Michigan Football Players Want Interim Coach To Stay

Rob Swett, starting inside linebacker for the only 4-0 football team in the nation, said this is what the Michigan Wolverines players think:

Their coach, Lloyd Carr, should get the interim removed from his title.

And the sooner the better.

Carr, a Michigan assistant since 1980, got a one-year commitment when he replaced Gary Moeller in May - and he wasn’t necessarily expected to be around longer than that.

But that was before the Wolverines survived their opener with Virginia and won impressively at Illinois and Boston College. The Wolverines are off to their best start since 1986.

Swett, a first-year starter, looks at a different criteria than wins and losses.

“He’s given us somebody to follow,” Swett said. “When we didn’t know who was going to be the leader, he stepped in. I love playing for him.

“His energy just spills over to us sometimes. There are days when people are dragging after a long day of classes. He’ll come out fired up and get us fired up.”

Before the season, alumni were thought to be split over whether a Bo Schembechler holdover such as Carr should get the job or whether somebody new and young and vibrant - someone like Washington Redskins assistant coach Cam Cameron - should start a new regime.

Swett said there were all sorts of rumors about Carr’s status.

“Somebody said if we won (last Saturday against Boston College), they were going to give him a commitment,” Swett said. “Somebody said they were going to wait until just before the Penn State game.”

What Swett may come to find out is that the Wolverines players do their voting on the field. In other words, 4-0 is nice, but 10-0 would be nicer.

Michigan athletic director Joe Roberson said, “I feel for the kids,” but he said neither of the rumors Swett had heard was true.

Roberson said a decision probably would be made “between Ohio State and the bowl game. That’s not to say we won’t do it sooner.”

Still, the last two games of Michigan’s regular season - at Penn State and against Ohio State - should determine Carr’s fate.

On being in charge

Swett said he had started to get comfortable in his starting role, but it took a little time. He has prime responsibility for calling signals for Michigan’s defense.

“The biggest part is the mental aspect,” Swett said, “going in and having to make certain calls for every formation and every defense. That’s not an easy task. After making all the calls and getting everybody lined, and then going in and playing, that’s really hard.”

Swett got an interception on a tipped pass against Boston College and was rumbling toward the end zone when he was upended at the 2-yard line.

“I was pretty ticked,” Swett said about not scoring. “It’s amazing how much you lose as far as running-back skills when you don’t carry the ball for over a year and a half. We were watching the films of it. The guy lit me up pretty bad.”

Poll politicking

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany last week sent voters in the Associated Press writers poll a letter about their voting. This week, coaches voting in the USA Today-CNN poll got a similar note.

“It wasn’t really critical,” said Big Ten assistant commissioner Mark Rudner. “It was a letter challenging voters to pay attention to strength of schedule. Jim has described strength of schedule as an orphan. Nobody wants to embrace it.”

Delany already got a call back from one writer suggesting he was just campaigning for Penn State.

In truth, Michigan and Ohio State are the Big Ten schools with the beefs, the Nittany Lions being the ones with the cupcake non-conference schedule.

If the Buckeyes, who already have wins over Boston College and Washington, were somehow to beat Notre Dame and win at Penn State and at Michigan, and not get tripped up by an Illinois or a Wisconsin, “and” win the Rose Bowl, they still might not have a shot at the national championship, just because they weren’t “perceived” to be a top title contender before the season started.

That is ludicrous.

Around the country

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