Boston Herald: Ryan Mallett's father says Lloyd Carr advised the quarterback to transfer from Michigan

Jim Mallett, who referred to Carr as ‘the classiest person I’ve ever been around’ besides his own father, asked Carr for advice in the winter of 2008. Carr and his staff recruited Mallett to Ann Arbor.

According to Jim Mallett, Carr’s response was: “If I was in that situation, with a different offense, he needs to leave.”

Jim Mallett also said Rodriguez never asked to meet with Ryan Mallett, a 6-foot-7 pocket passer who clearly didn’t fit his spread option offense.

“Ryan’s the one who called (Rich Rod),” Jim Mallett told the Herald. “He said, “Can I talk about the offense?’ And then he told me, ‘Daddy, (Rodriguez) never looked me in the eye.’ He never visited with the family, he didn’t talk to us. But hey, it wasn’t a fit. Let’s move on.”

When Mallett told his parents that he wanted to transfer to Arkansas, his mother wasn’t sure if she liked Razorbacks’ business-like coach Bobby Petrino, who she called “the polar opposite of Lloyd Carr, the warmest, sweetest man.”

Debbie Mallett called the parents of Brian Brohm, who was a quarterback for Petrino at Louisville. When Brohm’s parents confirmed they would send their son to play for Petrino again, she agreed to the transfer.

Debbie Mallett also said she thinks Ryan would have stayed at Michigan if Rodriguez had retained quarterback coach Scot Loeffler.

There’s more Michigan-related details in “The Making of Mallett.” The family went into the draft believing Ryan would be drafted by the Miami Dolphins and become the future replacement for another Wolverines quarterback, Chad Henne.

Before the Patriots drafted him to play alongside yet another U-M quarterback, Tom Brady, Mallett spent early-morning practice sessions studying Brady in his hometown of Texarkana, Ark.