The University of Michigan opened training camp this afternoon practicing on a new artificial turf field located behind Schembechler Hall.

The sun shone, the music blared (to imitate crowd noise), the freshmen joined in their first practice, and a veteran running back who had been suspended made his return.

Tailback Kevin Grady, who was suspended by coach Rich Rodriguez following an arrest for drunken driving in early July, was in uniform and fully participating. Rodriguez will be available to answer questions later this afternoon about Grady and other matters.

Other observations from the half-hour or so of practice the media watched:

- Quarterback Steven Threet is still showing the best arm of the contenders for the starting job. Threet threw some wobblers, but generally put zip on the ball.

- Freshman quarterback Justin Feagin has some nifty feet. It's not obvious yet, however, whether he's a skilled enough passer to fill a passing role in his first season.

- The offense is getting accustomed to the spread option. Sure, no one was wearing pads and no one getting hit. But the players looked fast, and the quarterbacks looked confident flipping the ball off to the backs on option plays.

- Sam McGuffie's got the moves. Again, insert the no-pads caveat, but YouTube video star McGuffie, a running back from Texas, sure looks like he's going be a slippery ball-carrier.

CHICAGO - University of Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez said this afternoon that backup defensive tackle Marques Slocum is no longer a member of the team, citing academic as well as football-related issues as reasons.

Slocum, who played one season with the Wolverines, contributed eight tackles in eight games a year ago.

Rodriguez added that running back Kevin Grady, who was considered a contender for the starting job, has been suspended as a result of his drunken driving arrest in early July.

The coach said Grady is not currently participating in any team activities, and that his status will be evaluated on a week-by-week basis. Rodriguez said that if Grady meets the conditions for his reinstatement prior to the season, there will still be an impact on his playing time.

Grady, a junior, missed all last year recovering from a knee injury. In his first two seasons at Michigan, Grady rushed for 670 yards.

He was arrested July 2 with a blood-alcohol level of .281 - more than three times the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle in Michigan. Grady has pleaded not guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Rodriguez was speaking at the Big Ten football media days at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

CHICAGO -- Ohio State will be the class of the Big Ten football season this fall.

At least, that's the opinion of media members attending the league's media day today.

The Buckeyes, who enter the upcoming season looking for a fourth-straight Big Ten title and third-straight outright championship, were voted preseason favorite to win the league. Wisconsin was voted second and Illinois third. The Big Ten only announces the top three teams in its poll.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes cleaned up in preseason individual awards, as well.

OSU running back Chris "Beanie" Wells, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, was voted preseason Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten, while his teammate James Laurinaitis, a linebacker, was voted Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year.

Last summer, Adidas signed Michigan to the largest known college licensing agreement in the country.

The deal is for eight years and $60 million, and expectations will be appropriately outsized.

Today will be the first public evaluation, when the company introduces its new Michigan football jerseys.

Much of the suspense was removed by unaffiliated Internet photos a few weeks ago. The visible portion of authentic game jerseys will not be dramatically different from those of the past on the blue home uniforms, with solid maize numbers on the chest and on the biceps.

The road white jerseys are a bit more of a departure from tradition, with blue numbers outlined in maize on the chest and biceps, thin maize stripes between the shoulder and the upper chest, and thicker, more pronounced stripes beginning in the middle outside the numbers and wrapping around the side, forming dual tails in the back.

Those stripes are on the home jersey as well, but all in blue so they are barely visible.

There will also be a sticky strip that says Go Blue across the bottom to hold the jersey in the player’s pants.

An associate athletic director and the licensing department at Michigan chose the jerseys, and coach Rich Rodriguez approved them. U-M equipment managers Jon Falk and Rick Brandt even took a trip to the Adidas factory in Perry, N.Y., to see equipment manufacturing for themselves.

The replica jerseys are a completely different design than the authentics.

Though the road jersey is sure to cause discussion among Michigan traditionalists — changes by Nike a few years ago had fans fearing the jerseys would appear to be two different shades of the same color — Adidas is hoping the inside attracts more attention.

“We’re celebrating what’s special about the school,” said Mark Clinard, Adidas’ business unit director for football, baseball and motor sports. “The details are what speak to that. As we learned more at very beginning stages of partnership, we were looking at what’s special about Michigan. We put Bo Schembechler’s famous quote ‘Those Who Stay Will Be Champions’ in the hem of the authentic jersey. It’s not just about us just putting a logo on the program. We also have (silicone prints of) the 42 Big Ten championships on the inside of shoulder pad area. We can do everything with the outside of the jersey to uphold the honor and tradition. We’re putting more on the inside.”

Adidas is touting three technological aspects of the jerseys: the ClimaCool fabric system that enhances ventilation in “high heat zones”; the Foromotion cuts, strategically placed seams that remove excess fabric such as when a wide receiver stretches for a ball; and beyond the jersey, players will have the TechFit PowerWeb sleeve for their calves to improve oxygen delivery and increase blood flow.

“With the new Adidas football uniforms, our student athletes will benefit from the quality of the products, and players and fans alike can be proud to wear a jersey that celebrates Michigan football,” U-M athletic director Bill Martin said in a statement.

The public rollout begins Tuesday, with the replica jerseys available at M-Den and campus bookstores. The authentic jerseys will go on sale Aug. 1.

Metronews has learned that a tentative settlement has been reached in WVU’s law suit against former coach Rich Rodriguez that calls for Rodriguez or someone on his behalf to pay the entire $4 million dollars in damages.

WVU Attorney Tom Flaherty tells Metronews, “We’ve got a tentative settlement.”

The deal was reached just before midnight last night and, if approved by the WVU Board of Governors, will end the caustic legal fight between WVU and its former coach.

Rodriguez left WVU last December for the head coaching job at Michigan, but fought the provision in his contract that called for him to pay $4 million in damages. 

Rodriguez claimed he had been defrauded by the University, essentially tricked into signing his new contract last August, but WVU argued that Rodriguez understood what he was signing.

A break in the case came two nights ago with a face to face meeting between representatives of WVU and Rodriguez along with a mediator.   Talks continued yesterday and the two sides reached an agreement just before midnight last night.

“We just kept moving on multiple fronts,” said Flaherty. 

Flaherty says he’ll release more details of the settlement after he gives details to the WVU Board of Governors will still must approve the deal, but he said the agreement sets up a timetable for payment.

The deal also specifies how much Rodriguez will pay and how much will be paid by others on behalf of Rodriguez.

One key that triggered a settlement appeared to be the pressure brought by WVU to depose Michigan President Sue Coleman and Athletic Director Bill Martin.  There was a hearing scheduled in Michigan this afternoon on WVU’s attempts to force the two to testify under oath what they knew about the hiring of Rodriguez and the buyout clause in the contract with WVU.

WVU was trying to show that Rodriguez must have understood the buyout provision because he negotiated with Michigan to help with the payment. 

Another key development was Michigan’s release of documents that reportedly showed Michigan agreed to help pay the buyout.