By Staff
Lloyd Carr stepped down as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines Monday morning with class and dignity.
I would expect nothing less of Carr, who has run the Wolverine football program with the same class and dignity for the past 13 years.
I have been very vocal in wanting Michigan to make a change.
While I have great respect for Carr and what he has done with the Wolverines over 13 years as a head coach and a total of 28 years overall, I feel like it is time for the team to move in a new direction.
But I will give Carr his due.
The man won a national championship in 1997 and five Big Ten Conference titles in 13 seasons.
He won 121 games overall and 81 league games.
That is an impressive record by anyone's standards.
When Carr came to Dowagiac to speak at its All-Sports Banquet a few years ago, I met a man, who was funny and not stuffy, as he appears when dealing with the media.
Lloyd Carr is actually a pretty funny guy away from the glare of the television cameras.
On Monday morning I watched, as did many around the country, as Carr made his announcement.
I saw a man who cares deeply for the University of Michigan, his coaches and his players.
Michigan could do a lot worse than Carr as its head coach. I was glad to see that he seemed at peace with the decision.
Carr earned the right to leave on his own terms. No one gave him that right. He went out and earned it with his class and his dignity.
Perhaps the most telling moment of the announcement came when he said that whoever Michigan hires, he needs to run the program with the same ideals and principals that he and those before him have done.
It was spoken like a true Michigan man. I would expect nothing less from Lloyd Carr.