lansing state journal: Lloyd Carr a Spartan? He was close to joining Michigan State staff twice

Posted on Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 10:07 a.m.

In 1980, Lloyd Carr was on the verge of joining George Perles' staff at Michigan State. Problem is, the Spartans decided to hire Muddy Waters instead of Perles.

"I know George was disappointed," Carr told the Lansing State Journal. "But I was disappointed too."

Carr, who is in the Lansing area tonight to receive the Duffy Daugherty Memorial Award for contributions to college football, was hired by Michigan coach Bo Schembechler's one month later.

Three years later, Waters was fired and Perles finally got the Michigan State job. He immediately offered Carr the defensive coordinator position.

Carr decided to stay with Schembechler.

"That was a tough deal, because at the time I was not the coordinator (at U-M), but Bo had told me to prepare myself because I was going to be his next coordinator," Carr told the Lansing State Journal. "I think George was mad at me for a while."

Carr was the Michigan secondary coach for seven seasons before becoming defensive coordinator from 1987 to 1994. He was named head coach in 1995.