Detroit News Article on Coach Hoke and his Father
Detroit News is running a few Father's Day tribute articles and I thought this was one worth sharing. It talks about the bond the two of them had, and how Coach Hoke misses his Dad.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140612/SPORTS0201/306120046/1004/sports10/Father-s-Day-tribute--Michigan-coach-Brady-Hoke-still-misses-biggest-fan--toughest-critic
Hope all of you have a great Father's Day weekend, Go Blue!
I think his Father would have hated to see that O-Line play last year!
That was a nice article. There's a genuine sincerity about Hoke that I think appeals to the young players and recruits.
If Hoke and staff can engineer a good season this fall and re-establish an expectation of success going forward, then look out ... the combination of on-field success plus the personal appeal of Hoke and his staff will light up the recruiting trail. It's already pretty good; it will get even better.
I hope this year goes well for us. I hope we can exceed expectations. For the kids. For coach hoke. It's time. We are due!
One last thing.....I know winning sells but I'd be willing to give him one more year regardless of what happens this year. It's the trust factor I think. I'd rather drop my kid off to coach hoke for 4 years and suffer through a year or two of mediocrity than leave him at the doorstep of urban Meyer (who obviously inherited the golden ticket when he arrived at Ohio). Maybe I'm just being a homer but it's just a gut feeling I get when comparing personalities. Brady is "our type" of guy. Just sayin'.......
Rant over.
These articles become harder to read. I think of all the little things, like the anecdote that started the article, that I have with my old man. The little things that I just call him about as I start doing things that "grown ups" do and become more and more like him. And my old man sounds a lot like Hoke's dad, my biggest critic but my biggest fan. He was really hard on me growing up, but he's also really proud of me. So I start seeing myself in these pieces, and what that feeling will be like, and that's hard.
It's never easy losing someone that means so much, in all the big ways and little ways, no matter where you are in life.
I had a rather similar reaction.
As I now watch my father slowly succumb to Parkinson's and a few other things, I start to think about these times that I had with him and it becomes incredibly difficult sometimes because we're starting to see that there may not be a ton of Father's Day calls or Christmases or whatnot remaining between he and I. As much as he drove me insane at times growing up, I know that I wouldn't be as successful as I am now if I had not had someone telling me that I could always do better and be better than I was, even if I was already doing well enough.
I think if you thing that Hoke has a soft coaching style, then you don't really know Hoke's coaching style. You take a few things you see from the sidelines during games and extrapolate them in an unrealistic direction. He may have a soft side in how he tries to provide a family atmosphere, but look at his own anecdote, family atmosphere doesn't mean soft. But alrighty then.
That the team leader/coach/instructor can loose their minds during the run up and practice, but once it's time to show off your stuff and perform, no amount of loosing one's mind can then make thinkgs better. Better is being the calm steady hand of encouragement.
Anyway, that's one school of thought, one that Hoke likely follows. Probably without realizing it.
Carr was generally composed, as was Tressel. Sure they had their exceptional moments, but turning purple and losing their minds like...oh, Bo Pelini and Brian Kelly, usually isn't the way to long term success. But if you seriously believe leadership through intimidation is the best way forward, good look with your future.
An after thought, you must have thought RR the coach of the year in 2008 when he and his coaches totally lost control on the sidelines.
Brady Hoke isn't a soft coach, no matter how many times you say it. The fact that he doesn't rip into his players on game-day on the sideline in front of thousands of fans and TV cameras doesn't equate to him being a soft coach.
Part of being a coach is knowing how to handle players. You list a couple things, great, maybe ripping them would have forced them into a shell and made them worse.
By the way, have you seen Dantonio rip into players on the sideline? I don't recall seeing Dantonio ripping players on the sideline. I think you made that up and just expect people to believe it. He's not a "soft" coach, but he doesn't tend to yell at his kids on the sideline.
Saban does? Great. Harbaugh does? Great. Urban does? Great. Those are successful coaches that coach their way to their personality. But there isn't one personality suited for coaching, and a personality that is suited for coaching certainly isn't a guy trying to be someone else.
Hoke is hard on his players. Trust me. If you've seen him coach in practice and in film and elsewhere, he doesn't just sit there and clap and say good job. I've seen him coach on the sidelines of games, take a DL aside and raise his voice a bit. Just because he ends it with a pat on the butt, doesn't mean it isn't taken seriously. There are other ways of coaching. You also have position coaches on the staff that also get a chance to coach their position, it doesn't always need to come from the head coach.
So your posts are marked in myth. They are false. They have little basis in reality of how things are. Hoke is not a soft coach. He may have some qualities you consider soft, but he is hard on his players, he does yell at his players, and he does those things like a father yells at his kids.
