B

Michigan football program broke rules, players say

The University of Michigan football team consistently has violated NCAA rules governing off-season workouts, in-season demands on players and mandatory summer activities under coach Rich Rodriguez, numerous players told the Free Press.

Players on the 2008 and 2009 teams described training and practice sessions that far exceeded limits set by the NCAA, which governs college athletics. The restrictions are designed to protect players’ well-being, ensure adequate study time and prevent schools from gaining an unfair competitive advantage.

The players, who did not want to be identified because they feared repercussions from coaches, said the violations occurred routinely at the direction of Rodriguez’s staff.

“It’s one of those things where you can’t say something,” one current Wolverine said. “If you say something, they’re going to say you’re a lazy person and don’t want to work hard.”

That player was one of six current or former players who gave lengthy, detailed and nearly identical descriptions of the program to the Free Press.

“We know the practice and off-season rules, and we stay within the guidelines,” Rodriguez said in a statement issued Friday to the Free Press. “We follow the rules and have always been completely committed to being compliant with all NCAA rules.”

If the NCAA investigates and concludes that U-M willfully and repeatedly broke the rules, the NCAA could find major violations. That could trigger probation, loss of scholarships and loss of practice time.

Michigan, which has won more games than any program in college football history, has never been found guilty of major violations in football.

The players say they routinely are required to work out or practice many more hours throughout the year than the NCAA allows. They also say members of Rodriguez’s staff have broken rules by monitoring off-season scrimmages.

I don't get it. The dude was injured most of last season, you'd think he would have extra time to focus on his studies. Man, how many chances will we give Mr. Wright? First, he weaseled his way out of a felony arrest with Pete's support and now this.

King Crimson wrote:doesn't sound good.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Word is it's the parents of players who encouraged them to come forward. Should be interesting to see how this unfolds.

IndyFrisco wrote:

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Word is it's the parents of players who encouraged them to come forward. Should be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Sorry, but if buying houses for players' families, paying players/handlers and paying much less rent that value gets ignored, not sure "extra practice time" will get slammed.

Mgo wrote:as I eluded to in my first post

IndyFrisco wrote:^^^ No mention of kal. Troll mixup. ^^^

I went to A&M when Dante Hall was there. He always sat next to me at the basketball games. He never had two nickels to rub together, but one night, as wel left Reed Arena, we walked the same path out. I saw him get in his new Escalade and drive off. Hmm...where's the compliance dept? Saw him at a game next week and I told him he had a nice ride. He just said "Sho-nuff".

Hey, at least he supported athletics. When I was at A&M, our basketball team sucked donkey balls.

Lloyd recruited and trained a bunch of pussies.

I am so disgusted. As a season ticket holder...who spends $1500 a year to watch this team I couldn't be more angry at the players then I am now.

I hope Rich Rod drums every last weak link whiney bitch off this team.

Van wrote:

Mgo wrote:as I eluded to in my first post

That was a fairly evasive first post.

:wink:

Shoalzie wrote:Never a dull moment with this guy... :doh:

BlindRef wrote: I hope Rich Rod drums every last weak link whiney bitch off this team.

WolverineSteve wrote: Nothing should come of this. OU and the car lot, OSU and Clarett, USC and all their shit, to name a few....nothing. UM should get slammed for over-practicing?...please. Do you really think UM is doing any more than, Florida, Bama, SC, ND, OU, or any other big time program??

Screw_Michigan wrote:

WolverineSteve wrote:This is a reporter with an axe to grind. There is a well known rift between Rosenburgh and RR.

Always the first card to be played by a polesmoker too busy sucking off his team: the reporter has an axe to grind. Looks like M Tard is suckling the taint, too. Listen, ladies: the school is investigating the claims and the NCAA just might as well. Whether how legit the claims are or not, you got a team, like your fanbase, of sackless pussies and I see you tards winning a max of five games this season. Live it up, fuckos.

Sudden Sam wrote:Every morning since Coach Saban was hired, I get outta bed, shuffle into my Nick Saban is God shrine room, light a couple crimson candles, and pray:

"Thank god and God Rich Rodriguez wasn't hired in Tuscaloosa."

Chait, a doctor's son, grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

Screw_Michigan wrote: Well, I haven't opted for the Peace Corps yet, so I have yet to hit rock bottom.

M Club wrote:

Screw_Michigan wrote: Well, I haven't opted for the Peace Corps yet, so I have yet to hit rock bottom.

you brag about sneaking budweiser into baseball games. your life is a free fall, loser. if you had a job you could afford something with flavor.

