If Hoke is Retained...

Submitted by nmumike on

I have read several times on the board today that if Hoke is retained they will basically quit watching/going to the games, and that will be the final straw. If he does stay on as head coach, what will you do? Sort of a fill in the blank, If Hoke is still here next year ___________.

For me, if Hoke is still here next year, I will conclude that we really can't have nice things. 

It feels like the longer this drags out, the more likely this scenario plays out, but I really hope that is not the case. 

 

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mich728

December 1st, 2014 at 1:46 PM ^

If Hoke is still here next year, it only confirms my notion that this entire program is content with being mediocre, which I am not; therefore forcing me to place my fan card on temporary leave. 

 

 

Joined: 03/24/2011

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MgoPleaseChange

December 1st, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^

That's exactly how I'm viewing it. I posted above that I hope they refuse to sell season tickets to anybody who has had them 4+ years. Time to get these whiny ass fair weather fans out. And same for the student section if it doesn't fill regularly, strip them of seats and sell them to people that want to go support their team, classmates, and friends.

Joined: 11/24/2014

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xcrunner1617

December 1st, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^

You do realize fandom doesn't have a price tag attached to it? If people have better things to do with their time and money, who are you to judge and call them out as worse fans? Its a very rationale response that people will stop spending a lot of money on stuff they don't enjoy. People want to laud Michigans academics and how it works to shape and develop people for post-college experiences, but then you have comments like this where people complain that not all fans are brainless wallets, giving of their time and $$$ with unquestionable loyalty. Sounds about right.

Joined: 02/11/2009

MGoPoints: 1569

24jason

December 1st, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^

believe he's not freaking gone yet. It's shit like this that is killing Michigan football right now. Make the change get the process moving

Joined: 12/03/2011

MGoPoints: 105

Homeless Flash

December 1st, 2014 at 1:42 PM ^

Would be done with Michigan football until a real coach is hired.
We've been through this with the lions and if people continue to support dogshit, management will keep trotting out dogshit. Stop buying Michigan apparel and tickets. Send a message to the university that the fans won't tolerate the dogshit anymore.

Joined: 11/17/2014

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blueblueblue

December 1st, 2014 at 1:45 PM ^

Not a lot will change. We are here day after day for a reason - we are fanatics. Plus, if Hoke is retained, he will likely make sweeping changes to his coaching staff - probably bring in another running backs coach, OL coach, etc. Maybe even Mattison will retire. There will be sacrifices made in the interest of undergirding renewal. And we will all have a glimmer of hope amidst our depression. 

Joined: 12/28/2008

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KC Wolve

December 1st, 2014 at 1:45 PM ^

None of you will give a shit if Hoke is retained and they win the Big next year. You can say all you want that you won't watch but you will. However, if Hoke is retained this will never happen because he is a terrible coach.

Joined: 10/09/2010

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ilah17

December 1st, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^

If Hoke is retained, we will still buy our tickets and go to the games. But I won't pay as much attention to reports from spring ball and fall camp, and I'm sure I won't be as excited for the season to start. Once again I will just hope Hoke can prove me wrong.

Joined: 12/15/2011

MGoPoints: 4185

KSmooth

December 1st, 2014 at 1:51 PM ^

...I will hope that with an improving offensive line and a decent defense, somehow our football team will get its act together.

If that doesn't happen, then I'll probably keep watching games, but make less of a big deal about them. I will go to fewer games in person, and pay less for tickets when I do go.

Joined: 11/14/2009

MGoPoints: 3783

Eye of the Tiger

December 1st, 2014 at 1:55 PM ^

....I'd hope that what looks obvious to most of us (that he is not a great coach) is in fact untrue. Winning solves a lot of problems, after all.

Unfortunately, I doubt that's the case and I don't see the roadmap to future success. In fact, I'm having a hard time figuring out how ANYONE sees that roadmap. For all the talk of inexperience (which is real), how many <6 win teams in power 5 confereces go on to win >9 the next year? I can't think of any. If he stays, maybe we in 7 or 8. Maybe.

 

Joined: 09/14/2009

MGoPoints: 7883

Steve in PA

December 1st, 2014 at 1:56 PM ^

I will find other things to do with those 3 hours on Saturdays. I already started this season and am reasonably OK passing time until basketball starts. I'm married with 2 kids so there is always other things. Watching Michigan football just fell down on the importance rank after Utah this year.

Joined: 08/10/2009

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First And Shut…

December 1st, 2014 at 1:56 PM ^

If Hoke is retained, it'll be just for the remainder of his current contract. It will signal, however, that we were not going to be able get Harbaugh, Miles, or another of the elite candidates this year. Hence, Hackett would have decided that continuity with Hoke was more valuable than making a change and getting stuck with a second-choice for the next 4 years. Barring a slew of injuries and a repeat of this year's horrible turnover margin, I think we win 10 games next year, with Hoke or anyone else. Coupled with a good home schedule, that makes me look forward to next year. I will be renewing my season tickets.

Joined: 11/11/2014

MGoPoints: 582

Perkis-Size Me

December 1st, 2014 at 2:02 PM ^

I'll still pay attention and likely go to a game or two next year. But I'll enter next season with extremely minimal expectations. Like, get to a bowl game kind of expectations.

I just can't get very excited about next season if Hoke is still around. He's blatantly gotten worse every year that he's been here, and I see little reason to believe things would change next year. The writing is on the wall, and I don't see how you can keep the guy after a year where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Things that we thought couldn't get worse did get worse, and that's completely disregarding all the off the field incidents.

If we keep Hoke, I'll still watch the games and support the team, but it will convince me that our athletic department is an antiquated network of good ol' boys who protect their own, who tolerate and accept mediocrity as being good enough, and who wake up every morning wishing it was the 1970s and that Bo was still our coach. That's what I essentially think now anyway, but it will make me afraid that it's a problem that will take years to get gutted and rooted out.