Just because some successful coaches do rip into their players, doesn't mean it's the only way. Belichick raises his voice on the sidelines, but I haven't seen him act like a madman to his players there, and he's pretty successful. Bill Walsh didn't tend to yell at many of his players on the sideline. What about Bobby Bowden? Les Miles? Jim Tressel? Mack Brown? I can go on and on with successful coaches that aren't like Saban, or Bo, or Kelly. It's different styles.
When a coach wins with Hoke's style, he's "always coaching" and "stays calm" and "picks his players up" (all said during 2011). When they fall short on the field, "they're soft."
Woody and Bob Knight might have been even more successful if they'd curbed their tempers a bit. Nobody seems more appropriate to make fun of than purple-faced Brian Kelly.
I agree with SC...both styles work, and both have different effects on different players in different situations. Both styles have their fans.
weakness. I've wathced practice tape and he's very hands on and teaches as well as any HC out there. Many don't participate at all in that respect and perhaps the greatest that ever lived did all his coaching from a tower, but was able throughout the week relay to his assistants which players had to do things differently, which had to be replaced by virture on not giving it their all, etc., and by Saturday, when he walked into the dressing room, the starting lineup was fined tuned for that week's matchup, and along with instruction given through a "blow horn" all aimed at one thing, preparedness, he would couple all he had witnessed, corrected mistakes, inserted proper line up changes, etc., so that all that was left to do was deliver a speech, some of it referring to the changes he made from fifty yards away with what had to be done on that particular day for Bama to prove victorious. As you stated, all coaches, be they great, mediocre or even poor have different styles. The great ones speak for themselves because, of course, they all won. Carr, if he lacked great talent and on field leadership, often took weeks to hit his stride which resulted in far too many September losses which was, perhaps, the reason he normally proved to be so good come November, until JT's arrival.
Minus one game per season, Brady has yet to motivate his team properly. Whatever he does during OSU week should be copied throughout the season and if it were we would not have experienced inexplicable losses, i.e., PSU 2013 and far, far too many close games against far inferior teams where confidence for the remainder of the season could have been instilled had we won in the manner we should have. Believe me when close games against weak teams are the norm great players begin to doubt themselves and any player in any sport that takes the field questioning their ability, they will be hesitant to perform as they always have, and that is naturally, built off of fine coaching they've had at the lower levels and resulting in being pursued by the greatest programs in the nation. This is Brady's major flaw, imo. I am hoping, not because he fits the mold of a "Michigan Man," as Brandon interprets that term. but because he's a genuinely great guy, one who has proven he can recruit to our every need, and that's normally the greatest obstacle in coaching. If he overcomes his inability to get these kids ready each and every week for 13 weeks, you'll see a huge increase in great team performances as a result of increased confidence and by season's end, they'll be as tough an out as their is in the country.
With that being said, I'd just like to add that coaches, like players, experience a learning curve as well. Who knows what he does during OSU week, but it works. I believe it's just him being himself and actually being able to communicate to the players just how damn important that game is. Maybe that learning curve mentioned above takes four years regardless of competition to hit his stride because history says as much facing lesser talent. All my football knowledge, that resulted in a great h.s. record and nothing past that, tells me Brady will deliver this season. I know that the OSU game followed by the KSU game suggests otherwise, but we were playing with a true frosh qb against a damn fine team. Bottom line: if he motivates properly each and every week, and our schedule indicates he should do it incrementally, we will all be smiling come season's end. If not, well I won't recommend the search committee fire up the plane, but those with far greater power than we and whose jobs depend on it just might, and most likely will not hesitate to declare, "Wheels up in fifteen."
Thanks for the link . . . I loved the article, and am not surprised that Angelique Chengelis was the author. I am rarely disappointed by what she writes, and you could say that I am a fan of what she does. (It actually would be interesting if Ace or someone in the know would write a small profile on her.)
Regarding Hoke and his father, I had heard some of these things before, but this definitely filled in the picture. It brought a smile to my face. I guess I especially found it interesting that in his last week of life, John Hoke encouraged Brady to be less competitive with his family. Competition is an interesting thing. You play hard, and play to win, but there's a time to set that aside.
I have a 13 year old adopted son who I love dearly, but who really needs structure and discipline. It is always a tough balance to love him, but also to discipline and provide a framework for future success. I hope to do as good a job as John Hoke did in raising Brady.
Oh, and I think Brady Hoke is a fine coach, has a great staff, and want him to continue at Michigan a long time. I really hope he has a minimum record of 8 - 4, to at least keep his detractors at bay one more year. We're not quite there yet, because of the offensive line especially, but also the DLine, an everything jelling. If we improve this year, I could really see 2015 being a great year, reestablishing Michigan football for a long time.
I have a similar view on Hoke as you do. I look forward to the next two years. I don't think he'd lose his job at 8 - 4 this year, but I also know it wouldn't keep his detractors at bay. 9-3 won't keep his detractors at bay. Many forms of 10-2 would, but one wouldn't.
What about Coach K, Pete Carroll, or Lloyd Carr. They had a lot of success.