Early might be late on Kyle Whittingham's clock at Michigan: 'More strict'

Ann Arbor – On American military bases, Reveille, a bugle call, is played over loudspeakers in the early morning to signal the start of the day. In the Michigan football building these days, under new head coach Kyle Whittingham, when meetings begin, an air horn sounds. “It means we have already started our meetings,” safety Rod Moore, a graduate student, said this week.

“The past two years, we would start the meeting at 2:30. Now we start meetings at 2:25, but it’s really a 2:30 meeting starting five minutes early. ” More: How much Michigan will pay new football general manager Dave Peloquin This is reminiscent of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr (1995-2007), who borrowed from legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi and would tell his players, “If you are five minutes early, you are already 10 minutes late.

” This is all about discipline and setting a tone for a program. Whittingham was hired last December, 16 days after Sherrone Moore was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with his executive assistant. Moore was head coach for two seasons, and a handful of players who spoke with reporters Wednesday described the Whittingham Era as focused on punctuality and accountability, responsibility and reliability.

“There’s a lot more accountability,” Moore said. “The little things that make a team great. Not just the big broad things that everyone else sees.