College Football News – University of Michigan Head Coach in Hot Water

Will It Be Business As Usual In Ann Arbor?

Six football players at the University of Michigan (+1000 to win the Big Ten) have come forward to describe to the Detroit Free Press in detail the NCAA violations that were committed at the school by second-year head coach Rich Rodriguez.

The NCAA limits the length of training and practice sessions that are held by member schools, and the players, who requested anonymity because they thought there would be repercussions, said that if they would be flagged as slackers if they did not go along with those restrictions, which are designed, among other things, to allow for more study time.

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“It’s one of those things where you can’t say something,” one player who is currently with the team, explained to the Free Press. “If you say something, they’re going to say you’re a lazy person and don’t want to work hard.”

I guess that’s at the root of the problem. Workouts can be called "voluntary" but they really aren’t, you know what I mean? If you choose not to do them, you get punished, and that is exactly what these Michigan players told the reporters.

The University of Michigan, when you get past the athletic department, is an outstanding academic institution, with high admissions standards, an acclaimed curriculum, and a slew of distinguished graduates. When you watch that HBO documentary about the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, and you hear all those Michigan alums talk as if they look down on Ohio State graduates, that’s all true, and truth be told, it’s not altogether unjustified.

However, most of the graduates who were snobby about it were never really an essential part of the athletic scene. When it comes to sports, all these schools are about business (not studying it, BEING it), and there is very little that is going to get in the way of business.

This reminds me of another incident, which wasn’t exactly the same, but carried a little of the same spirit, and gee. Speaking of Ohio State, some people who follow the Big Ten probably remember back in 1991 when Robert Smith, a great running back (and future NFC rushing champion) but also a pre-med student and a good one, was pressured so much to miss classes so he could attend football practices and meetings that he finally became exasperated, walked into then-coach John Cooper’s office and quit the team.

It seems Smith had been harassed repeatedly by the offensive coordinator, a chap named Elliot Uzelac, who actually told him, on more than one occasion, "You take school too seriously," which, is near the top of the list of stupid things one could possibly say to a young man in the pre-med program.

As it turns out, Uzelac had brought that spirit with him from coaching outposts like Western Michigan, where he arbitrarily changed one student-athlete’s schedule from one with business courses to one with all physical education courses in order to keep him eligible, and Navy, where he openly criticized Midshipmen for going to class when they could have been out on the practice field doing extra drill work.

Rodriguez may not be as derelict in his duty toward the "student-athlete" as those Ohio State clowns were, but it still offers an illustration of the notion that the players are merchandise, and that business comes first, second and third, because there are multi-million dollar coaching contracts on the line. The Michigan athletic department just completed a renovation of the stadium that cost over $200 million. That doesn’t come from chemistry students, okay?

Sure, I know the whole thing is a sham and I don’t mind saying so, but what I am more concerned about for the purposes of this story is who to bet on and who to avoid betting on (where legal, of course – I don’t want to transgress any NCAA rules). That’s because unlike the charade put forth by coaches and university administrators, we don’t play make believe about what our business is.

On that account, I am a little wary of this Wolverine team, because I strongly suspect that the identities of the six players who "squealed" to the Free Press is known among many members of the team, and that there will develop a deep divide between those players who are fed up with Rodriguez’s excessive training regimen and those who are blindly loyal to the coach. You also know that if six came forward, there are a lot more who feel the same way. That will create problems sooner or later. Recalling the case of Robert Smith again, almost as soon as he quit the team a massive misinformation campaign was launched by the athletic department against him, designed specifically to assault his character. I expect the same will happen to those "disloyal" players. Repercussions? You better believe it.

At least Smith had an opportunity to address his team for fifteen minutes before Cooper told him sternly to "get out" of the locker room. I don’t think these Michigan kids will have that same luxury if they do indeed get found out. I can’t see any way this would not affect the unity and performance of this team, which is a 12.5-point favorite at BetOnline over Western Michigan in this Saturday’s season opener.

I think after these revelations, which directly involve the players and their relationship with the coaching staff, are going to make it difficult for all 125 players in the program to get on the same page.

It’s the page that says to the players, "When it comes to Maize and Blue, business is business, so screw you."