Promises made, promises broken?

Have the Wolverines fallen from their own standards?

RYAN WHITE White on Target

Lloyd Carr believes in The Michigan Tradition. He knows it; he talks about it; he revels in it. But he is also haunted by it.

No matter what Lloyd Carr does while he is the head coach at Michigan, he knows it will be held up to standards set by Yost and Crisler.

And he is reminded every day of the success of a man known simply as Bo.

Carr's office is in Schembechler Hall.

Still, Carr embraces the expectations, if not the scrutiny placed on his team, because of them.

There is one tradition more daunting than the rest, however. One that brings with it more pressure than most. One which started with Schembechler and has since become the motto of the Michigan football program:

"Those who stay will be champions."

Schembechler put that sign above the lockerroom door shortly after he arrived in Ann Arbor.

It told those Wolverines that if they worked, if they did what was asked of them - play hard and study hard - Bo would get them to the Rose Bowl.

And he did.

In 1970, '72, '77, '78, '79, '81, '83, '87 ...

Michigan got to know Pasadena real well.

Only once during Schembechler's 20 years did Michigan go four years, 1973-76, without making a trip to Pasadena.

But Michigan tied Ohio State for the Big Ten title in 1972, '73 and '74.

Those players didn't go to the Rose Bowl, Ohio State did, but they were champions.

Still, each player knew that if he came to Michigan, he would likely win a Big Ten championship and one day play in a Rose Bowl.

The game which Michigan helped usher into existence in 1902 quickly became the benchmark for excellence.

When Schembechler left, Gary Moeller took over, and nothing seemed to change.

Moeller took the Wolverines to the promised land in 1992 and '93.

But Michigan hasn't been back since, and this year's seniors could become the second group since 1969 not to play in a Rose Bowl.

Will those who stay be champions?

That's what this year's players are asking themselves.

Can those who stay be champions?

That's what everyone else is wondering.

"We've stressed it," said co-captain Jarrett Irons. "All we've talked about is winning the Big Ten and going to the Rose Bowl."

Irons has been to the Rose Bowl before. He was a freshman the last time the Wolverines made the trip, but he was redshirted. He didn't play a down.

As far as Irons is concerned, that doesn't count. So Michigan is focused on winning its first Big Ten championship since 1992. This is not the most talented team since that '92 squad, and this team isn't favored to win the conference as some of its predecessors have been.

But these Wolverines may be the most determined of the past four. Determined not to let another Michigan tradition fall by the wayside. The Wolverines have suffered three straight four-loss seasons. They haven't been dominating the Big Ten, and they haven't been winning championships.

They don't even have the nation's biggest stadium anymore.

If the Michigan mystique hasn't faded in the past three seasons, it certainly has flickered. And these seniors don't want to see it burn out on their watch.

They see Bo's sign every day in the lockerroom, just over the doors to the practice field.

"Those who stay will be champions."

Irons, for one, didn't have to stay. As one of the top linebackers in the country last year, he could have gone pro. But he came back. He came back for a ring. He stayed to be a champion.

There are five teams that have a legitimate shot to win the Big Ten this year and claim the bowl trip Michigan covets like a birth right.

The key will most likely be injuries. Whichever team has the fewest is the one who will be in Pasadena the first day of 1997.

It could be Michigan. It could very well be somebody else.

"It would hurt a lot," said senior nose tackle Will Carr about the prospects of not going to the Rose Bowl. "Coming up through high school I was never a considered a loser.

"I always had some kind of championship."

And so has every senior to play for the Wolverines since 1969.

Irons, Carr and the rest of the seniors don't plan on letting that change.

Will those who stay be champions?

Michigan hopes so. The rest of us are waiting to see.

EVAN PETRIE/Special to the Daily

This is not a laughing matter for Michigan. It's a screaming matter, a matter of such importance, coach Lloyd Carr and the Wolverines are intense enough to yell at referees, opponents and even each other. They want to make the Rose Bowl and win the Big Ten championship, two things they haven't done in quite a long time. Above the doors that lead to the practice field are the words, "Those who stay will be champions," a phrase introduced by coaching legend Bo Schembechler. Carr's senior class could become the first since Schembechler's reign began not to at least share a conference title.