Notre Dame Postgame Presser: Brady Hoke
file
[Note: I wasn’t in South Bend, so this was all transcribed from the video provided by the Athletic Department’s site.]
Opening remarks:
“Obviously Notre Dame played a very good football game and we didn’t. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. A lot of credit to what they did on third downs, either defending us or their third down opportunities that they converted on.
“We’ve got to go back to work, and we will as a team. You don’t want to have four turnovers in a game. That doesn’t help you. The red zone, we didn’t help ourselves in there. From the penalty side, we put ourselves behind the sticks offensively. And again, you’ve got to give them a lot of the credit too. But we will bounce back because this is a very resilient, hard-working group of young men who know what it takes to win.”
After [Devin] Gardner started fairly quickly, I think six-for-six, and then did they bring more pressure, did your offensive line struggle; what fell apart?
“I think a little bit it’s never one guy, it’s never one piece of the offensive line, or the quarterback, or the routes, or whatever. When those things happen I think they happen as a team. He started six-for-six. I think we’ve got to give them- we crossed the fifty and they were going to bring more pressure. That’s what they did.”
Can you talk about Ray Taylor and any update on his status?
“I’m not going to talk about any of those injuries. Number one, I don’t know enough about them.”
And then Jabrill [Peppers], he dressed. Could he have played?
“If he could have played we would have played him. We evaluated all those guys before the game.”
And then you dressed him?
“Well, he went out because we were evaluating him before the game.”
You said you’re pretty confident this team will bounce back. How do they bounce back from such a- I mean, this was a pretty humbling loss here.
“Yeah, it is but I think they’ve all been humbled sometime in their life. It’s part of the resiliency this group has.”
Your guys were pretty adamant about how bad they wanted this because of this possibly being the last game. Were you surprised at how lopsided this ended up being?
“This game? Yeah.”
[After THE JUMP: Gardner is still the starter, why Countess was pulled, and bouncing back from adversity]
You talked about Devin [Gardner]. Did you ever consider pulling him at any point?
“No. No. I mean, he’s our quarterback. You know, unless he doesn’t come to work every day, doesn’t come to learn, all those things, he’s our quarterback. We wanted to put points on the board.”
Do you feel like he’s slipping into some of his habits he had last year? Holding onto the ball too long, or…
“Well, obviously- I don’t think he slipped into all those habits. I think he’s a better quarterback- I know he is. He’s a better quarterback than he demonstrated today.”
You talked about how this team will bounce back, but does it need something different? Does it need some changes from you as the head coach, or personnel-wise, or anything like that? I know immediate aftermath it’s hard to know.
“I think that it is hard to know. I think when you evaluate it, and we’ll evaluate it on the bus on the way home; you know, how guys played, who didn’t play well, who played well. You know, because there were some guys who played pretty well. Jake Ryan- I thought he played a pretty good football game. You could feel him out there. You know, Jack Miller did some good things when you watch that.
“The bad part was we got behind the sticks too many times and got out of rhythm offensively, because we were running the ball halfway decent. That was encouraging to see but then obviously, I think at halftime it turned into a game where we needed to throw it a little more”
Evertt Golson is a guy who didn’t even make it out of the first half the last time you guys faced him. He was considerably better tonight. What are the biggest differences you’ve seen in him going against him?
“Well, I think they also use him well. I think Brian [Kelly] does a good job. There’s a lot of three-step game in it, a lot of slants. I think he’s matured. I think I said that this week coming in that he’s a much better quarterback than he was two years ago just from watching the Rice game, and I would say the same thing after our game.”
You shuffled the secondary a lot.
“Some of that was because of injuries.”
But even taking out Blake [Countess] at one point. What did you see there that you didn’t really like?
“Well, we’ve played a lot of guys back there in the past. Stribling, we wanted to get him some live reps in there. Sometimes you take a guy out and he gets a chance to watch from the sidelines a little bit, and maybe he picks up a few things. We didn’t play well in man coverage. You get called for two interference calls- and we’ve got to play smarter- early and the guys get a little bit worried about playing press.”
This is I believe 0-4 against the big three rivals on the road over the last four years. What is this team missing? What does this team need to get over the hump?
