MORGANTOWN — Has Rich Rodriguez been cheating as he attempts to rebuild the Michigan football program and, more important locally, did he cheat to build West Virginia into a national contender?

Those questions were being vigorously debated throughout the college football world Sunday after an investigative piece by the Detroit Free Press Sunday charged Rodriguez with violating a number of NCAA rules since being named head coach at Michigan.

The article, authored by Michael Rosenberg and Mark Snyder, began with this paragraph:

“The University of Michigan football team consistently has violated NCAA rules governing off-season workouts, in-season demands on players and mandatory summer activities under Coach Rich Rodriguez, numerous players told the Free Press.”

If the charges are proven by the NCAA they could lead to major violations against Michigan.

The newspaper went on to write:

“The NCAA, which governs college athletics, has strict limits on how much time coaches can require players to spend on their sport. But Rodriguez’s team has routinely broken the rules since he took over in January 2008, people inside the program told the Free Press.

“Two players called Michigan’s off-season requirements ‘ridiculous.’ The players described the coaches’ expectations as an ongoing concern among many teammates. Parents of several players agreed.”

All players spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Rodriguez denied the allegations in a statement issued to the Free Press.

“We know the practice and off-season rules, and we stay within the guidelines. We follow the rules and have always been completely committed to being compliant with all NCAA rules.”

In the article players said over the past two off-seasons “Wolverines were expected to spend two to three times more than the eight hours allowed for required workouts each week.”

Players are free to exceed the limit, but it must be truly voluntary.

“The players said the off-season work was clearly required. Several of them said players who failed to do all the strength and conditioning were forced to come back to finish or were punished with additional work,” the paper wrote.

The newspaper seemed to do a thorough job of reporting. Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com wrote:

“There is no gray area in the Freep report. The story is solid and well reported, although it was a bit troubling that not one of the accusing sources went

on the record. The Freep said the sources feared repercussions from the coaching staff. I'll buy that. Sooner or later, though, names are going to have to be attached with comments.”

During his seven years at West Virginia, no such charges were publically leveled at Rodriguez or his strength staff, although few doubted that Rodriguez’s burning desire to succeed could open some doors that would be best left closed.

One of the charges in the article sounded all too real to one former Rodriguez player, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“Players spent at least nine hours on football activities on Sundays after games last fall. NCAA rules mandate a daily 4-hour limit. The Wolverines also exceeded the weekly limit of 20 hours, the athletes said,” the Free Press wrote.

The WVU player, contacted Sunday, wrote in a message sent via Facebook:

“I can honestly tell you — it was ONLY in Coach Rod's first fall as WVU's head coach (Sept '01 - Nov '01) that I felt we were at the stadium far more than the NCAA allowed. Coach Rod made the team report to the football office on Sundays during the season only and attendance was checked.

“We had to change into our workout gear, stretch/warm-up, and the strength staff would conduct light lifting sessions and put the team through moderate conditioning on the football field. This, of course, was after 1-2 hours of treatment for injured players (if needed). When you add all of the hours, it made for a less than desirable Sunday. I can remember missing all of 1:00 NFL games which didn't end until 3:30-3:45.”

The player said other than that first year, there were no violations in this area.

“The rest of my days at WVU were business as usual — and acceptable to all of the players. Of course, Sunday sessions at the football office were no longer implemented, in part, because of the obvious displeasure among players the year before and we were winning on Saturdays.”

If Rodriguez had pushed his team too hard this summer, the player theorized it was because Rodriguez “refuses to have a repeat season like last year.”

Another former player wrote this:

“All programs do what they can to get better and improve themselves, and all coaches walk a fine line where the rules begin and end. It is the nature of the game and what makes a good coach a winning coach. However, there is a limit to how close is too close to that line, of course.”

A former member of the West Virginia athletic department, again requesting anonymity, could not say whether Rodriguez had broken any rules while at WVU, but said if he did so at Michigan the NCAA would have a tough time proving it.

“You can be certain, though, that all the paperwork is in order,” the source said.

According to this source, the hours spent are chronicled monthly and at least initialed, if not signed, by the players. Certainly, no player would refuse to sign such a document while a member of a football team for fear of retribution.

Rodriguez was the center of a major controversy when he jumped from West Virginia to Michigan after the 2007 regular season and then refused to honor his buyout clause until the case went to court.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.