Free Press story: Coach Rod allegedly violated NCAA Rules

Mike Rosenberg and Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press have teamed up to publish a potentially explosive article regarding alleged NCAA violations committed by Coach Rod and his staff. The allegations focus on three main areas:

• Practice time: NCAA rules only permit 8 hours per week total and a maximum of 2 hours per day for summer workouts. Michigan players were allegedly required to perform 2-3 times that allowed amount.
• In-season work time: Schools are allotted 20 hours of football related activities per week with a maximum of 4 hours per day. Reportedly, Coach Rod routinely exceeded the weekly allotment and often kept the team at Schembechler Hall for 9-10 hours the day following a game.
• Summer Scrimmages: Only training staff are permitted by NCAA rules to be at player-run 7-on-7 scrimmages. Allegedly, quality control staff members monitored the scrimmages which is a violation of NCAA rules.

Michigan, the school with the most victories of any football team in the history of the NCAA, has never had a major violation of NCAA rules in its Football program. The school has issued a statement denying the allegations contained in the Free Press article. Also, a copy of Michigan's Compliance and Rules Education handout (.pdf) is here. Go Blue!