Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez often became emotional Monday as he defended his program against allegations of NCAA rule violations on time limits for practices and offseason workouts.

In a 15-minute statement to begin his weekly news conference, Rodriguez reaffirmed that he and his staff follow NCAA guidelines and care about the players in their program.

Some of the key quotes:

• "The thing that bothered me the most that were recently written or said ... was the perception that was out there that we did not care for our players' welfare. That is heartbreaking. That is misleading and inaccurate, and goes against everything I have ever believed in coaching."
• "Nobody on my staff would ever tell a player to miss a class ... never have, never will."
• "[Strength and conditioning director] Mike Barwis is such a great asset to this university. ... What he has done is unprecedented."
• "Mike truly cares about every one of the young men and women that he has worked with and to imply otherwise couldn't be further from the truth. There's nobody that has a greater passion in helping young men and their careers than Mike Barwis and his staff. He has always complied with the rules, as has all our staff."

Michigan offensive lineman David Moosman told reporters that most or all of the team will be meeting with the school's compliance staffers as part of a full-scale investigation into the allegations.