After 38 years of coaching football, Lloyd Carr is enjoying his time away from the gridiron.

Since retiring from Michigan following the 2007 season, Carr has traveled to China, Scotland and even became a doctor -- well, sort of.

On Wednesday, he was the guest speaker for the Gridiron Legends Luncheon Series presented by the College Football Hall of Fame.

With a sea of maize and blue in the crowd, Carr admitted he can be a lot more open now that he no longer has to worrying about being a head coach at a major university.

Carr joked with the crowd that he should now be called Dr. Carr. He said in his new found time, he finished off his doctorate degree.

Of course, in his dry humor, he then waited for the audience response and then pointed out that it was an honorary degree.

"It's a much less stressful existence," Carr said laughing in reference to what retirement has been like. "There is nothing quite as intense as coaching and for me, for coaching football."

Carr was 122-40 in the 13 seasons as Michigan's head coach. He won five Big Ten titles and a National Championship in 1997.

While he's enjoying being away, he knows when Michigan plays its first game against Utah on August 30th, it will be hard not to be out on the field.

"That will be the telling point," Carr said with a smile. "That will be the most difficult time because the game itself is why you stay in it for 40 years and why you spend all the time, energy and effort preparing."

"It's all made worthwhile by the time you get to spend down there on game day. So I'm going to miss that. I know that."

Carr said he will also miss rebounding from both wins and losses and how after one game is over, you must immediately forget about it and move on to prepare for the next.

"I'm going to miss being around so many young people and the energy and work ethic that this game requires," Carr said.

Rich Rodriguez has taken over for Carr. The Wolverines will have a totally different offense in terms of style (the spread) and personnel (with almost every member of the offense gone via graduation or transfer).

"I think Coach Rodriguez is going to do an outstanding job," Carr said. "Regardless of what is said before the season, it's really about what the players believe."

"I think this team has great motivation and I'm expecting some exciting things from them."