It Starts at the Top

Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr carefully selected the metaphor, just like he did the two previous years. Inspired by the book Into Thin Air, Carr decided his team's journey through its arduous 1997 schedule loomed like an assault on Mt. Everest. Now look who's sitting at the top of the mountain. It's not just his team, the 12-0, Big Ten champion, Rose Bowl champion, national champion Wolverines up there. It's not just the staff, the coordinators and position coaches upon whom the head coach heaps praise. It's Carr-the same Lloyd H. Carr many U of M fans received some 30 months ago with reactions ranging from grudging groans to outright hostility. He's the man who took over the program under dire circumstances and, in his third campaign, won Michigan's first Big Ten championship since 1992 and directed U of M's first 11-0 regular season since 1971. He then finished the job, producing the