SEATTLE — Rich Rodriguez walked briskly toward the escalator, ready to get out of a hotel ballroom and back on a plane to Michigan.

“Certainly glad this part of the process is over,” Michigan’s football coach said in his only comment Saturday afternoon after a 7 1/2-hour hearing before the NCAA committee on infractions.

Rodriguez, athletic director David Brandon and school president Mary Sue Coleman were among a large contingent of Wolverines who spent most of Saturday holed up in a downtown hotel defending themselves against NCAA claims that Rodriguez failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the Michigan football program.

The hearing began about 8:30 a.m. local time and, with the exception of an hour break for lunch, continued until 4 p.m.

“We had a very fair and thorough hearing and we feel good about the fact we were given that opportunity,” Brandon said. “And the process will continue and under the rules based on the process as it’s been laid out we’re going to be very quiet. We’re going to go back, we’re going to prepare for a great season, we’re going to get focused on football and let the NCAA do their work.”