Kickoff Zone College Football Blog

Ater announcing the findings of their internal investigation yesterday, the University of Michigan football program has been getting thoroughly blasted by just about everyone in the media.

Joe LaPointe, of fanhouse, writes:

So Rodriguez, among others, received a letter of reprimand. Training hours will be cut back. Minor staff reductions will reduce “quality control” coaches.

And that’s pretty much it.

There was no reduction of scholarships, no ban from bowl games, no television blackouts and no forfeiture of victories from the record book. Does the punishment fit the crime?

Certainly, the violations revealed so far in Michigan football do not match the dirty-money odor that wafted from the “Fab Five” scandal that put the Wolverines’ basketball program on probation.

But the NCAA might increase the football penalties after it meets with university authorities in August. Tuesday’s admissions and self-imposed sanctions amount to plea-bargaining.

Mike Celizic, of NBC Sports, comments:

“I don’t think this is a black eye,” Brandon told reporters. “This is a bruise.”

This is beneath the dignity and honor Michigan had built up over more than a century of academic and athletic excellence. Rodriguez is an embarrassment to the legacy of Fielding Yost, Bump Elliott and Bo Schembechler.

Dave Hackenberg, of the Toledo Blade, argues that Michigan’s actions “fail the smell test.”

So UM self-imposed the following penalties: the Wolverines will forfeit two hours of mandatory participation time over the next two years, 130 hours, for every one hour violation that occurred in 2008 and ‘09. The number of quality control assistants and the extent of their roles will be reduced.

Throw in a couple years of double secret probation for good measure and let’s call it a day.

Dan Wetzel, of Yahoo Sports, believes that Rodriguez has no room for error, but that in the end, it will all come down to the Wolverines’ performance on the field in the upcoming season, which will be tough with the tricky schedule they face:

In the past, when he got his players, he won big. There remains plenty of optimism that he’ll do it again. He better.

In the season with no room for error, one of those watershed games looms in week one. Michigan will celebrate its nearly quarter-billion dollar renovations to the Big House. It will host a tricky Connecticut team that is a way better program than many Wolverines fans realize. It’s not unlike his first game at Michigan when Utah, a team that would wind up 13-0, won in Ann Arbor in front of many fans who neither recognized nor respected its stature.

On the other hand, ESPN’S Mark Schlabach feels like this has been overblown:

What Rich Rodriguez is accused of doing probably happens on most college football practice fields around the country. It’s like a pack of cars driving 80 mph on the interstate and only one gets pulled over.

Nonetheless, it’s an embarrassment Michigan has never had to endure before.

In all honesty, Rodriguez is accused of NCAA misdemeanors. He is accused of having too many coaches involved in offseason conditioning programs, staff meetings and film rooms. He is accused of having his players practice too long and too often. The violations do not involve cash payments to players, academic fraud or improper recruiting inducements.

Seriously, Schlabach actually gets it right, for once.  The attention that this is getting and the ridiculous claims of some of those in the media is not warranted.   Not once did I hear one mention, of cash, steroids, strippers, or players driving brand new, fully loaded, Cadillac SUVs- not to mention that based on their performances over the last two years, I doubt they’d even get a third hand 1985 Camaro from those boosters.

Tags: Big 10 Conference, College Football, Hot Seat, Infractions, Law, NCAA, Rich Rodriguez, Schedule, University of Michigan, Wolverines, bcs, coaching carousel, recap, rumor mill // 2 Comments »