Not filing the CARA paperwork is no violation. It's not even an NCAA requirement. It's just a means (chosen by the University, and I'm guessing, others) to track these issues. In some extent, not "overseeing" all this brings up institutional control issues, so in the macro it could be considered a violation, but not the micro. The violation was that the coaches Rich brought in were at places and observing things they weren't permitted to do. Mainly, I still content, because the rule isn't clear at all on what they ARE permitted to do.  Which is why he did it at WV, and brought it over with him, and didn't see any problem with it. The equivalent student assistants under Lloyd weren't named.  The guys you mention were Lloyd guys.  But they didn't commit the violations. They didn't do the follow-up (CARA forms, job descriptions) that MAY have allowed compliance to find out what they were doing, and if it was permitted.  Maybe.  Because, I assume they did have people filing similar paperwork at West Virginia, and their compliance dept. never saw anything wrong with it. Which means a few different things could have happened.  Our compliance is way smarter than theirs, says oh no, stop this. Our compliance sees things the same way as WV's, the rule is weird....they don't say anything to stop it.  Or WV's paperwork is as F'd up as ours, they never got notice (Even in the years after Rich left), and both screwed up, and could have told Rich to stop. The last is actually the most damning though, because if both are letting the paperwork slide, that seems like there would be some pressure coming from the coaching staff to let it slide. I find it much easier to believe the rules are just obtuse as all get out, one school didn't see it as a problem, the other never got the chance to review it because they didn't see it...and may or may not have seen it as a problem.

I mean the whole thing....there's tons of blame to go around, from Rich, his assistants, two schools, compliance, Football administrators, AD's, and the NCAA and their crap rule definition. Not saying LAY IT ALL AT THE FEET OF THAT MONSTER, RICH ROD!!! Just that a lot of the confusion came from bringing in new staff, who were doing new things, that they thought was permissible, because the last school they were at had no problem with it, and the administrators screwed up by never putting through the paperwork that would let them decide for themselves if it was ok (and no one will ever know what their decision would have been if they had gotten it, really), and there was blame to go around. But if the same activities were going on when Lloyd was around, it wasn't made clear in the allegations; none of his student assistants were named.  All that was clear was that the paperwork snafu began even before Lloyd had left, so it wasn't Rich coming in and saying "paperwork...we don't need no stinkin' paperwork".  More illustration that it was a conscious decision to bend the rules. He just didn't think it was wrong, and no one told him otherwise (and boy, at the level it was done, it is soooooo minimally wrong to begin with).

I'm not claiming any superhero status for Coach Rodriguez.  I don't like losing any more than anybody else.  What I am claiming is that the media campaign against Rich Rodriguez -- a campaign that Mr. Class of '61 seems to have wholly bought into -- is garbage.

But really, you tell me; what is Mr. Smith's solution?  Is it to fire Rich Rodriguez?  Is that it?  It might help if the old guy made his wishes clear to the rest of us.  If his serious, publicly-aired (published!) claim is that the Head Coach should be fired, right away, to preserve Mr. Smith's sense of heritage in his alma mater, does he make that case?  Seriously?  What is that case?

Mr. Smith gives us this sort of vague pablum:

Now please ask me how I can support our two major sports teams when our University has let things go so far away from any and every Michigan tradition. 

Huh.  And, uh, what disastrous departures from "any and every Michigan tradition" is he talking about?

I am not alone with this very negative attitude, and only the future will tell the University how its supporters are disgusted. 

That's a fine threat.  One nice thing about Mr. Smith is that we know who he is.  I sort of wish every complainer would come out of the woodwork, by name, and be counted.  And be specific, godammit, about what you think could have been done better.

Why Michigan fell in love with coaches from West Virginia, I have no idea, but they have put us back way before our glory days starting with 1969.  The entire thing makes me upset. 

Yeah.  Whatever.  We feel so bad for you, being upset and all.

The president is very kind to send us all a nice Christmas card every year, but I wish she could understand what is happening on State Street.  The only positive thing I can think of is our new athletic director, but it bothers me he seems to support these coaches and that one of them was on the president’s selection team for his new position.  I would assume his hands are tied for at least the next few years.  Maybe when Michigan gets NCAA sanctions in August, we will all really understand how far we have fallen.  Oh, but the football coach’s job is secure for yet another season.  I guess someone forgot the old and new investments that the University has on State and Stadium streets.

Is this the writing of someone who has an important voice in Michigan Athletics, who has knowledge and experience beyond watching "Michigan Replay with Bo Schembechler" from his couch for 27 years?  Or, does this sound like some old crank, blowing off some mostly unimportant steam?

Maybe you have never met a U of M athlete but I've lived with them.  Believe it or not they represent the general poulation, some are great, some are brilliant, and some are stupid.

Please no deifying someone because they are a former Michigan athlete.

Both my parents went to M (met there actually, Dad also went to law school there), as did my brother and sister. I grew up going to every home game and a few away games, spending the whole day in Ann Arbor hearing about what it was like to go there and dreaming of going there myself. I grew up in East Lansing, my mom's from Columbus and every time we lose i get a large scarlet & grey sheet cake from her side of the family who still refer to her as a traitor for going to M, some 50 years later. We all listened to Bob Ufer announce the away games, I had the privilege of meeting Bo as a kid.

I have lived and breathed M sports for the entirety of my 42 years on this planet. My room was blue carpet, maize walls. On spirit day in school before the UM/MSU game I was one of maybe 5 Michigan fans to proudly wear my gear, even if it meant getting beat up, which in 6th grade against eight graders it usually did.

I get 'it' as much as anybody 'gets' it. I grew up seeing the difference between M and other programs. I have always taken pride in being one of the cleaner (not perfect) programs in college football. I understand completely the honor and tradition of athletics at UM, especially the football program. In fact, I hold it very dear to my heart and it is the core of my fandom.

 I just see a completely different side to RR than you do.

If you want to indict his character because of a hit job from some money-grubbing local journalists, be my guest, but don't hold yourself up as some bastion of honor and integrity and bemoan the passing of some bygone era that never existed.

On the one hand, you have an institution, at which RR is the coach, that committed infractions that in the general scheme of things are pretty small potatoes. Furthermore, they did so out of a genuine misinterpretation of a very vaguely defined set of rules. Our program was in the process of self-reporting these issues, correcting them and  being forthright and honest about the whole situation. Pete Carroll, Lane Kiffin and USC this is not. Unfortunately, before M could work through the proper channels, a few journalists with a published bias decided to turn it into a smear campaign. If you want to cry about a bygone era and the loss of honesty and integrity, you should start there.

On the other hand, you have a guy who has stood behind the Mealers and before anything else, told Elliot his scholarship is safe even if he never plays again, then brought to bear the entire M program to help them in their time of need, including oodles of time from one of the most important members of his staff to help in Brock's rehab. Dishonorable? I see a coach who is a pretty strict disciplinarian, tossing players who cross the line off the team, regardless of their importance. I see someone requiring his players to give and to be involved in their community. I see him spending time at Mott's and even taking time out of his schedule to sit with a family of M fans whose baby wasn't going to last the night. I see a coach who is installing a work ethic that i think would have impressed Bo himself, i think Bo would be behind everything RR has done 100%. I hear from parents of players and parents of recuits, not to mention the players and recruits themselves, praising the atmosphere the coaches have developed and the set of values being taught. In short, I see a lot of clear evidence to the contrary that RR is lacking in character.

Can I ask you a question? Do you not know about any of the positive stuff, does it not matter to you, or do you just not care? Seriously, would you let a few too many minutes of practice and a few staffers watching some activities they shouldn't blind you to any kind of evidence that would indicate that RR is not completely devoid of morals?

"... I knew that you'd get negged to death because that's just how things roll on MGoBlog."

You're mistaken on that.  This is, honestly, one of the most civilized Michigan sports sites I've seen.  Ever spend time on MLive?

"Everything you said is true..."

Right... all RichRod had to do in '08 was run a "pro-style" offense with future NFL gunslingers Threet and Sheridan and we would have wound up playing in a BCS game.  Sure!

"... people don't really want to hear the truth..."

I'm with you on this one.  They certainly don't want to hear that '05, '06, and '07 have proven to be mediocre (if not miserable) recruiting years.  They don't want to hear about how the O-line tradition (David Baas and Jake Long aside) had been trashed in Lloyd's last years.  No, no.  ME FEEL BAD!  RICHROD BAD COACH!

"Respect for the institution and those who came before has been thrown out the window.  ... Now it's more about slogans and rally cries than an actual deep concern for tradition and honor."

Elaborate, *please*.  That is hopelessly vague and you sound as slimy as Mr. Smith.  You're hoping to stir emotions and then direct them to your goal (hiring Brady Hoke, perhaps).

"Go Blue!"

But don't even THINK of treating the current coach fairly, 'k?

I graduated 30 years ago.  Rick Leach did too.  So did David Brandon.

Why don't you explain, in detail, why "Respect for the institution and those who came before has been thrown out the window"?  Where, and how, would you like to see a greater demonstration of "actual deep concern for tradition and honor"?

Be very specific.  You really nedd to explain what you are talking about.

As for me, it is not complicated.  I support Michigan football.  I support it with my money, and with my enthusiasm.  Also, my loyalty.  I don't have any trouble whatsoever with throwing all of my enthusiastic support behind the Michigan football team and its head coach.  You seem to have a problem with that.  For reasons that you haven't even made clear, save for the vaguest imaginable phrases about "Respect... tradtition and honor."

Wow, that's a long rant.  Frankly, there just isn't any point in verbally jousting with cowards like you.  You don't exist in real life because no one is so stupid to forward such viewpoints publicly.  You circle your little wagons in the mgobubble so as not to realize that the vast majority of alums find your blind loyalty to be sad.  

You can call me names, challenge my fandom, etc.  I just don't care.  I'm been a Michigan fan my entire life.  I'm a Michigan fan now and will be one until the day I die.  I believe in the TEAM.  The coach is not bigger than the team.  I'm bright enough to realize that just wearing the uniform (or headset) doesn't make a person infallible.   QB's sometimes need to be replaced.  RB's the same.  Defensive coordinators.  Even head coaches.  You say I "turned on the team".  No, you turned on the team by blinding supporting a coach who has done great damage to our program.  We've lost 16 games in two seasons.  We have been hit with NCAA sanctions.  We are now recruiting against the likes of Army and Florida Atlantic.  RichRod has one year left to reverse his damage.  Otherwise, you'll be riding a new bandwagon next season.