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The University of Michigan football program and its head coach, Rich Rodriguez, are facing five “major violations,” according to a notice sent by the NCAA. Among the violations, briefly: too many coaches, excessive summer workouts, false or misleading info from a graduate assistant coach, failure “to promote an atmosphere of compliance” by the head coach and failure to monitor compliance by the athletic department.

Most of the violations reportedly started in January 2008, Rich Rod’s second month in Ann Arbor. They are the first alleged major violations in the history of the Michigan program’s 131-year history.

Players on the 2008 and 2009 teams described training and practice sessions that far exceeded limits set by the NCAA, which governs college athletics. The restrictions are designed to protect players’ well-being, ensure adequate study time and prevent schools from gaining an unfair competitive advantage.

The players, who did not want to be identified because they said they feared repercussions from coaches, said the violations occurred the direction of Rodriguez’s staff.

“We know the practice and off-season rules, and we stay within the guidelines,” Rodriguez said in a statement issued at the time. “We follow the rules and have always been completely committed to being compliant with all NCAA rules.” –FreeP.

I’m sure people in Ann Arbor won’t be that upset. It’s not like Coach Rod hasn’t been winning games up there…oh, wait…