Former Michigan coach Carr steps down from playoff committee

Former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is leaving the College Football Playoff selection committee for health reasons.

Playoff executive director Bill Hancock announced Friday that Carr would be stepping down and not replaced. The committee will operate with 12 members this season as it did each of the last two when members resigned because of health problems and the difficulty of weekly travel for six weeks during the fall.

Carr was preparing to begin the first year of a three-season term on the committee that selects the four teams to compete in the College Football Playoff. The 71-year-old said in a statement he regrets not being able to participate.

''This is a difficult decision because I have enjoyed my preparations and I have the greatest respect for the other committee members and the playoff itself,'' Carr said.

He didn't give details of his health issues. Carr went 122-40 in 13 seasons as Michigan coach.

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released Nov. 1. The playoff field is set Dec. 4.

The committee meets in North Texas to discuss and put together the rankings a day ahead of the weekly Tuesday release. Last season Pat Harden, at the time the athletic director at Southern California, stepped down the week before the committee's first meeting. Former Mississippi quarterback Archie Manning left the committee during the 2014 season.

Carr was one of four new members of the committee this season along with former Southern Mississippi coach Jeff Bower, former Central Michigan coach Herb Deromedi and Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens.