ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There's a quarterback competition at Michigan.
Coach Rich Rodriguez said Tuesday that Denard Robinson will share first-team snaps with Tate Forcier this spring. If Forcier ends up keeping his job as the starter, Rodriguez doesn't plan to keep Robinson on the sideline as much as he did last season.
"We're thinner at wide receiver, so with his speed we can move him around a bit," Rodriguez said before the first spring practice. "But we expect him to compete for the quarterback job and there should be some pretty good competition."
Forcier started all 12 games last year, playing well when the Wolverines started 4-0 and like a freshman the rest of season as they slumped to a 5-7 finish.
Robinson didn't take many snaps at quarterback as a freshman, throwing no more than five passes in a game, and showed his blazing speed at times on plays designed for him to run. He lined up occasionally at receiver, but didn't catch a pass.
Highly touted freshman Devin Gardner graduated early from Inkster High School to enroll this semester and practice with the Wolverines, but Rodriguez tried to downplay expectations for him.
"Tate and Denard will take a majority of the reps with the first and second groups," Rodriguez said. "Devin has to learn. I'm sure his head will be spinning for the first couple of weeks."
Rodriguez said Nick Sheridan, a starter at quarterback two years ago, has "retired" and wants to become a coach.
Michigan's spring game will be April 17 at the Big House.
There was little talk of the NCAA allegations against Rodriguez's program. The NCAA has accused Michigan of five potentially major rules violations stemming from how much time players were spending on practice and football-related activities. A hearing before the NCAA infractions committee is scheduled for August.
When fans aren't locked in on the quarterbacks, they will be looking at the candidates to replace running backs Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown, and the players trying to fill in for defensive end Brandon Graham and Donovan Warren.
Junior running back Mike Shaw, who averaged 4.4 yards a carry in limited chances last season, will get a great opportunity to show what he can do because speedy sophomore Vincent Smith is recovering from knee surgery.
Ryan Van Bergen will gain experience at defensive end this spring after playing tackle last season. Troy Woolfolk and redshirt freshman J.T. Turner will have an opportunity to earn the jobs at cornerback.
Rodriguez expects competition for playing time at every position to be fierce for college football's winningest program, which lost a school-record nine games in his debut season two years ago and flopped to a seven-loss season last year.
"We've got guys that got a chip on their shoulder and want to prove themselves," Rodriguez said.
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Michigan Plans To Get Robinson On The Field More
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Published: March 17, 2010
Published: March 17, 2010
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