Report: Lloyd Carr advised quarterback to decommit from Michigan

By Kyle Meinke Michigan Football Reporter for MLive.com

Posted on Wed, Aug 22, 2012 : 4:15 p.m.

When Lloyd Carr retired as Michigan coach, he reportedly advised quarterback John Wienke to decommit from the Wolverines. Wienke did, eventually switching his commitment to Iowa.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

John Wienke committed to play quarterback for the Michigan football team. But when Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr decided to retire, Wienke was advised to head elsewhere.

By Lloyd Carr.

Wienke told the The (Iowa City) Gazette that Carr, who retired after the 2007 season, told him to head to Iowa instead of playing for Michigan. He heeded that advice.

"When Coach Carr retired, he was the one -- I actually always liked Iowa -- but he told me probably to go with Iowa," Wienke told the paper. "That's probably the next-best thing that was going to be for me with my style of play."

Wienke was ranked by Scout as the No. 21 quarterback in the country, and No. 14 by Rivals, coming out of Tuscola, Ill. in 2008. But he was a 6-foot-5 pocket quarterback, and was concerned he wouldn't fit into the spread-option scheme employed by incoming coach Rich Rodriguez.

Wienke, now a senior, has played sparingly for the Hawkeyes. He is competing this fall for the team's No. 1 punter spot.

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Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2588, by email at kylemeinke@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.