“Winning. You win the game. You play. You don’t turn over the ball. You don’t give up big plays.”
Is this a mental thing at this point or what do you guys view this as?
“You talk about it enough into being a mental thing. I don’t think it’s a mental thing.”
What do you think it is?
“Just what I said. You can’t give up big plays. Can’t turn the ball over.”
When the game was that far out of reach, Gardner often puts his body in a position where he takes hits. He takes hits in the fourth quarter. Why were you playing him at that point?
“Because he’s our quarterback. He’s our quarterback. You know, we’re going to play some really big games on the road this year, and for him to keep improving he needs to play quarterback.”
Is it a risk, when he takes a hit like that?
“Anything’s a risk. To me, the risk was starting him maybe. I don’t know. We’re trying to develop a team.”
You might have touched on this a little bit already, but what specifically was your message to the team?
“After the game? Number one, give Notre Dame credit for how they played. It was a total butt kicking all the way around that we all took. Going back to work tomorrow as a team, like they will. And we’ve got to get a lot better. I think we learned some things that we’ve got to get better at.”
It looked like your quarterback was under pressure a lot and their quarterback wasn’t under pressure a lot. Was there a disparity in the trenches or was that scheme?
“I don’t know about that. He had to run enough. He did a good job evading a lot of rush, Everett did. And so I think there was pressure there. And sometimes it’s hard to get pressure on a three-step game.”
You mentioned that you feel like this team will bounce back. Adversity-wise, with a young team do you worry that they may get off track?
“I really don’t. Not with this team.”
Why?
“Because of what we’ve seen every day from them. I mean, from their work ethic, from how they care about each other. All those things.”
Devin [Gardner] took a good shot at the end. Is he okay?
“Like I said, I’ll talk about those injuries when I know more.”
September 8th, 2014 at 11:42 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 1:00 PM ^
With the caveat that I'm sure he's not sharing all his thoughts with the media, I do seriously wonder if Hoke has the ability to identify and correct our problems. It seems like all his press conferences after a loss are the same and we don't seem to make any significant progress.
September 7th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
What I'm afraid of at this point is that he is sharing all his thoughts and ideas.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^
My heart loves Michigan. I got a master's and a phd from the university. But my head is really starting to make me question, from a rational perspective, if I should stop supporting it's football team. This is a public university. For Hoke to come out and basically treat the press, and by proxy it's fans, like animals begging at his hand, is reprehensible. He just toys with the press, and the fanbase. I'm tired of Hoke treating the fanbase like shit.
September 7th, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
If I can say this: don't give up on the team. Give up on the coach(es), and the AD (god knows I'm there after last night), but these kids are playing their butts off. No matter how I feel about the state of the program I'm always going to watch every Saturday and cheer these kids on with everything I have. That might not be what you meant, if so I apologize.
September 7th, 2014 at 1:01 PM ^
Cumong man! The press in no way equals the fans. If anyone is treating the fans like shit it's Dave Brandon.
September 7th, 2014 at 1:05 PM ^
I'm talking about the flow of information. Pressers are Q&A sessions to transmit information to the fans through the press. Perhaps "proxy" wasnt the right word - they are conduits.
September 7th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 12:41 PM ^
Our D wasn't doing the things that make press-man coverage work. Jam the frickin' WR at the line and get pressure on the QB. We had neither of those for the most part. But I have to give ND credit, they made some plays that I was just like "ok, that was a great throw by Golston and just as impressive catch by (insert ND receiver)". The coverage wasn't bad per se, but they got way too much free release and to their credit made some outstanding catches.
I think I'm done with Hoke, hell, I even feel done with Mattison at the moment. Though even Sparty and their all-world D-coord and system eventually cracked against Oregon in the 3rd qtr. But still, we're going to have to show some MAJOR improvement over the course of the season for me to change my mind now. Just too many meltdowns against teams with a pulse for me to have any confidence he can get it done at an elite level.
