Commentary: Michigan, Notre Dame excuses growing old

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 11:04 PM Sunday, November 22, 2009

Excuses I’m hearing for the demise of both Michigan and Notre Dame’s football programs are getting a little worn. Blaming former UM coach Lloyd Carr for Michigan’s two straight losing seasons is a bit much.

The excuse is Michigan’s program was on the recruiting downturn. He would eventually have a losing season, but he vacated his position before that happened.

His last team went 9-4, a record the Wolverines would love to have now. Over 11 seasons, he posted a 122-40 (75 percent) record at UM and his worst season was 7-5. He won or shared five Big Ten championships and finished as low as No. 5 in the conference only once.

He even won a national championship, which Bo Schembechler never did.

I’m all for giving Rich Rodriguez a chance to make up for two straight losing seasons, but I’m not putting all the blame on Carr.

At the same time, I’m not giving Notre Dame a break for its “high academic standards.” Those standards don’t seem to hinder the team when it’s winning, which it used to do.

And this stuff about not admitting junior college players or academic under-achievers is legendary, at best. Notre Dame won its last national championship with Tony Rice at quarterback — after Rice sat out a year due to then-Prop 48 standards.

Notre Dame even built an indoor practice facility, and there’s that big NBC contract.

If you can’t win at Notre Dame, something else is wrong. Coach Charlie Weis had better find out what it is.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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