But, with the retirement of the coach of the college football team I follow most, I wanted to take a moment to tip my cap to Lloyd Carr. Though I'm sure I will continue to be mocked by my Columbus/OSU friends and family for his recent failings against OSU (even as they continue to forget or not acknowledge that he, much like Tressel is doing now, simply FUCKING DOMINATED OSU for the first six years as Michigan's head coach), I think it's important to reflect back on the career of one of the true "good guys" of sports.
Yes, his sideline interviews were the stuff of legend when it came to his outward crotchetyness, but when one studies Lloyd Carr the man as well as Lloyd Carr the coach it becomes apparent that he truly is one of the great people of the sport. And, lest we forget, it's still just a game, and college athletics are still about the kids themselves.
Here's the perfect article about Lloyd's career, as told by The Wolverine's John Borton:
The best portion of a good man’s life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love.
— William Wordsworth
Lloyd Carr owns 13 Big Ten championship rings, dating all the way back to 1980, the year he joined Bo Schembechler’s staff as an assistant coach. He can flash five as Michigan’s head man, or haul out the diamond-studded national championship ring from 1997, representing a pinnacle few college coaches ever reach.
His football numbers speak for themselves — a 121-40 record, the seventh-best winning percentage (.752) among active college coaches, and the thirdmost victories in Michigan football history, behind only Schembechler (194) and Fielding Yost (165).
Carr led Michigan to the top of the mountain in 1997, a climb no U-M coach had completed since 1948. He kept the Wolverines competitive and clean, a rare combination in today’s college football world.
He also made a high-profile impact off the field, becoming the first coach in the history of Michigan’s athletic department to endow a scholarship. His efforts to raise funds for a new C.S. Mott Children’s and Women’s Hospital are widely recognized.
Everyone knows the headline-grabbers. But the behind-the-scenes Carr — the one who always somehow made time for little, nameless, unremembered acts — proved better than anything on ESPN.
Just ask Tim Baker, head coach at Constantine High School, tucked away in the southwest corner of Michigan. Baker’s football team won the Division VI state championship in 2004, running the Wing-T offense. His squad racked up huge rushing numbers, catching the attention of a man who loved to run the football.
Baker received a message one day after school and immediately knew it had to be a prank.
"The secretary came down and laid the note on my desk, and it said 'Call Lloyd Carr,'" Baker recalled. "Now the first thing I’m thinking is, 'Okay, which one of my buddies is pulling one on me here?' But I call the number back.
"A secretary answers the phone: 'Michigan football.' I’m going, 'Wow — these guys are good. They’re really setting me up here.' I’m still not buying into this. Then she puts me on hold and a Michigan broadcast of a game comes on.
"All of a sudden I hear, 'Coach Carr.' He has a voice that you just recognize. I just about came out of my chair."
After establishing just where tiny Constantine was, Carr supplied the sort of lift the locals will never draw from SportsCenter.
"He just congratulated us on our championship, said he enjoyed watching the game, and just complimented us up and down," Baker said. "It was quite a thrill for me to have a Big Ten coach of that caliber call.
"But the one thing I was really impressed with was that he was preparing for Texas in the Rose Bowl that year. And he had as much time as I wanted to have with him on the phone... I said this guy took time out for a little Division VI coach, to just call up and congratulate him. I just thought that was cool."
Michigan fans across the nation thought it was cool when Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe rolled into town for the Notre Dame game. Carr’s welcoming of his big-screen buddy drew nationwide attention, but the coach also put his efforts into lesser-known gladiators.
Nick Gasperoni, a senior trombone player in the Michigan Marching Band, collapsed on the football field in a Monday rehearsal following that victory. He’d suffered a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia, requiring CPR from band members and a shocking by a defibrillator to save his life and prevent brain damage.
Stabilized at the hospital, Gasperoni soon received a get-well card from the team, signed by Carr, Mike Hart, Jake Long and Shawn Crable. That act alone lifted the senior’s spirits, but he soon received a bigger boost.
Carr himself popped in on Friday afternoon of that week, a day prior to taking on Penn State.
