Carr defends David Terrell: `He's a good person'.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

ORLANDO, Fla. _ Michigan coach Lloyd Carr sat between Anthony Thomas and David Terrell at the postgame news conference when the question came.

How much fun is it to coach guys like that?

Carr gave Terrell a look that said: Fun? You must be kidding. Terrell, the mercurial receiver, broke out laughing.

Terrell, who was with cornerback James Whitley when Whitley was arrested on a weapons charge last month, was benched at the start of the game. But Carr, who would not talk about Terrell before the game, defended the receiver at length afterward.

"I want to make it clear: He's a good person, he's a great kid and he's done a great job for Michigan," said Carr, whose comments were unprompted. "He made a mistake. . . . And yet when you watch him in the future you'll see a guy that will be very successful and will do things that will reflect positively on himself and the people that he's around."

Terrell's immediate future is expected to be in the NFL, not as a senior at Michigan. The junior receiver did not comment extensively on his decision Monday.

"I've got to touch base on that when I get back to Ann Arbor and sit down with my coach," Terrell said.