Lloyd Carr

From the beginning, Lloyd Carr had an exit plan.

Ever since he stepped down from the helm of the Michigan football program in 2007, Carr understood he would need time. He needed to transition from being a full-time coach and recruiter to a life when he could do the things he never had time for over the past 30 years.

Like with coaching, Carr sensed he'd know when it was time to step aside, content with his standing at an university he spent most of his professional life at. Carr announced on Tuesday that his tenure as Michigan's associate athletic director will end Sept. 1.

"I've had the great fortune to work at a great university for 30 years in a profession where the average length of service is probably three or four years," Carr told AnnArbor.com in a phone interview Tuesday night. "So I've been able to coach at a place where I wanted to be, and I'm very appreciative.

"No coach could ask for anything more than what I've had. I've loved every minute of it, but it's time for me to hit a few more golf balls and cast a few more lines into the water."

In retirement, Carr, who spent the previous 2 1/2 years serving as an associate athletic director, will find time for more reading and traveling along other hobbies.

Carr turns 65 on July 30 and plans to remain active in several charitable endeavors. He will continue to serve as co-chair of a C.S. Mott Children's and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital fundraising effort that has raised $75 million. He'll remain active in Mentor Michigan, a program that provides mentors for children statewide along with working with Special Olympics.

The practice of giving back to community is one Carr instilled in his players during his 13-year head coaching career at Michigan, during which he posted a 122-40 record, won a national championship and five Big Ten Conference titles. During his tenure, Carr joined Bo Schembechler and Fielding Yost as the only Wolverines coaches to win more than 100 games.

To those who knew him best, success didn't stop on the field.

"His dedication to his team and to the mission at hand was a lesson in and of itself," former Michigan quarterback Brian Griese said in a phone interview Tuesday. "He told all his players that at the end of the day, it's about playing for each other and about the sacrifice each guy had to make to accomplish something bigger than himself and that no one man was bigger than the team.

"I think that's a lesson that you can use not only in the game of football, but in the game of life."

Griese said Carr's legacy at Michigan transcends football and that he will be remembered as one of the greatest leaders to come out of the university. It's a reputation many of his players can appreciate, but one that former Michigan receiver Braylon Edwards uses in pre-game introductions when he announced his alma mater as "Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan."

Edwards, whose foundation helps in educating inner-city youngsters in Detroit and Cleveland, said last month that he'll continue to refer to Michigan in that way - not as a way of creating distance from the current program, but to honor Carr.

"I didn't play for Rich (Rodriguez), and it's no disrespect," Edwards said at his charity basketball game last month at Crisler Arena. "I played for Lloyd Carr. My father played for Bo Schembechler, so I'm a part of that regime, and that's all that was."

During his tenure, Carr encouraged his players to make weekly visit to Mott Children's Hospital, where they spent time with patients. The time with children became a habit for Carr's players.

"He is unbelievably passionate about supporting our children's hospital," Mott executive director Pat Warner said Tuesday. "And that's driven by one of his core principles of giving and giving and giving back. It's very clear to me that as a coach, he did an unbelievable job nurturing the athletes to reach out to those who didn't have the opportunities that our athletes (at Michigan) had."

Carr plans to use retirement as a way of reconnecting with former players and staff members that until now, he's seen on a limited basis. Since stepping down as Michigan's coach, Carr has traveled to many NFL training camps, checking in with former players.

Carr also remains in touch with those who have ventured from football and who now carry on careers while starting families. Although the relationship is no longer centered around coach and player, Carr said getting the opportunity to catch up with the lives of those who played for him will be special.

"The great thing about coaching is that a lot of times when you've had a chance to step away from it, you realize the greatest thing about the game is the relationships," Carr said. "I'm very appreciative of those.

"You get to see and visit with guys you got to coach when you were a man and they were a boy and now, they're men and they've got families and it's completely different. You can go back and talk about all the memories that you have, and that's a fun thing to do."

After 30 years in one place, Carr says life after Michigan will be different. He leaves liking the direction Michigan's athletic department is heading in. He believes athletic director Dave Brandon has a plan in place to keep Michigan's tradition intact.

Former Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English said Tuesday night he will remember Carr as preserving the school's tradition. After working under Schembechler and Gary Moeller, Carr ran his program the way he had watched his mentors do it before him.

"He maintained the ideals that had been set forth there since really the early 1900s," said English, who is entering his second year as Eastern Michigan's coach. "I think it was very important for him to carry him. I saw many times when he could have taken a shortcut and he never did.

"I think everything he did there, he had a big-picture vision and not just only the Michigan football program. I think every place that has a successful coach, it's always a lot more than just about football."

After 30 years, Carr leaves others to establish what his legacy will be. But he leaves proud of what he has accomplished while following the advice he gave to each of his incoming players when they enrolled at Michigan when it came to finding success.

On and off the field.

"I've always tried to tell them that as a team, as a group of people, in this program, we do - every day -our very best," Carr said. "If everybody who comes into Michigan football does their very, very best on a daily basis, then we can always be proud of what we accomplished.

"And to me, that's the standard. If you're doing your best, you don't have to apologize for anything."

Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by email at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.