"Remember, that at this point in the season, Michigan was only 1-2, thus it was a huge game to prove that this season wasn’t going to be a failure," Gasperoni noted. "Despite the looming game, there was Lloyd Carr, willing to give his time for a band member. I think it speaks volumes for his character, the character of Michigan athletics and the Michigan family in general."
U-M fan Brad Forney understands. His grandfather once coached former Michigan assistant Terry Malone in Detroit. When cancer began to engulf the grandfather, he received extensive treatment at the University of Michigan hospital to slow the dreaded disease.
During one hospital stay, Malone surprised him with a visit, spending several hours discussing life and Michigan football. Once the grandfather could walk again, Malone took him for a visit down to Schembechler Hall.
"Immediately Lloyd welcomed him in and referred to him as Coach Williams," Forney noted. "You wouldn’t believe the impact that had on my grandfather. He was so excited that someone as high up in the coaching ranks would call him by the name 'Coach.' Lloyd talked to him for about 30 minutes. They discussed football and strategies, and finally they went out to take in a practice.
"Grandpa met with the team before finally having to leave because his body just couldn’t take the standing anymore. Coach Carr told him that he was welcome anytime and that he was considered part of the Michigan family.
"My grandfather never got that chance — he passed away this past October. It seems like such a simple story, but this day helped my grandfather forget about his pain for a while, and it stuck with all of us. A man who fought in World War II, played minor league baseball, worked in the auto industry for 40 years, and coached for 30 years would look back on this as being the most exciting day he has ever had."
Forney wrote a simple thank-you note to Carr a week after his grandfather’s passing. He received in return a personal letter, Carr noting that he remembered the day and "Coach Williams" very well.
"This really made me realize how lucky we are to have someone like Coach Carr," Forney said. "It just amazes me what a standup person he is. No matter the time or situation, he holds up the values of a Michigan Man. Too often we get wrapped up in wins and losses, but this event in my life made me realize how great a leader he really is."
Kim Bergsma knows. This diehard Michigan fan and attendee at several of Carr’s women’s football academies wrote to the head coach on a number of occasions.
Just after the Wolverines reached the summit in ’97, she tumbled into a crevasse of a personal health crisis. She happened to mention it in one of her missives to the man in the big office.
"Less than one week later I got a large package from UPS from Schembechler Hall," Bergsma recalled. "In the box was a pick — the very same picks that were hung up in the locker room during the 1997 season for the Into Thin Air motivation — and on the pick are written the words: 'Kim: For your mountain. You will do it. Lloyd Carr.' I treasure that ice pick. It proudly sits on a shelf in our family room, and I see it every day, and remember. I will never forget sitting on the floor of my living room and weeping, not quite believing that this man had done this for me, and then writing to him to thank him and for the letter he wrote back to me. He is a special person."
Carr deserved better, football-wise, in his last days as Michigan’s head football coach. A team that could never get healthy clawed to the brink of a championship, only to suffer a numbing disappointment.
But that’s not how the man will be remembered, in 10, 20 or 30 years. For the football fixated, he’ll be the one who brought a national championship back to Ann Arbor after a half-century hiatus.
For many more, he’ll be the man who took the time to lift others up in times of great need.
Those acts gleam like no crystal football ever will.
I know that I, myself, have tended to get caught up in the wins and losses... I'm aware that not too long ago I advocated him leaving the program in this very space.
But, after an 8-game winning streak and a near-run at a Big 10 title all while battling injuries to the two most important players on the team, not to mention a complete snap-shot of the man's career, it's important to remember that one should be careful what one wishes for.
Lloyd's decision to step down probably came at the right time, both for him and for the program. And, with all of the Les Miles hullabaloo, who knows if the program will be super-competitive anytime in the near future.
But, while Michigan's football team might not have won too many of the "big ones" the past few years--and, while there's no such thing as a "perfectly clean" program in college sports these days--there's something to be said for having a coach who not only keeps your team mostly competitive but also never loses his convictions or his ethics. People like Pete Carroll would be wise to take a page from that book.
Thanks, Lloyd. Godspeed on whatever journey you take next.
