Now that Lloyd Carr is retired and the excitement surrounding his final bowl game has died, the Michigan football program can finally return to normal. Well, maybe not. After all, now it’s time to talk transition, as in transitioning into the Rich Rodriguez era; an era Ryan Mallett probably wishes wouldn’t have started.
Mallett is now at the center of a quarterback controversy nine months before the 2008 season gets underway. Rodriguez is expected to bring his mobile QB system that helped make Pat White a Heisman hopeful to the blue and maize and is reportedly actively recruiting Terrelle Pryor, who many consider to be the next Vince Young. The uncertainty has many speculating that Mallet is contemplating jumping ship, heading for greener pastures where he can be the undisputed starter. Of course, if you really want to know what is going on in Mallett’s head then you can’t trust a stinkin’ newspaper or website. You gotta ask Mallett himself, or at least his mom.
No decision has been made,” Debbie Mallett said Thursday night of her son, the freshman quarterback — currently — at Michigan.
“Everybody thinks they know what Ryan’s doing. But Ryan has not made a decision yet. All these sources? They never came from anyone here.”
“He could be at UCLA, he could be somewhere else, he could be at Michigan,” she said. “But when I talked to him (Wednesday) night, he hadn’t made any decisions.”
While she continues to field phone calls from every interested party — her daughter even called Thursday — she’s amazed at the interest.
“He’s not a cure for cancer,” she said of the thousands of fans across the country discussing her son.
Debbie also expects she’ll hear before a reporter or a message board poster — at least she hopes.
“Ryan is my baby,” she said. “I can’t believe he’d call all those people before he tells me. If he does …
We gotta give it to Mark Snyder for having the nuts to write a story about a quarterback and his mom. After all, we all remember what happened the last time someone wrote about a mother and her son, right? Does “Come after me, I’m a man!” ring a bell with anyone?
Links:
[Freep.com]: INDECISION ’08: Ryan Mallett’s mom nixes reports about son’s transfer to UCLA