Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, regents mum on NCAA investigation
University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman quickly left a Board of Regents meeting Thursday and did not make herself available to reporters following a meeting in which an internal audit regarding the school's football program was on the agenda.
Michigan spokesperson Kelly Cunningham said Coleman would not comment about an on-going NCAA probe into possible violations stemming from how much Michigan's football team practiced last year or anything else related to athletics.
Mary Sue Coleman
"She supports the coach (Rich Rodriguez) and she supports the football team," Cunningham said.
Regents also declined to comment on the investigation.
Regent Andrew Richner said during Thursday's meeting that the board had been made aware of the NCAA investigation, but had been advised by legal counsel not to comment. Richner also declined comment following the meeting.
Michigan released an internal audit earlier this week showing the football program failed to complete logs detailing how much time players spent performing Countable Athletically Related Activities.
Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez does not personally fill out the forms, which are not mandated by the NCAA but part of the university's compliance process. Rodriguez was made aware of the situation by the university's audit office July 24.
Rodriguez's program was the only of the school's varsity sports not to submit practice logs.
On Wednesday, Rodriguez declined to address the issue, saying only that "the log process for those forms was corrected as soon as I learned of the issue."
Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554.
Comments
BillinNC
Sat, Nov 21, 2009 : 10:13 a.m.
This seems to fit in RR's behavior pattern. That is, not following rules- example not honoring his WVU contract (and getting bailed out by UM), not following internal UM rules (dodging accountability),there are probably others we have not heard of yet. Lots of fog, fog is not good.
djuninho
Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 1:29 p.m.
Michigan usually pre-empts the NCAA by proposing penalties for the program in question... It seemed to work for the basketball program, when UM banned itself from postseason play, etc... It will be interesting to see if UM proposes scholarship reductions for a year or two... We'll see what happens The worst that will happen is a loss of scholarships
Salinegoblue
Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 1:18 p.m.
MSC is smart not to comment until after the NCAA releases it's findings. If the U of M football program is found guilty of major violations look for her to fire RR immediately with cause. Especially after the escapade with the fab 5. Remember in the history of U of M football we've always had a clean program and never been found guilty of a major violation. She will need to send a strong message to all if we're guilty.
kerch65
Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 6:09 a.m.
NCAA is a joke anyway seriously they are spending way to much time on this crap i mean come on we all know that ohio state and usc cheated big time look at the m. clarett deal with money and cars given to him the exam he was able to take over the phone or how about troy smith getting paid then theres usc the r, bush deal with the home for his parents while he was still in school
azwolverine
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 : 10:08 p.m.
The only thing this article says is that Coleman did not comment on what was said in the meeting. It says nothing about whether or not the NCAA 'cares' about the investigation or whether or not any violations are pending...or did I miss something?
GoblueinNE_PA
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 : 10:06 p.m.
You really don't understand the situation, do you Tater?
aturid
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 : 9:55 p.m.
Umm...don't you mean "legal COUNSEL"?
saginaw
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 : 9:21 p.m.
A real leader...
captain
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 : 8:30 p.m.
but no love for billy martin... not from mary sue. when will he do the right thing and immediately resign? the damage his mismanagement and mistreatment of students and staff is tearing apart the michigan football family... it's so pathetic... devastating...
RASWVU
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 : 7:13 p.m.
Where's Mike Brown? The 'Waterboy" should be able to tell the media what was said in that meeting. He seems to have a knack of letting the media know what happens at meetings he did not attend.
StarZone
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 : 6:51 p.m.
It's easy to read too much into this but, yeah, no vote of confidence? (ie. internal audit shows no major concerns, expect NCAA to find little objection, and RR will be here next year.)