Also, it's worth mentioning the refs in this one. There were some just down-right aweful calls last night. The ND receiver was clearly OOB on that catch they reviewed, blatant PI on Funchess that wasn't called despite calling our guys for less that ended a drive, and the JMFR late hit was absolutely not a late. It was probably some of the worst and most biased officiating I've seen in several years.
September 7th, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
He forgot to say "they didn't execute".
September 7th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
during games, but I'm starting to miss that fire. Either Hoke has absolutely no sense of urgency, or he's some kind of zen master at keeping all that under the surface. All evidence is that he's running some kind of country club for highly rated recruits, and what the kids need is a drill sergeant and discipline.
September 7th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
Im still in recovery, all i know is its becoming increasingly difficult to be a fan of this team.
September 7th, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 12:50 PM ^
Recruiting is probably at an all-time high. Though that just makes the overall issue worse, because how can you look like you did last night with such quality recruits?
September 7th, 2014 at 4:57 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
September 8th, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^
Not sure how D is better. GMatt is washed up. If this is the best D in the 4 years since his arrival...WOW!!! No pressure on QB. Frank Clark has got to be the most over rated player we've had in years...but hey...he's a FREAK. Sure shows on Saturdays doesn't it?
September 7th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
This is I believe 0-4 against the big three rivals on the road over the last four years. What is this team missing? What does this team need to get over the hump?
“Winning. You win the game. You play. You don’t turn over the ball. You don’t give up big plays.”
September 7th, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
I'm rewatching the game.
Just thought I'd let you guys know I'm crazy.
September 7th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 2:04 PM ^
Okay, I'll be dead serious with you: To my untrained eye, until the drive before Notre Dame went up 28-0, our offensive line was not the problem. At that point, things started to give way and go to shit, but before that, they held up fine.
On the ground, here were our carries by RBs (and Norfleet) by yards gained:
1, 13, 7, 0, 3, 5, 9, 6, 3, 7, 10, 10, 2, -3, 3, 2, 0 , 1 or 4.3 ypc.
(Where things start to flag are at the drive I pinpoint above. Take out those last four carries and you're at 5.2 ypc)
That's...not terrible? It certainly wasn't like some of the disasters we saw later in the season last year.
As for pass protection (again untrained eye), I have a hard time putting the blame on the line. For the most part, Gardner had time to throw the ball. It seemed like either the decision he chose to make was poor or the play was designed for something quick which wasn't warranted. Again, this argument starts to fail once you get to the drive above, but in the first half and start of the third, I'm hard pressed to put the offensive failures on the line. They were by no means perfect, but they certainly weren't...well last year.
Other things: We play so damn slow. With the Oregon game on so many TVs next to Michigan's game last night, it was excruciating to watch.
Also, I don't understand what happened to aggressive Hoke. Why didn't he go for it on 4th and 2 early?
September 7th, 2014 at 2:32 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 7th, 2014 at 1:03 PM ^
I just yelled that same thing art my monitor when I read that quote. WTF! Did we try those and they were covered or were they not even in the gameplan?
September 7th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
The ones we tried were covered really well by ND. I suppose they see it a lot in practice.
We did not have time to exploit them over the top.
September 7th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
This is true, but only because we never got into the red zone.
September 7th, 2014 at 1:09 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 5:10 PM ^
The angle I can't stand is, "He's a much better quarterback than he was today." When should a quarterback be judged, in practices or in game situations? I vote the latter. I love Devin - this isn't a slight against him. I just wish Hoke would come up with some different talking points.
September 7th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
We knew it then. What do we know now? A lot of posts last night and today about Harbaugh, which are just as insane as the Hoke hire itself.
http://mgoblog.com/content/hoke-react-no-swearing
http://mgoblog.com/content/its-hoke
http://mgoblog.com/content/worst-part-about-all-hoke-rhymes-joke-and-ch…
http://mgoblog.com/content/non-hoke-options-extant
September 7th, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
After a 31-0 loss in the last game against Notre Dame in year four of the Hoke program, it actually seems pretty reasonable.
September 7th, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
Have to agree. Losing 31-0 to a rival is bad enough, but realizing your head coach is not the right man for the job makes it much worse.
Not much room for optimism.