December 16, 2007

MICHAEL ROSENBERG: U-M's hiring a great coach in Rodriguez

By MICHAEL ROSENBERG
FREE PRESS SPORTS COLUMNIST
Michigan hired a great football coach Sunday. Not a good one, like Greg Schiano. Not a very good one, like Les Miles. A great one.

Rich Rodriguez basically invented the spread-option offense. He has done an outstanding job by any measure at West Virginia. For years, the Mountaineers were considered well-coached overachievers under Don Nehlen, and Rodriguez has somehow improved on Nehlen’s success.

Rodriguez fits Michigan’s most fundamental criteria: he is a proven head coach from a major conference, he is young enough (44) to potentially stay in Ann Arbor for 15 to 20 years, and he has recruited the Midwest.

For the Michigan football fan who has complained incessantly for the last 10 years, Rodriguez might as well show up at this morning’s press conference dressed in wrapping paper and a bow.

Have you been begging for a spread offense? Coach Rod practically invented it. Do you want a defense that can stop the spread? Rodriguez’s defense will face the spread every day in practice. Have you been begging for fresh blood? Rodriguez, with no ties to U-M, might as well come from another continent.

So that’s all great. But before anybody pencils U-M into the national title game every year, I hope everybody understands the essential challenge of Rodriguez’s tenure:
He must fix what needs to be fixed, without breaking what isn’t broken.

So often, Michigan football fans dwell on what their team does wrong. But the program does a lot, right, too: the Wolverines had the seventh-best record in the country under Lloyd Carr, without any major scandals, and that didn’t happen by accident.

Some Michigan fans think U-M is the easiest place in the country to win big. The truth is it isn’t even the easiest in the Big Ten. Ohio State has better resources and facilities, a similar tradition, far more in-state talent and no other major-conference school in the state.

Carr and his staff were exceptional recruiters. Rodriguez needs to maintain some continuity on the staff, and the good news is that I expect assistant coaches Fred Jackson and Erik Campbell to stick around. Jackson and Campbell are U-M’s two longest-tenured assistants, probably the two best recruiters on staff, and they understand Michigan’s tradition. They will be invaluable to Rodriguez.

Michigan’s teams have been highly motivated, resilient and disciplined for so long, fans take those attributes for granted. Rodriguez must maintain that tradition.

And although the Wolverines have had their share of players get in trouble, especially recently, virtually everybody connected with the program says Carr is serious about both discipline and academics.

At West Virginia, Rodriguez had more lenient academic standards, and the school was willing to take a chance on, uh, “troubled” athletes. Among the players Rodriguez signed at West Virginia: linebacker Pat Lazear, who had served 10 days in jail and received a 10-year suspended sentence for conspiracy rob a convenience store.

That won’t fly in Ann Arbor. Rodriguez has to accept it rather than fight it. It’s a tradeoff for being able to recruit nationally.

Mostly, Rodriguez would be wise to talk to the people who helped make the Michigan job so attractive. He should ask the former players who wanted Miles what they expect from their program. He should ask Carr, who has been on staff since ESPN was a fledgling new channel, what it means to be the public face of the University of Michigan.

At West Virginia, Rodriguez was the ultimate insider: his father was a coal miner in the state and he attended the school. Now he is an outsider.

It would be hard to find two public schools that view themselves as differently as Michigan and West Virginia. Rich Rodriguez can absolutely make this transition, but first he must recognize it.

Screw_Michigan wrote:

M Club wrote:jon = screw

booze in games = fine and well, no big deal. i'm pretty sure screw told his story about drinking bud 17 times over. i had similar conversations in 10th grade.

I only told it once. I don't do it anymore. Not that I need to make excuses to a syphillis inheriting, pie-in-the-sky fantasizing jerkoff like yourself. Just because your program is in complete disarray and the local media is buttfucking your savior ERRRRR coach in the mouth on a regular basis doesn't mean you have to be a bitter, vindictive fuck. Well, then you just wouldn't be yourself.

Clegg Lamar Greene

Players on the 2008 and 2009 teams described training and practice sessions that far exceeded limits set by the NCAA, which governs college athletics. The restrictions are designed to protect players’ well-being, ensure adequate study time and prevent schools from gaining an unfair competitive advantage.

Screw_Michigan wrote:

M Club wrote: make up reality

Please go into detail while citing specific points how Rosenberg and Snyder "made up reality." Take your time.