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yourmom_is_hot

December 1st, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^

If hoke is retained

 

@ utah L

Oregon State  L

UNLV  W

BYU L

@Maryland L

Northwestern W

MSU L

@ Minnesota L

Rutgers L

@Indiana W

@Penn St L

OSU L

 

3-9, RichRod Laughs

Joined: 10/14/2014

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ppudge

December 1st, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^

I'll have no faith that we can actually beat - or even be competitive with - our rivals, and look forward to basketball season. I'll still watch the games - hard to "deprogram" 40 years of fandom, but I won't be buying tickets - I'll just watch from the comfort of my couch as the massacres unfold.

Joined: 10/19/2008

MGoPoints: 11466

UMfanKT

December 1st, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^

It would confirm that Michigan is not serious about becoming a national power again and they are happy with being pretty much irrelevant in the landscape of college football.

Joined: 09/08/2014

MGoPoints: 371

ghostofhoke

December 1st, 2014 at 2:32 PM ^

...I'll not be surprised. This is going to happen. Every minute that passes makes me even more assured of it. At this point I don't even consider Michigan football relevant on the national stage anyway so why would this administration spend any money to save it now?



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Danwillhor

December 1st, 2014 at 2:51 PM ^

have to live with it? However, I'll have zero emotional investment in the games much like I began to lose this year. I probably wouldn't pay to see a game but I'd go to some if given, etc. I certainly wouldn't donate outside of Motts. The school would get $0.00 from me. Other than that I'd have to live with it. Life goes on...

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 8608

MGrad

December 1st, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^

I would be pretty angry, because I still want to believe that this football program can be relevant on the national scale.  The fact that we have another corporate-minded (interim?) AD with ZERO credible experience for the function is discuraging enough because it shows that the University may not "get it".  I am very uncomfortable watching the winningest program approach the defibrillators with its weary fan base who diagnosed the obvious demise and its causes much faster than the inept leadership.

Joined: 08/13/2009

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User -not THAT user

December 1st, 2014 at 3:00 PM ^

...RichRod's 3-9 2008 season record is in serious jeopardy.

I will watch all I can out of morbid curiosity, to see just how bad things can get.

Because next year, Devin Gardner's gone.  And this staff hasn't shown the ability to develop a quarterback worth a damn.

Joined: 06/05/2012

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chiltunen

December 1st, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^

I will revoke my allegiance (not to mention season tickets) and switch to the Dark Side. As a kid, I was an avid OSU fan until Coach Bo and Thornblatt recruited me in high school. I was totally enthralled by the campus and AA in general and was offered a gray shirt before I even knew what it was. Alas, being from out of state I could not afford out of state tuition at the time. I have been a die hard Go Blue fan through and through, even flying in from Florida to attend football, hockey and basketball games. However, Hoke is the last straw for me - he will symbolize to me that Michigan no longer cares about being great in football or sports in general. I aspire to be great in everything I do and hold dear, but if Michigan does not have the same goal, then I will simply return to my roots where at least I can count on the Scarlet and Gray to aspire to win national championships and simply not just the B1G.

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Danwillhor

December 1st, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^

I grew up in NW Ohio 4th-Soph year all in the 90s. I knew far more UM fans than osu fans. I knew more nd fans then osu fans. I move away, the millennium comes, time passes and I eventually catch up with most of them using social media. About 90% of them were now osu fans. Those that always were went from quietly being so to arrogantly putting osu shit everywhere. My best friend even switched! His pic was his family all decked out in osu gear lol. Only about 10% of my UM fan friends remained and remain so. I couldn't do it but apparently it can be done easily.

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ifis

December 1st, 2014 at 3:38 PM ^

root for Hoke, root for the players, and hope that it really was youth and transition. At the end of the day though, I don't think Hoke should or will be retained.

Joined: 12/07/2011

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mb121wl

December 1st, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^

(or the new hire seems likely to do little better) I will relax and recall (dimly) what football was like before Bo arrived:  an excuse for students at a good university to enjoy inexpensive entertainment and camaraderie on a pleasant Saturday afternoon, drinking cider and cheap, sweet wine, and being thrilled when the team won, not the least upset when it didn't.  In short, I will be able to watch games without my pulse racing and my blood-pressure through the roof.  UM will be like Northwestern and Stanford used to be:  schools with players more closely resembling actual student-athletes, who would win just often enough for us to get a charge out of knocking off a traditional power.

Something to keep in mind:  Remember the line in The Big Chill?  "These guys always break your heart."  It's true:  ever since WWII ended, Michigan has accomplished something big (e.g., '97) only once in a great while.  The rest of the time, they have played down to the level of their competition (e.g., vs. Navy) or up (OSU in '69, Oklahoma in the '76 Orange Bowl, in a loss), but seldom consistently as the dominant team.  Our record in the Rose Bowl--especially against SC, but more generally vs. the former Pac 10--tells the story we don't really want to own.

I will always bleed maize and blue;  will always get chills when "The Victors" is played;  will always love the winged helmet;  the tradition; the Whiskey half-time show;  the streams of spectators converging on the stadium, the warm, fresh cider on sale (a gallon for a buck);  the empty bottle of wine being passed to the top seats;  the occasional cheerleader being kidnapped and passed all the way to the top row (I *don't* advocate that, or all-male cheerleaders or an all-male band, *today*), etc.  Michigan football used to be fun.  Now it's like taking a big exam every weekend in the fall and being depressed if you don't ace it.

All that said, I'd love some B1G championships and a national one before I die.  But the alternative is not as bad as you might fear.  

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