ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Ten days after the Lloyd Carr era of Michigan football officially ended, Rich Rodriguez is fully entrenched in the work at hand.

In a week that included word that wide receivers Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington are expected to enter the NFL Draft and that quarterback Ryan Mallett will transfer, Rodriguez has plenty left to accomplish before spring practices begin in March.

Recruiting will be among Rodriguez's most immediate priorities as he expects to fill 25 scholarship slots before National Signing Day in early February. With big holes left at quarterback, running back and wide receiver, Rodriguez's needs are many as he works to construct his first Michigan team.

Rodriguez said when he was hired in December that he planned to implement the spread offense that his teams at West Virginia excelled at. But he knows that he'll need a special brand of athlete to accomplish what he wants.

"I want to find fast guys that will play fast," Rodriguez said at a luncheon with reporters at Schembechler Hall. "The numbers (of players) to fit the system that we're going to use both (on) offensive and defense — it's going to take a couple of years to get that and I knew that coming in."

Rodriguez said he likes the group of verbal commitments he's received so far, characterizing the group as a mixture of recruits that had committed to Michigan before his hiring and players he was looking at while at West Virginia.

And while he realizes it will be a full year before he is able to put his stamp on a recruiting class, he said he'll work this spring to establish himself with the players that will play at Michigan this fall.

"This is going to be as much about me figuring them out as it is about them figuring me out," Rodriguez said. "We're going to work with the guys we've got."

Rodriguez said he hasn't had much time to meet with returning players, but said he believes he has a solid nucleus of upperclassmen that he feels will quickly buy into his style.

Rodriguez said he won't hand playbooks out until next month because he wants players to use this time to focus on academics and Michigan's new strength and conditioning system. Rodriguez brought Mike Barwis from West Virginia to oversee that aspect of Michigian's program. Barwis said Friday that he will use a unique holistic approach to his job, preparing players for the rigors of what they'll face in Rodriguez's system while overhauling the system they're used to.

In the end, though, Barwis said the work will pay off.

"Our guys don't get tired — that's the bottom line. We don't want them tired, we don't want them worn out," Barwis said. "Fourth quarter, we want our guys to turn and look at the other (team) and watch them put their hands on their knees, let them suck the wind. And we'll win the game in the end."

Rodriguez on Friday also introduced Scott Shafer as Michigan's new defensive coordinator. Shafer, who spent last season in the same position at Stanford, replaces Ron English, who was part of the collection of Carr assistants who were fired by Rodriguez. English has since been hired at Louisville, where he will work as the Cardinals' defensive coordinator.

Rodriguez said the Wolverines will show an assortment of defensive fronts based on personnel groups and specific situations. Each of Michigan's four new defensive assistants have worked as coordinators at some point in their career and now are part of a staff that Rodriguez called the best he's assembled in his coaching career. Running backs coach Fred Jackson was the only Michigan assistant retained.

"My goal going into this process was to hire the nine best coaches that I felt that I could get," Rodriguez said. "I wanted guys that were the right fit for the university and that were the right fit for Rich Rodriguez."