0 2E - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 NEW STUDENT EDITION The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com NCAA concludes investigation following practice violations By TIM ROHAN The rumblings calling for Daily Sports Editor Rodriguez's job grew louder last Saturday after Michigan's Nov. 5, 2010 - On Thursday, 41-31 loss against Penn State. the book was finally closed on Now in the middle of a three- the Michigan football pro- game losing streak, the Wol- gram's first black mark in its verines' 2010 season draws history. comparisons to 2009's down- There were no surprises in fall, which included seven Big the NCAA's investigation's ulti- Ten losses in a row. mate findings regarding major Rodriguez and his players violations. Back in May, Michi- have had to answer questions gan responded to allegations since early September about made by the NCAA and pro- avoiding what happened last posed self-imposed sanctions. year. The unfortunate reality for The final penalties weren't too Rodriguez is that despite his fast far off. starts these past two seasons, he "I'm glad the process is over still just has four Big Ten wins so it can no longer be used as and a 13-19 record overall. a thing that's hanging over Given that situation, com- the program from a negative mitting major NCAA violations recruiting standpoint," Michi- under Rodriguez's watch only gan coach Rich Rodriguez said. creates more negative media "That's why I'm glad this pro- attention and groaning from cess is over and we can move fans. on." Brandon boiled down Michi- While the punishment has gan's violations to a misunder- been determined, questions standing regarding the rules of regarding Rodriguez's job secu- practice time and members of rity still persist. Michigan Ath- the quality control staff, who letic Director David Brandon were "overzealous" and acted reiterated his support of Rodri- as coaches. Additionally, there guez again on Thursday. But his was the issue of the University job will be assessed at the end of and the football staff failing to the season, Brandon said, just monitor those mistakes. like every other coach. Over an extended period of "I have said ad nauseam that time, the Wolverines exceeded I have a process for all of our the maximum amount of count- coaches and all of our sports," able hours for athletic-related the athletic director said. "And activity by 65 hours. Brandon at the end of the season, we sit said that 57 of those hours were down and review an enormous committed due to misinter- amount of information that is at pretations of the rules involv- my disposal that pertains to all ing stretching and warm-ups. aspects of the programs. And at The extra time - which Bran- that point, obviouslyI have deci- don was quick to point out was sions to make as it relates to who counted in minutes, not hours coaches any of our sports and - added up incrementally. our coaches have a decision to Based on those violations, make as to whether they want to there were four penalties lev- continue to coach at Michigan. ied that will affect Rodriguez "The situation with our foot- and the program: public repri- ball program is no different mand and censure, three years than our other 26 sports in that probation (one more year than regard. And that's what I'll do Michigan self-proposed) and a at the end of this season and the reduction of 130 hours of count- season after that and the season able, athletically related activ- after that." ity hours over a specific period of time. Rodriguez must also attend the 2011 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar. Of those 130 hours that the Wolverines will lose, 32 of them have already been accounted for and Rodriguez said that all of them should be complete by the end of next summer - about nine months ahead of the deadline. The most pressing results might be the added pressure on Michigan's head coach. It's not just about wins and losses when Brandon sits down to evaluate his coaches. "Wins and losses matter," Brandon said. "So does the man- agement of your staff. So does the pipeline of recruits. So does the academic performance of your student athletes. So does the academic performance of your prospective student ath- letes. So does the conduct of your student athletes. There's a lot of statistical measures in ath- letics. There's no lack of infor- mation. And there's no lack of benchmarking opportunities to look at other prqgrams in simi- lar positioning that we are in, in any of one of our 27 sports." Michigan is still one win away from becoming bowl eli- gible for the first time since Rodriguez took over the pro- gram in 2008. The Wolverines had made a record-34 straight bowl appearances prior to that year. And there is still time to impress with matchups against highly-ranked Ohio State and Wisconsin remaining. "We still have a season to play," Brandon said. "We still have several important games to play, that will be great tests for our football program. Let's just go play the games. And let's let our coach and our play- ers be focused on the task at hand. And then at the end of the season, we'll do what we do at the end of every season: we'll review and see where we've gotten better and where we need to improve." FILE PHOTO/Daily In wake of Rodriguez era, Brady loke named as new head coach By RYAN KARTJE Michigan's Jan. 1 bowl game, Daily Sports Editor many were convinced that for- mer Michigan quarterback Jim Jan. 12, 2011 - After the Harbaugh - tapped by many as worst three-year stretch in the a prototypical "Michigan Man" history of the football program, - would spurn his Stanford Athletic Director Dave Brandon team to help return his declin- announced Tuesday that San ing alma mater to its glory days. Diego State coach Brady Hoke But when Harbaugh opted to will succeed Rich Rodriguez as coach the NFL's San Francisco Michigan's head football coach. 