Michigan has created another PR disaster.

On Monday, U-M president Mark Schlissel criticized the academic performance of athletes.

On Tuesday, Schlissel did a two-step backpedal. He apologized to football coach Brady Hoke and interim athletic director Jim Hackett.

And on Wednesday, Hoke said: "We try and recruit the best football players, the best student-athletes and people that fit the blueprint here at Michigan."

What is a student-athlete? That's the root of the problem. It's one of the great hypocrisies of college athletics. The truth is, many of these "students" wouldn't be admitted to Michigan if they weren't an "athlete." This is nothing new, of course. It happens across the country.

But it clearly bothers Schlissel.

"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 Monday at the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, according to the Michigan Daily.

It is clear that Schlissel is concerned about the situation and it has slowed his search to replace Dave Brandon, who resigned last month as the U-M AD.

"That's why I'm taking a bit of time with the search for Dave's successor," Schlissel said, according to the Daily. "I want to take the time to make sure we get someone who is not only technically adept, but can ensure that the program has financial and academic integrity, and also someone who shares the value system of realizing our mission."

Schlissel is not a sports guy. He is a trained scientist. He went to Princeton and has a master's and doctorate from Johns Hopkins. He has written or coauthored nearly 100 scientific papers. He did research in immunology and taught biology. As far as an administrator, he was a dean at Berkeley and a provost at Brown.

Schlissel is clearly intelligent, but he has virtually no experience with big-time college athletics.

And he is quickly learning the dirty little secret of college athletics.

The tail is not really attached to the dog.

Schlissel said that he is concerned about the "diminishing connectedness" between the athletic departments and rest of the university, according to the Michigan Daily.

Then, that tail smacked him in the face.

And he started back-tracking, trying to protect the athletic department.

Backpedaling and more backpedaling

This is just the latest self-inflicted wound at Michigan.

First, we had the Shane Morris concussion controversy. Then, we had the late-night press release from Brandon. Then, we had Stake Gate, where Hoke didn't know what he didn't know, until two days later, when he clearly knew what he knew.

Then, Brandon resigned.

And now, we have this.

The Great Presidential Flip-flop.

First, Schlissel suggested there were academic problems among athletes.

Then, he backpedaled: "If I conveyed earlier that there are underlying academic problems here, I want to correct that now," he said.

Quick note: How did he say this? In a highly crafted Q&A on the university's website, which is the easy way to try to control the message and avoid questions from the media. Accountability be damned.

But alas. Let's move on.

First, Schlissel seemed to suggest that Michigan football players practice more than allowed. "The NCAA says 20.5 hours is the max, but it turns out nobody follows that," Schlissel said, according to the Daily. "There are ways that they work around it and if it was only us, it'd be ridiculous, I'd clean house, but it's everybody."

Whoops! This has NCAA sanctions written all over it.

Michigan suffered major sanctions from the NCAA under Rich Rodriguez for breaking the 20-hour practice rule, a huge embarrassment to the university. Schlissel hit the one nerve that you can't touch in Ann Arbor, showing his lack of knowledge about the football program as well as college athletics.

Then, he said Michigan is in full compliance.

First, he indicated that Michigan students are not as successful as they should be.

Then, he backpedaled, citing all kinds of statistics.

First, he suggested, that Michigan doesn't admit students who are qualified to be there.

Then, he tried to backpedal on this point, although he didn't come out and say they don't.

Clearly, Schlissel knows too much about the situation and is deeply troubled. Or he is in deep trouble because he doesn't know enough.

Schlissel is trying to straddle the great hypocrisy of college athletics.

And it's dangerous because it is like sliding across an old wood beam.

If you don't watch out, you get a butt-full of slivers.

And that is what has happened here.

But don't get lost in the absurdity of the situation. This debate about student athletes is vitally important and will have ramifications on the field because it will ultimately determine the type of athletic director that is hired. And, assuming there is a coaching change, it will affect the type of coach who is hired.

Will Schlissel strive to raise the admission standards of athletes to bring it more in line with the rest of the student population?

What will he value more: winning or graduation rates?

It is clear that Schlissel is in way over his head when it comes to athletics. And it is apparent that he needs to hire an experienced athletic director, somebody who knows how to straddle all of these issues.

Translation: Somebody who knows how to win and win big, while keeping up the farce that this is all about education.

Contact Jeff Seidel: . Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.