Lloyd Carr Fires Life Coach Bill Buckner
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]MATTHEW MONROE[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times, serif]ANN ARBOR:[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, Times, serif]Lloyd Carr stunned University of Michigan football fans Sunday by firing his life coach and close confidant Bill Buckner. He ended their six year relationship as the Michigan head coach and the former Red Sox first basemen had been working closely together since Jim Tressel's arrival at Ohio State in 2001.
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[FONT=Georgia, Times, serif]Citing embarrassing lows, like this year's 0-2 start, and also citing embarrassing highs, such as recent brushes with Big Ten and National Championships, Carr said he had enough.
[/FONT] [FONT=Georgia, Times, serif]"This can't go on anymore. It seems we're really good one year and then really terrible the next. We're up. Then we're down. That's not Michigan football. Michigan fans have come to expect a certain level of consistent mediocrity. And I feel we have let them down."
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[FONT=Georgia, Times, serif]"It's hard letting Bill go though. He got us to where we were. Things just went a little too far, and now it's time to go in another direction."
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[FONT=Georgia, Times, serif]Buckner was originally hired by Carr in 2001 to counterbalance the success that Michigan football experienced in the 90's. A string of Big Ten Championships and a National Championship left Carr and the team feeling uneasy with their success.
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[FONT=Georgia, Times, serif]Through the years Buckner had a solid record at Michigan, consistently keeping the Wolverines from getting too good despite their expansive talent. But things started slipping during the previous season. Carr feared they may have hit rock bottom during last year's Notre Dame game.
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[FONT=Georgia, Times, serif]"I'll never forget that game," Carr said. "Notre Dame was highly ranked, but we dominated them in every facet of the game. That just felt awful. I told our players after the game: you ought to be embarrassed for yourselves and your school. This is The University of Michigan. That's not the way we do things."[/FONT]