ORLANDO, Fla. — How about those Michigan Wolverines!?
Those were Lloyd Carr’s last words to his players as he boarded a bus headed to the team hotel Tuesday night, shortly after ending his coaching career with a 41-35 victory over Florida in the Capital One Bowl.
He looked relieved that his pressure-packed job was over as he sat down next to his wife, Laurie, in the front row on the right side of the bus.
Carr, one of college football’s classiest coaches, tried his best to make the preparation and practices for his final game like any other, but it clearly was not.
It marked the end of an era as Carr retired after 13 seasons as head coach and 28 on the staff. It paved the way for former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, the first non-Michigan man to lead the program since 1969, when Bo Schembechler was hired away from Miami of Ohio.
Carr granted behind-the-scenes access to an AP reporter for his last two-plus days in charge of the Wolverines, providing a rare glimpse of practices and meetings and letting down his guard just before stepping out of the glare.

• Final practice, Sunday.
Lloyd Carr conducts his final practice at Michigan barking instructions with a whistle around his blue collar and a folded, white piece of paper flapping from the front of his waistband.
“Focus!” Carr screams into the Chad Henne-led huddle.
Toward the end of the workout at Freedom High School, a play Carr has always wanted to run is practiced. All-American tackle Jake Long catches a screen pass on the left side of the field and sprints toward the end zone.
After Carr huddles the players and dismisses them, team spokesman Dave Ablauf asks Henne if he wants to introduce his teammates on tape for ESPN’s broadcast on ABC.
“Let Mike do it,” Henne says, referring to teammate Mike Hart, whose gift of gab is unparalleled.
A few feet away, a parent bemoans Rodriguez’s choice to fire every assistant and rehire only one before the bowl game while talking to quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler.
“It breaks my heart,” says Jody Wright, whose son, Bryan, handles kickoffs. “It’s just not going to be the same around here.”
• Defensive meeting.
“Eyes up!” defensive coordinator Ron English shouts to Michigan’s defensive players.
After giving brief instructions, the defensive staff leaves the room as the lights are turned down.
Captain Shawn Crable points to the door, signaling for a visitor to leave, too, so that the defensive players can be alone for a ritual they’ve done for more than a decade under the well-read Carr.
“I’ve never been in there, but I know they recite one of Rudyard Kipling’s poems,” English says while waiting for an elevator.
“Do you still know it?” English asks graduate assistant coach Glen Steele, who helped Michigan win the 1997 national championship as a defensive end.
“The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack,” Steele says, ending the passage without hesitating in an elevator.
• Team meeting, Monday.
Chatter turns into silence as soon as Carr steps in the front of the team. He introduces guest speaker Jim Mandich, a former Michigan star that played for the undefeated and championship-winning Miami Dolphins in 1972.
“I’ve played in a perfect season and in Super Bowls,” Mandich says. “But I’m proudest of playing for the maize and blue.”
Mandich asks who is “R2” on the kickoff team, a role he played for the Wolverines.
Sophomore Jonas Mouton answers, and Mandich tells him to stand up.
“Jonas,” Mandich says. “I want you to give a solemn vow in this room that you’ll give 100 percent for 60 minutes against the Florida Gators.”
After the players and coaches return to their seats, Mandich says what has been whispered by many in the program since Carr announced his retirement plans on Nov. 19 and Rodriguez was hired a month later.
“I don’t know what the future of Michigan football is,” Mandich says. “But I do know Michigan will never forget Lloyd Carr, one of the greatest leaders I’ve ever known.
“Lloyd, I salute you.”
• Locker room, pregame.
“Let’s make this our house!” Crable shouts.
English grabs Crable’s helmet and jabs it into the air, addressing the team with so much emotion he chokes up.
“It’s a privilege to wear this winged helmet,” English says. “It’s about Michigan today. Show everyone why this is the best program in the country!”
Tight end Carson Butler chimes in.
“There will never be another Michigan team like this,” Butler says as he paces. “Not only are our seniors leaving, our coach is leaving, too. Lloyd Carr is done. How are we going to end this? We all made those vows yesterday, let’s live up to those words.”
Cleveland Browns star Braylon Edwards, a former Wolverine, slips in the locker room just in time to hear Carr’s final pregame speech.
Carr paces in front of the team for a few minutes, putting palms into his back pockets and staring at the carpet before talking the team for 21/2 minutes with intensity and a voice louder than longtime observers ever recall.
“This game is about one thing — winning!” he shouts. “Each time the ball is snapped and until the whistle blows, you fight with a fury and you play with everything you got and knock them off the ball!
“Everybody is going to take a punch, but you make sure you give more punches than you take! There has been a lot of things that have happened this year, and you’ve held together and fought together and you’re here on New Year’s Day.
“On every play, play for your teammates for one last time and give it everything you’ve got!”
• Locker room, halftime.
Michigan leads 21-14.
“This is the deal, we have the momentum and we are the more intense team,” Carr says. “They can’t stop us unless we stop ourselves. We’re going to keep the pressure on them, and we’re going after them! The crowd is as stunned as that team. This game is ours.
“This game is not about Florida! We don’t care what they say or what the do. This is next 30 minutes is about Michigan! Let’s go!!!”
“Yeah,” some scream.
“Yes, sir!” others shout.
Just before the team goes on the field for the last time, Carr tries to share some parting words, but he’s so overcome with emotion that his words can’t be heard a mere 10 feet away.
English chimes in.
“Let’s play for this man!” English shouts.
The players, already worked up into a frenzy, scream, shout, hop and dance.
“What time is it?” a player asks.
“Game time!” the team responds.
The exchange repeats itself several times as players bob their heads and even the normally stoic Henne gets into the act, shimmying his shoulders before taking the field for the second half.
• Locker room, postgame.
Carr walks into a wild celebration in the locker room, steps on a chair and hears goofy requests from his delirious players.
“Lloyd, take off your coat! Lloyd, get naked!” the Wolverines scream.
After choosing not to disrobe, Carr reminds his players to cherish Mandich’s words from the previous night, congratulates them for defining their team with a big win, thanks his coaching staff and expresses his love.
“Gentleman,” he says in closing, “you have given me something to remember for the rest of my life.” 

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