ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Lloyd Carr said Monday he is retiring after 13 seasons as Michigan's football coach, opening up the job leading the nation's winningest program.

The Tennessee native and "Michigan man" who was groomed for the position by the legendary Bo Schembechler leaves after having directed the Wolverines to 121 wins, five Big Ten titles and a national championship.

"On this week of Thanksgiving no one has more to be thankful for than I do," he said at a news conference Monday morning.

Carr's departure means that one of college football's most attractive jobs now is available.

LSU coach Les Miles seems to be at the top of the list of potential successors because he played for Schembechler at Michigan, where he met his wife and later became an assistant.

Even though Miles appears to be in a great situation leading the top-ranked Tigers in a talent-rich area of the country, the school was concerned enough about him bolting for Michigan that it put a specific clause in his contract to make it an expensive move.

In the "termination by coach" section of his deal, Michigan is the only other school mentioned. It states that Miles will not seek or accept employment as Michigan's coach. If Miles does leave LSU to coach the Wolverines, he must pay LSU $1.25 million.

Other candidates might include Carolina Panthers assistant Mike Trgovac, who played for the Wolverines and joined their coaching staff in 1984 as a graduate assistant; Kirk Ferentz of Iowa, where University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman was before coming to Ann Arbor; and NFL head coaches Bobby Petrino in Atlanta and Tampa Bay's Jon Gruden.

Carr said it will be up to athletic director Bill Martin to decide what role, if any, Carr will have in choosing the next coach.

Carr said his hope is that whoever comes after him will continue the long tradition at Michigan of winning "with integrity."

"That's what we want to do," he said. "In the big picture the character of this institution will be defined by the way this program is run, and that really is what Michigan is about and what I hope will always be about."

It was a move many expected last winter when Carr altered his contract, paving the way for this to be his last season on the sideline and later made sure the school gave all of his assistants unprecedented, two-year deals.

Carr was 121-40 over 13 seasons with a .752 winning percentage, ranking him seventh among active coaches just behind Florida State's Bobby Bowden and ahead of South Carolina's Steve Spurrier before he retired.

He joked Monday about speculation that he is tired.

"I'm not tired. I may look tired. But, I still have a great passion for the game, for the players and for the competition. But I also know that there are some things that I don't have anymore, and so it's time. That's all I can say to you."

Carr took over a program shaken by Gary Moeller's sudden resignation in 1995 and led it to consistent success over 13 seasons.

His retirement ends an era marked by highs of winning the national championship and five Big Ten titles and lows of losing to Ohio State and Appalachian State.

Asked what he would remember, Carr said "being in that locker room after some spectacular performances and singing "The Victors" with those teams. Those are the moments you don't forget. Those are the moments that make everything you do worthwhile."

The 62-year-old coach informed his players and staff of his retirement Sunday during a team meeting at Schembechler Hall.

"It was emotional," safety Jamar Adams said. "My eyes welled up."

Carr's retirement announcement Monday came two days after Michigan lost to Ohio State for the fourth straight year, ending a trying season for Carr and the Wolverines that started with an embarrassing loss to second-tier Appalachian State.

The four consecutive losses to Ohio State matched Michigan's longest losing streak in the storied series, and Carr became the first coach in school history to lose six times in seven years in the rivalry.

The Jim Tressel-led Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 14-3 Saturday, dropping Carr to 6-7 overall in the matchup that matters most.

"Lloyd Carr is one of the true gentlemen of college football," Tressel said Sunday. "His legacy is extraordinary, and his leadership in the coaching profession is greatly appreciated. He made a difference in collegiate athletics."

Carr led the Wolverines to the 1997 national championship. He won 77.9 percent of his conference games, trailing the success rate of just two coaches that were in the Big Ten for at least a decade: Michigan's Bo Schembechler and Fielding Yost. Against top-10 teams, Carr was 17-9.

Michigan has lost its last four bowl games, including three Rose Bowls, the longest postseason skid since Schembechler dropped seven straight in the 1970s.

The Wolverines were ranked No. 5 before this season started by voters who thought returning stars on offense would make up for inexperienced players on defense and special teams.

Then, they began the season by losing to Appalachian State, becoming the first ranked team to lose to a team from the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly Division I-AA. That led to an unprecedented fall out of the poll.

Michigan followed up that embarrassment by losing to Oregon 39-7 at home, its worst loss since 1968.

The Wolverines did rally, however, with eight straight wins and had a chance to win the Big Ten title outright and earn a spot in the Rose Bowl in the regular-season finale against Ohio State. With the loss to the Buckeyes, Michigan likely will end up in the Outback Bowl or the Alamo Bowl.

Carr's career was a lot like the 2007 season: Relatively rough at the start; great in the middle; lackluster toward the end.

The longtime assistant was elevated to interim coach on May 16, 1995, after Moeller resigned following a drunken confrontation with police. Michigan dropped the interim tag toward the end of his first season.

The Wolverines lost four games in each of Carr's first two seasons, then went 12-0 and won the national championship a decade ago accomplishing a feat the late Schembechler didn't.

Michigan won Big Ten titles in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004 under Carr.

The Wolverines were 7-5 two years ago, their worst season in two decades, and bounced back in 2006 with 11 wins and a third trip to the Rose Bowl in four years.

Carr was born July 30, 1945, in Hawkins County, Tenn. He graduated from Northern Michigan and began his coaching career at Nativity High School in Detroit.

After a few more stops, Schembechler hired him in 1980 as defensive backs coach and promoted him to defensive coordinator in 1987. He held that job through the 1994 season.