September 7th, 2014 at 6:58 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
And wondering if many of the problems that were our program still exist. All the administrative ineptitude from top to bottom that distracts a coaching staff from building a winning program.
Brady Hoke is doing the right thing to keep as tight-lipped as possible to minimize all the crap that comes from external pressure. But who knows what is going on inside? We kind of assume all that was cleared up when Rodriguez was let go, but Bacon's book makes it pretty obvious that UM football was an administrative clusterf--- and way too much bullshit fell to Rodriguez to have to deal with.
Has Dave Brandon fixed all that? If he has, then a coaching change might work this time. Or giving Hoke a couple more years might work, too. If not, well, I don't want to contemplate it, but we may be seeing the new norm for Michigan football for a long time to come.
Being among the elite means elite coaches, elite players, but it also means top-notch support behind those guys to free them to be elite. Hoke and staff are getting the players. I also think some of the coaches could be considered elite. But what about the rest of it?
Seven years now. How many seasons before it ceases to be an aberration?
September 7th, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 7th, 2014 at 4:49 PM ^
Certainly I think we should wait and see if he can rally the team after a terrible drubbing like this...if he can't, if they show no improvement by the time we play PSU, if continued poor play begins to effect recruiting...then yeah, probably Happy Trails at season's end
September 7th, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
Everyone asks how Hoke can turn this around? I suggest to you he already has. From 11-2 and a Sugar Bowl win with RR's team, to 7-6 in 2013, the record is who we are. Hoke was sub .500 when hired and he is returning the Michigan Program to those depths.
September 7th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^
"Coach, why did your DLine, the one thing you coach, play poorly and not get pressure?"
DON'T BLAME ME, THEY THREW A LOT OF 3 STEP DROPS YOU CAN'T GET PRESSURE ON THOSE
"Well coach, why didn't you all call more 3 step drop quick game passes since Gardner was getting assaulted?"
I DUNNO BLAME THE OC
__________________
There's my translation out of Hokese for y'all.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
what evidence is there that this team is "resilient and knows what it takes to win"?
September 7th, 2014 at 2:06 PM ^
I keep coming back here, trying to find answers, and there aren't any. Or if there are, they aren't the ones I want to hear, like we need to sit Gardner or we need a new coaching staff.
September 7th, 2014 at 4:41 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
Hoke doesn't want the team to panic. So he offers up the coach-speak to the media.
He respects his players' medical privacy rights. Under HIPAA it'd be wrong to discuss injuries publicly until at least given permission by the students involved. My guess is that they appreciate not having their injuries and personal matters discussed in the media. There's also a possible strategic advantage of not having opponents know exactly who's going to play until game time.
I don't have a problem with either one of those things.
What I have a problem with is that the road performance of the team has been miserable for several years, and that even with the very high quality of players the team has, this is the third straight year where I find myself scratching my head over unacceptable play by (old) Michigan standards.
Michigan had a very popular coach in Bump Elliott from 1959 until 1968, when Bo came in. The media loved him, and his players loved him the way the current players love Brady Hoke. I was a freshman during Bump's last year and lived in South Quad, which was the team's dorm. A lot of the guys were decent enough friends who shared their thoughts on being coached by Bump. They loved him.
Hoke's record is also better than Oosterbaan's and Kipke's. But we've had all-time great coaches who spoiled us, and many of us remember Bo as the savior of Michigan football.
For all the team's faults, Hoke isn't a bad coach. But he's also not going to be the savior of Michigan football. There are too many power conferences, and too many tempting places for coaches to go, and too much money involved in such opportunities, to find a football savior without a tremendous amount of luck.
Do I blame Brandon for bringing in Hoke over some other coaches? A little. I dislike what he's done in other areas much more than the fact that he chose Hoke. However, I don't blame a person for making a choice that lots of folks thought would be a good choice.
I will, however, be upset with Brandon if he doesn't start a coaching search now. I'm not saying he should absolutely fire Hoke at this point - it's a decision that should be made later. But he does need to at the very least have some research done on possible replacements so that if push comes to shove, he's prepared and has some candidates confidentially interested.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:14 PM ^
You really think Hoke is standing up there thinking about HIPAA?
Really?
Comments