49ers, the choice seemed to be Holce will become the pro- Les Miles, another Michigan gram's 19th coach in its 131-year Man who played with Brandon history. under former coach Bo Schem- "We are pleased to announce bechler in the 1970s. After meet- the hiring of Brady," Brandon ing with Brandon on Monday, wrote in the press release. "He Miles quashed any speculation is a terrific coach and will be a the next day, announcing his great ambassador and leader for return to Baton Rouge, La. our football program. We look With both Harbaugh and forward to having him build a Miles out of the picture, the door championship program on the opened for another Michigan field and in the classroom." Man - Hoke, who served as the University spokesman Rick Wolverines' defensive line coach Fitzgerald said University Presi- during the team's 1997 National dent Mary Sue Coleman would Championship run. not comment on the hiring of Following the announcement, Hoke until he is formally intro- Brandon denied that either duced in a press conference at 1 Harbaugh or Miles were ever p.m tomorrow. He did, however, offered the job. say that Coleman fully supported "The job was never offered to Brandon and the search process. them," Brandon said. "We did Hoke's hiring comes on the have different discussions with heels of a week full of rumors them that were helpful and posi- and speculation about who tive." would coach the Wolverines. The athletic director main- When Brandon announced tained, six days after he cut ties that he would wait until after with Rodriguez, that Hoke was his first choice. Rodriguez was criticized throughout his 15-22 tenure for not understanding the tradition of college football's most win- ningest program. So when Bran- don announced that Michigan would undergo its second coach- ing search in three years, an understanding of the program's history was naturally one of his criteria. And with eight years in Ann Arbor under his belt, Hoke definitively fit Brandon's requirement. "Brady Hoke understands Michigan and he wanted this job because it has been dream job," [ G GBrandon told the AP. "We won't have to teach him the words 223 North Main Street to 'The Victors,' and I believe Ann Arbor, Michigan our players will respond to him 665-5340 because I got 100 percent posi- tive feedback from anybody who played for him here or since he left Michigan." Aside from struggling to 0 "grasp Michigan's traditions, Rodriguez's teams were known for notoriously bad defense, fin- Bekatishing 108th, 82nd and 67th in total defense in the coach's three *dFauig years at thehelm. So when Brandon was asked *q Saabout improving the Wolver- ines' defense with a new coach, Brandon made his intentions clear. Weekdays 7am-3pm "Is there a thought of getting a defensive-minded head coach? Sundays 8am-3pm - There's a thought of getting a defensive-minded everything," M Brandon said at last week's press conference. "I want the ball boys to be defensive-minded." And with Hoke, the Wolver- ines will get just that, as the coach turned San Diego State's 114th-ranked defense into the nation's 44th-ranked unit in just two years as the Aztecs' coach. Much of that may have been due to his defensive coordinator, Rocky Long, who runs a 3-3-5 defense similar to what former Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Robinson ran last season. But with Long primed to replace Hoke as San Diego State's head coach, the Wolverines' coordi- nator positions are wide open. That includes the offensive coordinator spot, as Calvin Magee took the same job at Pitt this afternoon. Hoke's coaching pedigree, however, has been a cause for concern for some - especially at the advent of Michigan's coaching search when Hoke was named as a possible candidate. In eightcyears as head coach of Ball State and San Diego State, Hoke finished a modest 47-50, with a 1-1 record in bowl games. He also managed just one win against a ranked team in both of his previous jobs combined. The Big Ten will offer Hoke a serious competition upgrade from the Mid-American Confer- ence and the Mountain West, and an offensive overhaul could be in store - the Aztecs ran a pro-style offense, with quarterback Ryan Lindley accounting for -33 yards on the ground in 2010. And with Denard Robin- son - one of the most danger- ous running quarterbacks in NCAA history - at his disposal, Hoke's approach to Michigan's offense could be the talk of the next few weeks, especially since Robinson