Michigan admits to violations in football

Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

The University of Michigan has been playing football for more than a century, earning respect by becoming the nation’s winningest program while avoiding the stigma attached to teams that break NCAA rules.

Until now.

The school admitted Tuesday to a series of violations by its storied football program and said it had reprimanded seven people, including third-year coach Rich Rodriguez. Another staffer was fired and the school released more than 150 pages detailing a breakdown in communication within the athletic department as well as self-imposed sanctions that include two years of probation.

The school now has to hope that its explanation and sanctions will satisfy the NCAA, which will hold a hearing on the case Aug. 13-14 in Seattle. A final decision isn’t expected for 6-10 weeks later, perhaps sometime during the Big Ten season.

Athletic director David Brandon said he doesn’t believe the problems related to practice time and coaching activities are enough to warrant the loss of scholarships.

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

Brandon bristled at the suggestion Michigan had cheated.

“Bad word, inaccurate word,” he said. “We made mistakes and where I come from, a mistake is different than cheating.”

The violations came to light just before the 2009 season when the Detroit Free Press reported the program was exceeding NCAA limits on practice and training time, according to anonymous players. That prompted school and NCAA investigations, and the NCAA outlined five potentially major rules violations, all related to practices and workouts.