Jim Harbaugh in line at Michigan?

A red flag is flying at full mast in Ann Arbor. Ask yourself this question: Is there anything Rich Rodriguez has done at Michigan — not in the past at West Virginia or Tulane or Glenville State — to suggest he is going to lead the Wolverines to the upper rung of college football, let alone atop the Big Ten again? Sure. Logic dictates Rodriguez will not lose his position following this season, that he will get a third year. The person who hired him, athletic director Bill Martin, has one more year before he retires. The person who approved Rodriguez’s appointment as head coach, university president Mary Sue Coleman, has said publicly she will be patient with Rodriguez. There is a difference, however, between being patient and banging their collective heads into a brick wall. There is also the matter of waiting — and how much further it sets a program behind when a change is eventually made. You also might lose the ideal coaching candidate for the position. And for Michigan, that label is starting to fit former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Anybody in Ann Arbor notice what Harbaugh is doing at Stanford? Last week, his team defeated Oregon, a week after Oregon crushed Southern California. Stanford is 6-3, and earlier in Harbaugh’s stint pulled off one of the biggest upsets in college football history when it beat USC on the road as a six-touchdown underdog. Harbaugh inherited a no-win situation at Stanford — a combination of high standards academically when it comes to recruiting, to tremendous competition in the Pac 10, to apathy. Harbaugh has won anyway. – The Morning Sun

Michigan AD Bill Martin supports Rich Rodriguez

The man who hired Rich Rodriguez as Michigan’s football coach said Rodriguez’s job is secure. Rodriguez, in his second season with the Wolverines, has watched his team nosedive since a 4-0 start. They have lost five straight Big Ten games, are 5-5 and remain one game from bowl eligibility with games at Wisconsin and home with Ohio State left. Michigan athletic director Bill Martin, who announced last month he will officially retire from that job on Sept 4, 2010, vociferously defended Rodriguez during an interview Monday. “He’s not going anyplace,” Martin said of Rodriguez, who replaced Lloyd Carr, who retired after the 2007 season following 13 years as head coach. “Rich is an outstanding coach. There is no question he’s got my total support. I think the world of that guy. Is he perfect in every respect? Nobody is. But he works hard. He’ll get it right.” – Detroit News

Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach Rips Lloyd Carr

Some Michigan men apparently aren’t being true blue enough to suit Rick Leach when it comes to supporting Rich Rodriguez’s program. Leach, the former quarterback and one of the greatest Wolverines ever, called an Ann Arbor radio station Thursday morning to point his finger at one in particular: Rodriguez’s predecessor. “I saw an article that said Lloyd Carr was at the game in Iowa,” Leach told WTKA-AM (1050). “… No. 1, whose ticket did he go on? Whose private box was he sitting in, and whose university staff was in the box with him? “As far as I’m concerned, as a former player that loves this program, I love our head coach, I love what they’re trying to do — our ex-coach flipped a huge middle finger right in our current coach’s face.” – Detroit Free Press

“Mutiny” Could Cost Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez His Job

Big losses have become common in the Big House. One hastened Lloyd Carr’s departure (Appalachian State, 2007). One stained Rodriguez’s first season (Toledo, 2008). Oh yes, and one other thing. As any Buckeye will remind you, it’s been more than 2,000 days since Michigan beat Ohio State… In the last week, Rodriguez has elbowed his way near the front of the line. That’s obvious. Now that Sunday’s Detroit Free Press report has sunk in, there are some ominous possibilities. Sure, the school is looking into allegations that the coaching staff worked players way beyond NCAA weekly limits. Consider if the players and parents making the allegations are hiding behind their anonymity in order to blow up the program from the inside. That would be called mutiny. Rodriguez has to have considered that possibility. – CBS Sportsline

The Firing Line: Carr Spotted at SU, Addazio & Edsall Have Strong Support

“The Firing Line” at Football Rumor Mill focuses on coaches around the country who are in serious jeopardy. The latest edition centers on Syracuse Coach Greg Robinson…

Lloyd Carr has been seen on the Syracuse campus. But sources say he’s a consultant for Greg Robinson’s replacement and not a candidate himself. – Austin American-Statesman

We have on good authority that Syracuse University has put official feelers out to Steve Addazio, the former Cheshire High football coach and now assistant head coach at Florida, to replace current coach Greg Robinson at the end of the season. We wouldn’t be surprised if Syracuse also made a run at UConn coach Randy Edsall, a Syracuse alum, but everything we’ve seen and heard from Edsall is that he has no intention of leaving UConn for Syracuse. – New Haven Register