It appears that Michigan lost a little more than just the game against Ohio State.
ESPN has learned that Michigan coach Lloyd Carr will hold a 10 a.m. press conference on Monday at which time he is expected to announce his retirement.
Carr led many to believe he would retire after this season when he altered his contract last winter and made sure all of his assistants were given unprecedented, two-year deals in the spring. Speculation has run rampant about 62-year-old coach's future.
"There will be a day to discuss that, and this isn't it," he said Saturday.
With a 14-3 home loss Saturday,
Carr became the first coach at Michigan (No. 21 BCS, No. 23 AP) to go 1-6 over a
seven-year stretch against No. 7 Ohio State (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten).
Cornerback Morgan Trent said Carr did not address his future before or after the game.
"We'll just have to wait and see like everyone else," Trent said.
Signs have been pointing toward this being the 62-year-old's
13th and final year at the helm for Michigan (8-4, 6-2). Carr altered his contract last December,
allowing him to easily make this his final season as coach and
still collect deferred compensation. In March, his assistant
coaches were given two-year deals to pay them through Feb. 28,
2009, even if they are not coaching at Michigan.
Michigan opened the season ranked fifth in The Associated Press Top 25 but quickly fell out of the national championship discussion. Since becoming head coach in 1995, Carr is 121-40 and 81-23 in
the Big Ten. He has won five Big Ten titles, one national title and led the Wolverines to a bowl game every season.
Many others, however, have been talking about his possible
successor for months, if not years.
LSU coach Les Miles seems to be at the top of the list because
he played for the late Bo Schembechler at Michigan. That is where
Miles met his wife, and he was an assistant there under
Schembechler.
Even though Miles appears to be in a great situation leading the
top-ranked Tigers in a talent-rich area of the country, the school
seemed concerned enough about him bolting for Ann Arbor that it put
a specific clause in his contract to make it an expensive move.
In the "termination by coach" section of his deal, Michigan is
the only other school mentioned. It states that Miles will not seek
or accept employment as Michigan's coach. If Miles does leave LSU
to coach the Wolverines, he must pay LSU $1.25 million.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.