Same ol', same ol' no longer working for U-M
Friday, December 30, 2005
BY JIM CARTY
NEWS SPORTS COLUMNIST
SAN ANTONIO - By the time he got to the press room it was pushing midnight, and Lloyd Carr looked and sounded like a beaten man.
Too tired to really get worked up about the awful officiating in Wednesday night's Alamo Bowl, or the crazy final play, or the two turnovers that fueled Nebraska's comeback, all things that would have normally left the University of Michigan football coach snapping and growling.
Carr's moods shift quickly. He's often funny and engaging one minute, combative and defensive the next.
But rarely simply licked.
This 7-5 season, his worst in 11 years at Michigan's helm, including yet another loss to Notre Dame, yet another loss to Ohio State, and a third straight bowl defeat, clearly took a toll.
This was supposed to be a big year, the kind of year Carr really hasn't had since 1999, maybe since 1997.
Instead, it was the biggest disappointment of his tenure, leaving him wide open to what's been mounting fan criticism.
If this were boxing, the 60-year-old coach would be an aging former champ.
The kind who's certain he can win back the title, despite struggling against the type of opponents he used to dispatch with regularity.
There are still enough close fights to wonder if he might be right, including five losses by a total of 21 points in this season.
And enough three- and four-loss seasons - six straight now - to wonder if he might be better off retiring before a Hall of Fame career is tarnished by the kind of ugliness that engulfed Penn State when Joe Paterno went 4-7 last year.
Carr keeps hinting that exit is close, but Thursday morning, before the team charter left Texas for Michigan, he laid out plans to immediately begin recruiting and talked about how the experience gained by a mostly young team could pay off next season.
He's not one to run from a fight, nor to lack confidence.
That second part might be as big a weakness as a strength.
Even as Michigan seems to be falling further behind in its quest to recreate the magical 1997 national title run, there have been few changes, let alone radical changes. The staff mostly remains intact from year to year, as does the tough defense, run-first offense approach, and an outdated Iron Curtain mentality in dealing with anyone who hasn't been baptized into the cult of Schembechler, particularly the media.
If Carr is staying, he needs to take a good hard look at all of that.
At how guys like Paterno and Texas coach Mack Brown changed.
A year ago, Paterno essentially put in a whole new offense to suit the talents of his most dynamic player, quarterback Michael Robinson.
Michigan, meanwhile, still hasn't figured out how to get much, if anything, out of electric talents like Steve Breaston and Antonio Bass. Heck, the Wolverines didn't even sound like they wanted to after Wednesday's loss to Nebraska, talking instead about getting back to smash-mouth running football.
And, despite seeming to thrive when it's occasionally allowed to play in attack mode, the defense still plays soft pass coverage that gives up big plays time and time again.
Like Wednesday night, when Nebraska's Terrence Nunn found a seam in the coverage and caught the game-winning touchdown alone in the end zone.
Tradition and longtime coaching ties shouldn't hold a program hostage.
Just ask Brown. After years of being unable to get by Oklahoma, the Texas coach overhauled his entire approach two seasons ago.
He fired longtime assistant coaches and brought in outsiders. He put in the spread offense to showcase athletic quarterback Vince Young, the same offense Paterno's assistants would come to steal last season.
He started listening to 50 Cent on an iPod.
The result has been back-to-back Bowl Championship Series bids, including this year's so-far-undefeated run.
"He's just, I guess, having more fun,'' defensive tackle Rod Wright told USA Today this week. "That's the personality of this team. We just have fun. And whenever we have fun, it seems like that's when we play our best.''
This isn't to say Carr should put in a whole new offense or defense, fire his coordinators and take a crash course in crunk.
But he should do something. Something significant.
Because the same ol' same ol' hasn't produced a great team for six years now.
Anyone who's paying any attention can see that, but Lloyd Carr is the only one who can do anything about it.
So now we find out if he wants one more shot at the title bad enough to do the one thing he's resisted most.
Change.
Or whether he stubbornly insists on staying the course, despite all indications that it's taking him further and further from the ending he wants.
