TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Carr Retires After 13 Seasons

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: November 20, 2007

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Lloyd Carr retired Monday after 13 years as Michigan's coach, following a season defined by a startling loss to Appalachian State and another defeat by Ohio State.

Carr, groomed for the position by Michigan coaching great Bo Schembechler, led the Wolverines to 121 wins, five Big Ten titles and a national championship.

"On this week of Thanksgiving no one has more to be thankful for than I do," Carr said at a news conference.

The departure by the 62-year-old Carr opens a job at the nation's winningest football program. Les Miles, the coach at No. 1 LSU, seems to be at the top of the list of potential successors. He played for Schembechler at Michigan, where he met his wife and later became an assistant.

"Coach Carr was a great coach at Michigan," Miles said. "As an alumnus of that school, I am happy for the things coach Carr did there."

Miles added that he is not looking for a job.

"I love LSU," he said. "Michigan has not called. It would be unfair to Michigan to say they have called."

Carr said he hopes that whoever follows him will continue the long Michigan tradition of winning "with integrity."

"That's what we want to do," he said. "In the big picture, the character of this institution will be defined by the way this program is run."

Other candidates might include Kirk Ferentz of Iowa, where Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman was before coming to Ann Arbor, and major college coaches with Midwest ties such as Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, a native of Youngstown, Ohio.

OKLAHOMA: Leading rusher DeMarco Murray has a dislocated kneecap and will miss Saturday's game against Oklahoma State.

PITT: Coach Dave Wannstedt won't announce until game time whether freshman Pat Bostick, the starter most of the season, or Kevan Smith will open at quarterback Saturday against South Florida.

An ineffective Bostick was benched during a 20-16 loss to Rutgers last Saturday, but returned to throw an interception in the end zone during the final minute. Bostick was replaced earlier by the redshirt freshman Smith, but Smith injured his right shoulder.

Smith did not separate his shoulder, as Pitt initially thought, and could play Saturday.

ALABAMA: Coach Nick Saban described his team's humbling defeat to Louisiana-Monroe in almost apocalyptic terms Monday, mentioning the 9-11 terrorist attacks and Pearl Harbor in talking about how his team must rebound like America did from a "catastrophic event."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT