Rich Rodriguez and Mike Barwis will never say this, but the impression I got was that they thought Michigan was soft.
That was after spending a couple of days last summer in Ann Arbor chronicling the new regime brought in from West Virginia. This was before 3-9, before the end of Michigan's 33-year bowl streak. This was a look at a young, aggressive staff -- Rodriguez the head coach, Barwis the strength coach -- getting ready to rip up the rug and put in entirely new carpet. So to speak.
"It's definitely a culture change," former defensive back Morgan Trent told me. "What first hit us was the strength and conditioning aspect. The lifts we were doing, that was the biggest culture shock. That was rough, it still is rough.
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| Rich Rodriguez's second season at Michigan begins under the cloud of alleged NCAA violations. (AP) |
Those words echoed after reading the results of a report in the Detroit Free Press of Michigan's alleged violations of NCAA weekly work limits for athletes.
The Freep quotes several anonymous sources -- parents and players -- saying that the Michigan staff overworked players. Before reading the entire account, my first reaction was, "So what? I bet every program fudges a little bit on the 20-hour NCAA work week."
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There is no gray area in the Freep report. The story is solid and well reported, although it was a bit troubling that not one of the accusing sources went on the record. The Freep said the sources feared repercussions from the coaching staff. I'll buy that. Sooner or later, though, names are going to have to be attached with comments.
Sunday's in-season routine at Michigan was especially troubling. Into the facility early in the morning after a game, four hours of lifting, team meetings, perhaps not home until 10 p.m. Some schools have their mandatory off day on Sundays during the season. Even if players aren't off, I can't think of one program that works players to that extent the day after a game.
Barwis is one of the best in the country. He's a balls-to-the-wall, take-no-prisoners type. Most strength coaches are. Barwis has a mixed martial arts background and used to have pet wolves. None of that is to suggest, though, that Michigan would be accused to these types of NCAA violations.
Michigan needed a change of culture. It had become stale under Lloyd Carr. I'm sure that's what Rich Rod was thinking when he took the job. It was a chance to resurrect a sleeping giant. If 27 victories the previous three years translates into "sleeping."
"We were playing in New Year's bowls and this and that but we weren't winning the Big Ten," Trent said last year. "Is that a losing season? Somewhat, in our eyes, it is."
I believe Rodriguez wanted to remove whatever "country club" atmosphere (my words, not his) existed at Michigan. The average lineman at West Virginia weighed about 295 pounds and stood between 6-feet-2 and 6-4. Barwis said Michigan linemen were "a little taller, heavier, body fat was a lot higher."
Remember, Michigan linemen won Outlands, so this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but things were going to change.
"We only lift three days a week," Barwis told me last summer. "The key is what you do outside of that. The program that was here, that's pretty much what they did. They lifted weights, they trained and they went out and played football."
Remember, that quote is 14 or 15 months old. Still, it resonated when I read the Free Press story. Players reportedly were pressured into showing up for voluntary workouts. While those pressures can exist anywhere, the Freep also reported that graduate assistants were monitoring seven-on-seven drills. That is a clear NCAA violation if found true by investigators.
"We were the strongest team in the country the last four years," Barwis said of West Virginia. "No one was stronger than us. Best conditioned, the fastest, [best] change of direction, most balance, best body awareness, most explosive."
As the Freep did Sunday, I wrote about the sign above the Michigan weight room:
Through these doors walks the best conditioned, hardest-working team in America.
Perhaps, but what did Michigan coaches do to get there? It seems obvious now that the NCAA is going to come in a program that has never had a major violation. It doesn't help that Rodriguez already is under fire going into his second season.
The coach is making $2.5 million per year through 2013. Michigan helped him pay off a buyout due West Virginia. More than 20 players have left Michigan since he started. In light of the latest report, that suddenly becomes more relevant.
On the football side, Rich Rod's famed spread option offense has sputtered mostly since he arrived. He is planning to play three quarterbacks Saturday in the opener against Western Michigan.
It's an opener Michigan should win. Now it seems like a must win. If the Wolverines lose to another inferior opponent, Sunday's report will seem like a gnat flying around Rodriguez' head.
There will be vultures circling his program.
