On Monday, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel held a 40-minute talk with the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, and he had some very interesting things to say about the recent tribulations of Michigan athletics.
On football graduation rates:
“These past two years have gotten better, but before that, the graduation rates were terrible, with football somewhere in the 50s and 60s when our total six-year rate at the University is somewhere near 90 percent..."
On football players and academics:
“The thing you have to keep in mind is there’s football and there’s everything else. There are 930 or so recruited athletes and 115 play football, and most of those teams actually have great graduation rates, and it’s just where you’d expect we struggle.”
On the search for a new Athletic Director to replace Dave Brandon:
“Some folks wanted me to hire an athletic director [already] so he could fire the current football coach and hire the next coach, but I want to take the time to make sure we get someone who's not only technically adept, but can ensure that the program has financial and academic integrity..."
“People have been saying all kinds of things about who I’m talking to about positions and this sports stuff, and they name names of people who I have no idea who they are,”
On how many schools follow the rules set by the NCAA:
"The NCAA says 20.5 hours is the max, but it turns out nobody follows that. There are ways that they work around it and if it was only us, it’d be ridiculous, I’d clean house, but it’s everybody.”
Going over the NCAA-mandated number of practice hours is one of the four violations Michigan self-reported in 2010 - the university ultimately wound up with three years of probation as a result. Schlissel's comments, however they were intended, will likely get the NCAA's attention.
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