Former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr talks to Virginia Boles at the 2005 Al-Sports Banquet. Carr will retire from Michigan on Sept. 1. (The Daily News/File)

ANN ARBOR – After 30 years of distinguished service to the University of Michigan, associate athletic director and former U-M head football head coach Lloyd Carr will officially retire from the athletic department on Sept. 1.

“I am thankful for the wonderful opportunity to assist two great coaches here in Bo Schembechler and Gary Moeller and I will always appreciate Joe Roberson’s decision to name me the head coach in 1995,” said Carr. “I am also appreciative for those I worked with and for all the great friendships I have developed.

“Most of all, I am thankful for the young men I coached and for all the memories I have from my time at Michigan.”

Carr’s accomplishments off the field can be measured by his success as a fundraiser for many charitable causes, including his role as co-chair for the campaign to build a new C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, which will open in the fall of 2011. He will remain active in fundraising and keep his position as co-chair for the fundraising effort for the hospitals. He has also aided both the athletic department and the university as a highly sought-after speaker, serving on special committees, and providing helpful advice and mentoring to coaches and staff.

“Lloyd Carr’s legacy is an impressive and important part of Michigan’s rich history and tradition of excellence in football,” said U-M President Mary Sue Coleman. “He has served the university as well through his advocacy and passion for a number of philanthropic causes. We are grateful for his long and successful service and wish him well in retirement.”

“I have known Lloyd since he came to Michigan as an assistant coach,” said Dave Brandon, U-M Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. “Coach Carr is a man of integrity. I admire and appreciate his love for all of our student-athletes and his many contributions to not only our university, but his work on behalf of numerous charitable causes throughout the state of Michigan.”

Carr is retiring after 2 1/2 years as an associate athletic director, but his accomplishments as U-M’s 17th head football coach will be an enduring memory.

Following the 2008 Capital One Bowl, Carr retired as U-M football coach with an overall record of 122-40 (81-23 Big Ten), a national championship and five Big Ten Conference titles. He is one of only three U-M coaches to win more than 100 games on the gridiron, an achievement only surpassed by Bo Schembechler and Fielding H. Yost, and he is only the fifth head football coach to lead Michigan to a national title (1997).

Carr became just the second Big Ten coach to post an undefeated regular-season record in only his third year of head coaching. He also wrote himself into the NCAA record books, becoming the seventh coach in NCAA history to have reached 29 wins in only three seasons of coaching.

Carr has also been involved in the university, community and coaching fraternity. He has been active in support of women’s athletics, endowing a women’s athletics scholarship that is presented annually to a U-M female student-athlete. He initiated the Women’s Football Academy and U-M Men’s Fantasy Football Experience, which donate all proceeds to the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center through the establishment of the Coach Carr Cancer Fund in 1998 in memory of his mother, Pauline, who died of breast cancer. The “Carr Wash for Kids” was an annual event benefiting Mott Children’s Hospital, a cause he continues to support today. He also serves as spokesperson for Mentor Michigan to help recruit men and women to help children in need. He has been involved with local charities such as the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Shelter Association of Washtenaw County, Washtenaw Literacy and the United Way.

In the past, he also worked with Special Olympics, served on the NCAA Rules Committee and was a member of the American Football Coaches Association Board of Trustees. He annually hosts the Hall of Fame football camp in his hometown of Riverview, Mich.
Throughout his tenure, he was given the Philip Hart Public Service Award from the Michigan Women’s Studies Association and the Dodge National Athletic Lifetime Achievement Award.

Carr is married to the former Laurie McCartney. They have six children: Melissa, Brett, Jason, Ryan, Emily and Jarrett. Jason was a quarterback at U-M and Emily lettered in volleyball. Carr also has 11 grandchildren: Tyler John McCartney, Brendan Massey McCartney, Drew Elizabeth Vigo, Austin Patrick McCartney, Colin Lloyd McCartney, Sydney Ann Vigo, Ethan Michael McCartney, Casey Carr Vigo, Noah Thomas McCartney, Curtis Jason (C.J.) Carr and Thomas Lloyd Carr, with another grandson expected in October.