Mark Ingram jabs Rich Rodriguez over lack of recruiting him to Michigan

Mark Ingram spent his high school days in Flint, Michigan, but went down South to play his college ball. Alabama got a star running back during the recruiting process and turned Ingram into a Heisman Trophy winner, starting what turned into a dynasty. An all-time Crimson Tide great, Michigan fans might be wondering why he did not wind up in Ann Arbor.

Turns out, Michigan did try to get Ingram to sign just at the last moment. Not much came from the Wolverines until Rich Rodriguez took the job back in 2008. Michigan’s previous staff did not have much interest in Ingram. He told the full story recently on The Triple Option podcast with Rodriguez as a guest.

“I feel like we have a small connection,” Ingram began to tell Rodriguez with a smile. “Because I’m from Michigan. I took the job in ’08 at Michigan and it was kind of late in the signing period. Michigan never offered me a scholarship, didn’t even recruit me. When you took the job, Michigan started coming to the school… you started recruiting me a week before signing day. You believed in me even when Michigan didn’t all those years.”

Rodriguez’s instant reply was a great one, saying he still might be the head coach at Michigan if Ingram did play for him. A Heisman Trophy-caliber player certainly would have helped him back then, struggling during his three seasons with the program.

Michigan did not have much success at running back with Rodriguez in charge. Only one guy was able to surpass the 600-yard mark in one season. Vincent Smith did so in 2010. Quarterback Denard Robinson was unstoppable the same year as he broke 1,700 yards on the ground and scored 14 touchdowns.

Having somebody like Robinson alongside Ingram would have been a deadly duo. However, things never came together for the Wolverines despite a late attempt from Rodriguez.

Even so, Ingram is a Michigan State legacy, having more ties to the other side of the rivalry. His father, Mark Ingram Sr., played wide receiver at Michigan State back in the mid-1980s. Somebody named Nick Saban was the defensive coordinator back then, giving the Ingram family a connection to Alabama.

Nearly 20 years later, it’s something where both guys can look back and laugh. Ingram eventually made his way to the NFL and is now thriving in the media world. Rodriguez is back for another stint at West Virginia, hoping to not make another in-state recruiting mistake.