During halftime of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, Wolverine head coach Lloyd Carr ripped into Todd Harris, an ABC sideline reporter. Harris asked Carr why he didn’t try to move the ball down the field given that the Blue had timeouts left. Carr told Harris his was a “dumb question” and marched off. Here’s a transcript of exactly what was said:
Harris: “Well coach I know you get second-guessed all week long, how come you didn’t go with anything when you have two timeouts left in the half?
Carr: “Why would you ask a dumb question like that?”
Harris: “Well, I’m just curious with 44 seconds left with a chance to make a move down the field and possibly get a field goal.”
Carr: [stares for a second then walks away, appearing to smile and shake his head, disappointed in the young man or disgusted or both]
Harris: “All right Keith [Jackson], back to you. I guess coach didn’t want to answer that.”
Lloyd Carr is a stubborn man. He is also a very good coach and has assembled an excellent staff. His record speaks for itself. Michigan is expected to win just about every game they play and he brings in the top recruits (look at the NFL players he’s produced). You can’t win them all, yet many of Lloyd Carr’s critics think he can. You can’t compare him to underachievers like Texas coach Mack Brown – Carr is a winner. He’s won the national championship, and with his win over the Buckeyes on Saturday, he’s now won 3 Big Ten championships since 1997. Finally, against teams ranked in the top ten, Lloyd Carr is 14-3 (and he’ll have a chance to add to that in Rose Bowl).
Now, was he right in ripping Harris? Absolutely not, but I understand. This was a dumb question and could have been a set-up. What was Carr supposed to say? “Gee Todd, I never thought of that. Yes, we should have gone for it.”
With a 21-7 lead against the defending national champion Buckeyes (who also have one of the top defenses in the country), and backed up on your own 30-yard line, you sit on the ball. Plain and simple.
Carr later apologized (on his Sunday morning TV show, Michigan Replay).
2 Comments
HJ Hanson
Remember – Tom Brady was a second string quarterback at U of M in his senior year. Carr – Good judge of talent?
mvictors
What does that have to do with this post?
Anyway, to say Carr isn’t a good judge of talent because he didn’t play Brady is ridiculous! Brady wasn’t heavily recruited yet Carr saw something in him to give him a shot. And even after his college career not a single GM saw the potential of Brady – not a single draft expert, no one. So don’t give me this bs.