I'm a Michigan fan living in Omaha, and have seen how both coaches under fire. The vast majority of Michigan fans want Carr gone NOW, and I am one of them. He has muddled them in 3 and 4 loss seasons for several years now. He is ULTRA conservative and has NO imagination in play calling. And for some reason, he plays to the talent level of his opponents. No matter if its a MAC team or Ohio State. A 7 point lead is big enough for Carr to play prevent defenses and run up the middle.
Seriously, Michigan has not had the talent drop off that Nebraska has had. They are one of the most talented teams in the country EVERY year, yet Lloyd is more concerned with 'how hard they played' than in winning. WTH!!!
I know Husker fans aren't happy with Callahan, but he still has a little grace I think, especially after the CU win. It looks like his system is starting to take hold and will get better as his recruits get more seasoned. But Carr has NO excuses. We want him gone. We want to get back to beating Ohio State and staying in the top Five, not top 20!
I'm also a Michigan fan in Omaha and I couldn't agree more with this quote. Coach Carr always seems to know how to do the very least with his talent. For instance, f you watch any game tape or the upcoming game for that matter, our running game is purely off tackle and off guard-- you will never see us run around the ends (unless Antonio Bass is in the game)- which is a dead giveaway that we're going to do just that. Bass is #18 in case you're interested- so keep your programs handy.
The biggest problem with Coach Carr is that once he has any kind of lead in the 4th quarter, he packs in the offense and relies soley on the defense to produce the W. That may be well and good when our defense is extraordinary (see 1997 Michigan Wolverines) but it's not acceptable when we have consistently seen that type of mentality produce losses. I know that Michigan's offense is capable of more late in games because in games where Michigan is down, the offense is tenfold more aggressive and ultimately productive. This has been the story of Michigan football throughout the entirety of Coach Carr's tenure.
As a fan this is utterly frusterating because the talent is clearly there. Michigan turns out a Top 5-10 recruiting class year-in, year-out-- but we certainly aren't finishing in the Top 5 in the country by the same token. I'd prefer to see more of a "riverboat gambler" (excuse my cliche) coach get in there to utilize the talent there.... open up the passing game more, be more creative with rushing schemes, and also be more liberal with blitzing packages.
Any other Michigan fans out there agree with me- or do I sound too far off?
. After those guys came John Navarre- who struggled his sophomore and junior years and then put together a pretty solid senior season- in 2003 Michigan went 10-3: last time we beat Ohio State and Notre Dame(38-0). You might say that Carr doesn't open up the offense on account of Henne being a sophomore, but how many years does a guy have to start before you open it up for him? Gary Moeller was head coach prior to Carr and while he did lead Michigan to some of their worst seasons of recent history (see 1994, 1995), he also lead Michigan to a couple Big Ten titles and most notably a Rose Bowl win over Washington(back in the Mark Brunnell glory days) one year.