Michigan: Accurate, Petty, or Both?

When offensive linemen Kurt Wermers announced his intent to transfer from Michigan to Ball State, he launched a parting shot at Coach Rich Rodriguez, "Coach Carr's staff was a whole different ballgame, it was like a family. But when Rodriguez came in it was a whole different feeling. It was more of a business. I figured I'd get out while I could." Now, sources are indicating that Wermers was academically ineligible before he left and would not have been able to play.

For ESPN to feel comfortable running a story about a student's eligibility it doesn't seem to be a leap in logic to assume that the source came from inside the university, which begs the question, why do the Wolverines feel the need to comment on an offensive lineman's transfer when he played in no games and wasn't even part of the two-deep depth chart other than to call into question his credibility? After being blasted by another lineman, Justin Boren, who transferred to arch-rival Ohio State, is it possible that Big Blue is a little too sensitive about their image? For an institution to comment, under the cover of sources or outright, on the academic standing of a departing student crosses a line that seems to fall right in-line with the criticisms levied by both of these young men.