Bengals defensive back Morgan Trent wrote a book back in February, titled "Draft Season: Four Months on the Clock". Geoff Hobson featured a story on the book, including several about-to-be controversial blurbs. And controversy has followed, generating a he-said, he-said comments in which former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr told Trent that current head coach Rich Rodriguez was badmouthing the cornerback. A passage in the book reads:
"Shortly after the draft, Morgan made good on his promise to pay his former head coach (Carr) a visit. Morgan was always happy to see Coach Carr and gave him a warm greeting. However, it didn't take long for Coach Carr to get to the main reason why he wanted to see Morgan. It was there that Coach Carr told Morgan why he wasn't drafted until the sixth round.
"Apparently, current Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez had cost Morgan quite a bit of money. Rodriguez had bad-mouthed Morgan to every NFL scout he could. Rodriguez claimed that Morgan was lazy, he had an attitude problem and he was a big reason why the Wolverines finished with a 3-9 record, the worst in school history. In essence, an entire draft season and an entire college career of hard work were decimated by a few petty words. Those words may have meant the difference between a $1.86 million deal and a $2.86 million deal. It may have meant the difference between the sixth round and the third round."
Former Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr disputes Trent's version, saying:
"That paragraph is completely a distortion of my conversation with Morgan," Carr said. "That is a complete distortion, and it is not accurate. I have never spoken with the author. I have never met him. I have never had a conversation with him to the best of my knowledge."
Current Michigan Coach Rich Rodriguez disputes this also:
"The comments attributed to me are inaccurate and absolutely ridiculous," Rodriguez said in the statement. "I said just the opposite about Morgan Trent to NFL scouts and wish him well with the Bengals."
Morgan Trent stands by his comments and Bengals defensive backs coach Kevin Coyle admitted to hearing "rumblings". No matter how you slice it, if the antagonist in Trent's book is a Michigan head coach, then I have to read it!