University of Michigan (UM) President Mark Schlissel has said he did not mean to take a dig at Brady Hoke's football team when he made public remarks about the school's search for a new athletic director.

In an interview with the UM Record, Schlissel said he apologized personally to Hoke and said he plans to address the Wolverines football team himself. He went on to emphasize that UM's athletics department is in full compliance with the NCAA's academic requirements for student-athletes.

The Michigan Daily reported earlier this week on a 40-minute address Schlissel gave on the search for a new permanent athletic director in the wake of Dave Brandon's abrupt resignation. Chiefly among his talking points, he said he wants to put a greater emphasis on academics as the school looks for a successor.

"We admit students who aren't as qualified, and it's probably the kids that we admit that can't honestly, even with lots of help, do the amount of work and the quality of work it takes to make progression from year to year," he said.

In his weekly news conference Wednesday, Hoke acknowledged his talk with Schlissel and noted that all 69 seniors he has had since taking over the team have graduated.

"I've talked with (Schlissel), he called and apologized for his comments and I'm not going to speak for him, I know that he's put out a statement," Hoke said. "We've always believed that this is truly an academic university. I was here for eight years before as you all know, and I think the one thing that you learn being a former player and a coach is that you can only play so long. That's what a Michigan degree is all about."

According to ESPN, Schlissel has acknowledged in the past that he is new to major college athletics, as he became UM's president in July after serving as Brown University's provost. UM's most recent NCAA academic progress score was 975, the highest in school history.

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