Justin Boren is six foot one, three hundred and ten pounds. If you guessed he plays football you would be correct. Or, rather, played football. For Michigan.

Michigan has a new football coach, Rich Rodriquez, and a new "no huddle" offense. When one play ends, the linemen quickly get up and spring to the line of scrimmage for the next play. Boren was quoted ten days ago as saying this was "challenging".

A few days ago Boren came to another conclusion, this one about Rodriquez and his staff. The "family values" of Michigan football under Lloyd Carr were no longer present. The days of mutual respect and support were ended.

Michigan fans quickly made the connection between the first statement and the second, and concluded Boren was likely out of shape, got spoken to harshly by coaches, and thus had quit on his teammates and school. The words "better off without him" came up frequently, along with terms not suitable for the family hour.

Coach Rodriquez made the usual clucking noises about wanting to focus on the players who wanted to play for Michigan and said his family values were fine. After all, his mother-in-law had followed him to town.

What to think?

You long sometimes for the days of John Wayne movies where people believed what they said and said what they believed. They don't make those movies anymore.

If Boren knows of some violation of NCAA rules, some practice which is beneath the dignity and traditions of Michigan, or just believes Rodriquez and his staff are harboring a desire to return to the days of Mussolini he could have provided details. Instead we get a statement that says nothing much at all.

On the other hand.

When it comes to loyalty and ethics, Rich Rodriquez should send someone else to carry the ball. The flirtation with Alabama, vowing undying loyalty to West Virginia, the year long puppet master games, and then the desertion of his players. Probably not the poster child for sticking it out when things don't go your way.

And so a new era begins at Michigan. One that was avoided for a long time, but whose coming was inevitable.

Michigan is a storied program in college football. The home of national champions. The arch rival of Ohio State, the home of more recent national championships. You see a theme developing.

There is a line on the maps of college sports geography that, once crossed, changes both the journey and the travelers. That line is the possibility of winning it all. Once you go there you can't turn back and your course is set. Until you reach port safely with trophy in hand everything must work in concert to move you forward.

Or heads must roll.

Now you don't get to win an NCAA football championship without the right ingredients. Speed, size, depth, a "big time" coach who can recruit the key states, lower academic standards, tons of financial resources, and a healthy tolerance for players who may become a menace to public safety.

In other words, you have to run an SEC program even if you don't play in the SEC.

The sad part is not so much that nobody will oppose the ways in which Michigan football will change under Rich Rodriquez. It's that most people understand and very few care.

Justin Boren may have been acting on principle or he may have been making excuses. Maybe the worst thing he can be accused of is being naive. For thinking anything he said would be believed. Or worse, for thinking it would matter.

Bob Dylan once sang "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows". Justin Boren needs to look outside.

It's fixing to rain in Ann Arbor.