Clay Owen

Robert Neyland Jr., left, presents the Gen. Robert R. Neyland Trophy to former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr on Saturday at The Foundry.

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Lloyd Carr was a wide-eyed 8-year-old when he got the chance of a lifetime - to see a University of Tennessee football game.

Carr was living in the Hawkins County town where he was born, Church Hill, not far from Kingsport. He and a group of elementary school students climbed into a school bus and came to Knoxville to see the Vols play the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

It was Oct. 9, 1954. UT won 20-14.

Johnny Majors was the Vols' tailback. Harvey Robinson was in his second and last season as coach, trying to replace the legendary General Robert R. Neyland, who had retired after the 1952 season.

"I wasn't clear on why they called him General," Carr recalls of the time, "but I knew from conversations he was a great football coach. I can remember conversations about how disappointed and sad people were that he was leaving the coaching profession and what would happen to Tennessee football because he was leaving."

Now, Carr's name will be joined with the UT legend as the recipient of the Robert R. Neyland Trophy presented annually by the Knoxville Quarterback Club. Carr received the award Saturday during the annual brunch of the East Tennessee Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

Carr, 62, was on Michigan's coaching staff for the past 28 years - the last 13 as head coach - and announced his retirement from coaching at the end of the 2007 regular season.

"Down through the years, I was always interested in the history of the game," Carr said, "so every opportunity I read about some of the special giants of the game, and of course General Neyland was a giant.

"I know a lot about him, and having been born here and having spent most of my life outside of the state, and now to be honored and come back, that's special."

Carr lived in Church Hill until he was 10. His father, Lloyd Sr., worked at Tennessee Eastman before being laid off amid a recession. Lloyd Sr. found work in Michigan, and a year later, Lloyd Jr., and his mother, Pauline, and older sister Patricia moved to Michigan.

"We went up U.S. 23, all a two-lane highway, right through the middle of Columbus, Ohio and on into Michigan, and I've been there the rest of my life, for the most part," Carr said.

His last season at Michigan was a difficult one. The Wolverines were upset by Division I-AA Appalachian State in the season opener and lost to Oregon in the second game. They won their next eight games before losing the last two regular-season games to Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Carr's career ended when his unranked Wolverines beat No. 12 Florida 41-35 in the 2008 Capital One Bowl.

"Certainly the start of that season was one of the most difficult, one of the most challenging situations I've faced as a coach," Carr said, "but I am extremely proud because after starting the season 0-2, losing to Appalachian State and Oregon, we fought like hell."

Also honored was former SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer, who retired in 2002. Kramer accepted the Distinguished American Award from the East Tennessee Chapter of the foundation.

Carr and Kramer have known each other since the early 1970s. They first met when Kramer, who was football coach at Central Michigan at the time, recruited one of Carr's players at John Glenn High School in Westland, Mich. It was Carr's first job as a head coach.

"(Kramer) was a remarkable coach, and he's a remarkable man, a great leader with great integrity," Carr said.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.