has yet to comment on whether he'd stay in Ann Arbor without Rodriguez as coach. Question marks aside, Hoke has made it clear all along that - unlike Harbaugh and Miles - his career goal was to become head coach at Michigan. And with Brandon's hiring of a Mich- igan Man, many alumni and current players have reacted positively to their new coach. "This is a new start of what Michigan always has been," red- shirt junior defensive end Will Heininger said last night after a players' meeting. "And this is the kind of coach you want. Dave Brandon really did have a process as he explained in there and he stuck by it no matter what everybody said. He wanted the best person for us and that's who we got." The Associated Press and Daily News Editor Joseph Lichertman contributed to this report At Robinson impresses coaches, adjusting well to new offense M By TIM ROHAN explosive Wolverine offense Daily Sports Editor will try to avoid a slump in 2011. His left tackle, Taylor April 4, 2011 - It didn't take Lewan, summed it up perfectly long for Denard Robinson to in an interview with MGoBlue. make Greg Mattison eat his com on Friday. words. "No one has any doubts, Michigan's star quarterback Denard is a great quarterback," and defensive coordinator had Lewan said. "That's prob- been exchanging friendly jabs ably the No. 1 question: How's before spring practice started Denard taking to the new - and Robinson has served his offense. Denard's doing a great coach a large piece of humble job." pie. Then Lewan deadpanned "I've had to be really hum- and looked directly into the ble around him lately," Matti- camera: "So you guys can stop son said. "Now, the other guy worrying. We're going to be just I've really started to get on, so fine." he's been getting hit a couple Most of the discussion sur- of times. So I can get on him a rounding Robinson's transition little bit." from Rich Rodriguez's spread While Mattison turns his option offense to Brady Hoke's mockery to Devin Gardner, one pro-style scheme has focused would assume, Robinson has on the quarterback's ability to dazzled his new coaches with take snaps from under center. his speed and athleticism. In the same MGoBlue.com "If the darn kid would throw video, Robinson downplayed the ball, rather than run all playing under center, because the time - I mean, anybody he played in an offense that can scramble," Mattison said, required it in high school. But tongue in cheek. he did say it was the biggest dif- "No, I'll tell you one thing, if ference between last year's and you're calling defenses against this year's offense. him - I said it after one of our "When you look at taking days - we rushed four, played the snap from center and the regular coverage and you're mechanics that are involved, asking for trouble," Mattison and I can tell you we're way added. "When he drops back ahead with that part of it and you're not perfect in your than we were at San Diego lanes, it's going to be a first State," said Hoke on FoxSports down. Because he beats some- Detroit's "Inside Michigan body and he's going to beat you Football" show on Thursday. inside or outside - I didn't real- "The quarterback there, was a ize how fast he was. shotgun guy all through high "I mean, there's guys that school and his first two years at have perfect angles, and all of a San Diego State. sudden I look and they're past "So Denard's done a great the stakes. He really is some- job. And I think, sometimes, thing." people feel you're running The quarterback who fin- the spread so the quarterback ished sixth place in the Heis- must not be able to throw the man trophy voting last season football - that's not the case and was the centerpiece of an with Denard. I think he's made a ' improvements every day out there." Robinson's answers during his interview carried the same air of enthusiasm that Hoke and Mattison had bragged the play- ers bringto work every day. "Learning, learning, learn- ing," Robinson said of what he's working on now. "Just coming in here ready to learn. That's the only thing I'm doing right now, trying to learn the offense." And how does he feel about the new offense so far? "I like it, I like it," Robinson said. "I think it's going to help me a lot - get me ready for the next level." Interestingly enough, Robin- son's high school coaches, with whom he has stayed in contact, said Robinson's ultimate goal is to play in the NFL - playing in the pro-style offense probably gives Robinson a better shot of playing quarterback at the next level. ESPN's NFL Draft Analyst Todd McShay told The Michi- gan Daily in an interview dur- ing the NFL Scouting Combine that he didn't think Robinson would play quarterback in the NFL - but a successful 2011 could change that notion. For now, Robinson is work- ing with his receivers to settle into an offense that requires him to drop back and spray passes all over the field. "We come in every day ready to learn and readyto play," Rob- inson said. And though Mattison may be off his back, but offensive coordinator Al Borges isn't let- ting up. "(It's) funny," Robinson said of his relationship with Borges. "Because he always gives me crap all the time - it's cool."