Are Things Falling Apart at Michigan?

Few people at Michigan were happy when former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez accepted the head coach position after the retirement of Llyod Carr. We’re actually still seeing players leave the team after the mass exodus that happened nearly immediately after he was given the job. It’s not that Rodriguez isn’t a good coach; few people can argue that he’s not after what he did at West Virginia. The people and players of Michigan just don’t like his coaching style, which seems to be a big departure from the coaching of greats like Carr, Bo Schembechler, and other Michigan greats.

I have to say, though, I think many are willing to give him a chance. The Big Ten needs to be taken into 21st century to be a conference that has national championship contenders year after year. Rich Rodriguez could be the man to do it.

Image: Newscom

But there seems to be a bit of mutiny going on at the school, as a number of players have come forward to report NCAA violations at Michigan.

Under conditions of anonymity, a group of current and former players have told the Detroit Free Press that Rodriguez and his staff members routinely demand more of the players than is allowable by NCAA rules. The NCAA sets limits on workouts and other practices in order to prevent injury, to provide student athletes with enough time for academic work, and to keep any one team from gaining a competitive edge over another due to workout time.One player says that the practices were certainly affecting classwork, with some players even falling asleep during class due to the demands of the football program.

Says Rodriguez,

“We know the practice and off-season rules, and we stay within the guidelines. We follow the rules and have always been completely committed to being compliant with all NCAA rules.”

The allegations mainly surround the workouts by conditioning coach Mike Barwis, who followed Rodriquez from West Virginia. Although some of those players who came forward insist that his workouts are “ridiculous,” others who work out with him, including NFL players, swear by his methods.

Here’s what’s going on with the allegations:

• During the off-season, teams are only allowed to require players to work out for 8 hours per week. Players can work out on their own for more hours, but it must be voluntary. However, players say that the staff members would call workouts voluntary, yet severely punish anyone who didn’t show up, essentially making them mandatory.

• Players can also hold scrimmages during the off-season, but quality control staff can’t attend, and they have to be player-run.  Trainers are allowed to attend for safety purposes only. Players say, though, that quality control staff members routinely observed the games

• During the season, they can only practice for 20 hours per week, with a maximum of four hours per day. Players say that both of those limits were exceeded, with players spending nine hours or more on the field on game days.

Players said they were made to sign forms that say they were complying with NCAA rules. Everyone signed because they felt like there was nothing they could do if they wanted to play. Even now, players refuse to give their names, as they are worried about repercussions from staff members and other players.

At the school’s media day, some freshman, perhaps unaware of NCAA rules, talked about how long they practiced, one player saying that they’ve been working out from 8:00 AM to at least 6:00 PM six days a week. These players didn’t note whether or not the workouts were mandatory, so that in and of itself doesn’t incriminate the coaches, but it does fall in line with what others are saying.

That, and Rodriguez has been caught saying, “The workouts aren’t mandatory, but neither is your playing time.” That statement seems to be used often at Michigan, since players who have left have quoted it.

So that really begs the question: what is “mandatory.” If you’re determining playing time by voluntary practice attendance, doesn’t that kinda cancel out the “voluntary” part of it? Actually, YES according to the NCAA. Rules state that if attendance is tracked or is given to coaches by trainers, the workout or practice must be considered mandatory.

But isn’t everyone doing this? Being honest with yourself, don’t you think that other schools are also breaking workout rules? Says one anonymous player,

“They know the rules. Of course they know the rules. There was a time when the offensive line coach told me, ‘You’re not doing nothing different than anybody else in the country is.’ ”

Wrong. I mean, I don’t know every school’s conditioning schedule, but former players have come forward to say that the NCAA workout rules were strictly observed by Carr and players who are now in the NFL and have come back to visit have said that the current requirements are crazy.

Players have also allegedly been hunted down by junior staff members, graduate assistants, and others when not attended, receiving phone calls even while in class.

Rodriguez has a lot riding on this season. Last year, the team’s abysmal showing was somewhat allowable by fans, since it was a rebuilding year with a new coach. However, another season or two like that, and Rodriguez will be run out of down. After all, there are a number of other good coaches looking for jobs, Phillip Fulmer coming immediately to mind.