where's THE_KNOWLEDGE when you need him?

The obvious conclusion is that there are people who know and like Hoke in the athletic department, who hate everyone else who's ever been rumored for the Michigan job, and there are credulous people willing to relay anything that comes from a person with a job in Schembechler Hall. None of these people are Dave Brandon.

This is almost definitely true, but the obvious question is now this - why do we seemingly have so many douchebags working in our athletic department. People spoke of getting rid of LaBadie and (given who you believe) Carr and said Brandon was "cleaning house." Perhaps he didn't clean it enough?

Whatever your feelings are on Rodriguez (I was a big supporter who recently lost a lot of faith) all signs point to the Carr country club as being a divise, meddling bunch that is toxic for unity and success at Michigan. I've never seen such abuse of the buddy system. I wish Brandon would identify them all and excommunicate them. That would really be cleaning house.

A Hoke hire will cause me to go something something...

I was worried reading that whole entry all the way to the bottom.  Cardiac arrest and stroke both averted. I'm not coming Elizabeth.

Thanks Brian. 

I mean, I understand that Hoke would be a non-sensical hire, but teams make non-sensical hires all the time. Thus, we shouldn't automatically preclude the idea.

Florida hired Zook with no HC experience, Alabama hired Mike DuBose with no HC experience, ND hired Davie with no HC experience, OSU hired a dude from FCS, Auburn hired a dude who failed miserably at Iowa State.

And I agree with what you say
<br>If they wanted hoke, RR would be gone already.
<br>
<br>Btw Just got the mgoblog app and it is awesome

For what it's worth, Hoke is probably more qualified for the job than Lloyd Carr, Gary Moeller, and Bo Schembechler were when they got it.  I agree with the timing issue.  If Brandon wanted Hoke, why would he not just go get him now?  But, I don't think Hoke is a ridiculous candidate or someone that should be mocked or have people consider not being fans of Michigan anymore. 

Period.

Yes, single sentence paragraph time.

The fact that neither of these is actually a sentence, yet would pass muster in certain sports sections, cracked me up.

Thank you for a rational, well-reasoned post on this topic, Brian.

While I don't share Brian's complete disdain for Hoke at all, I don't think you're on firm ground when you assert that Hoke is more qualified now for the Michigan job than Bo was in 1968.

Hoke's record at BSU over six years was 34-38, with one conf. title in his last season. He's done well at SDSU so far, there's no doubt. If you look at the main coaching influences on him, you'd probably have to look at Michigan and his time under Carr.

Bo was 40-17-3 in six years at Miami, winning two conference titles, placing second three times, and finishing third in the conference the other year.

However, it's not just Bo's coaching record that might have recommended him to Don Canham, but who Bo played for and coached under was important. His first coach at Miami was the legendary offensive mind Sid Gillman. When Gillman left, he was replaced by Woody Hayes for Bo's senior year. When Bo was working as an assistant, he not only spent several years with Hayes but also worked for Ara Parseghian for two years at Northwestern. That's a pretty impressive list of high-achieving men who were at the top of college football in various ways that Bo worked for and learned from.

As far as Hoke being more qualified than Moeller or Carr when they took over, you're dismissing the value of those guys having spent so long in the program that when they took over, the transitions were relatively seamless. I will grant that Moeller's first stint at Illinois was a failure, but he was hardly an overall disappointment at Michigan during a time when the conference was dramatically more competitive than it was when Bo arrived. I've never understood the vitriol directed at Carr, considering his on-field achievements. Fritz Crisler is still regarded reverently by virtually all Michigan fans, and he won a grand total of two Big Ten titles, along with his NC in 1947. Carr won or shared the conference title six times, including four in a row, won a share of a NC, coached a Heisman winner, and his name still gets dragged through the mud by people here and elsewhere.

For the record, I'm in the Third Camp - keep RichRod but we'd better see more improvement next year (read: 7-5 ain't gonna cut it with 8 home games on tap).  If we do, then we made the right choice to keep him. If we don't, we will have at least ONE great candidate for the job (JH, Urban, etc.)

Nothing against Brady, but until he does for SDSU what Urban did for Utah (12-0), then he is not my choice for Michigan, now or next year.

My gut feel is that DB wants RichRod to put everything possible into fixing some of the issues during the bowl practices, show SOME improvement on D for the bowl game (anything under 30 pts would be a +), WIN the freaking game, and then show a mediocre D next year.

DB also expects a totally revamped D system or performance. RichRod will have to deliver the improvement on D, even if he has to scrap the 3-3-5 system. Whatever it freaking takes (3-3-5 with new DC, 4-3 system), it HAS to happen in '11. When you are HC at Michigan, you should expect as much support from your AD as your record deserves. It should be enough that DB didn't can him for the "so-called major" violations. He could have if he had wanted to and probably won in court.

On the bright side, I'm expecting a fully loaded offense for the bowl game, with everyone healthy. Plus, Martin at full strength will help on D. Remember how well we looked versus Florida with the right game plan and HEALTHY QB and TB. One guy I'm expecting more from is Michael Shaw. He hasn't been at full strength since getting injured in the BGSU game (I think). Just spurts here and there. I have no faith in Vincent, whether it's the ACL or not. He's fumbled in a few key situations and doesn't give us any 70-yd TD runs vs. OSU or MSU in return.

My main disappointment with RichRod was during an interview late in the season, being very non-committal about WHEN the D would get better. A reporter was pressing him and he made a comment like "if I tell you when the D will get better, then you'll hold me to it." The bottom line is that he might as well go out on a limb and make predictions about his D for '11. If he doesn't deliver in the W Column, it won't matter anyway! He has nothing to lose here.

I think the MOST intriguing games next year, will be in this order: (1) OSU at home, (2) at MSU, (3) ND at home with Kelly in 2nd year, (4) SDSU at home (Brady vs. RichRod).

If we lose to SDSU, it will take a whole lotta wins to keep the Lloyd moles from burrowing what firm ground is still under RichRod.

Mr. Blutoski?

Zero. Point. Zero Zero.

I think Brian makes smart points. My one concern is that he seems entirely comfortable speculating and conjecturing -- based on no real information -- while, in other posts, blasting journalists for speculating and conjecturing.

Brian doesn't know whether or not BH is a candidate. He's just drawing a conclusion based on his own past experience. That's a perfectly valid thing to do. For anyone. But I sense a double-standard. And I don't think the Brian-isn't-a-journalist trope flies. Brian is a big-boy columnist.

or does Brady Hoke kind of resemble Mike Golic?  It is probably just me.  Nevermind, move along!

For the record, there was an article late yesterday in the San Diego Union-Tribune about Hoke and his definite interest in the Michigan job. Becoming Michigan's head football coach is his "ultimate career goal":

San Diego State President Stephen Weber said he anticipates that Brady Hoke still will be his head football coach next season but also knows that if the University of Michigan comes calling, Hoke almost certainly will leave SDSU.

...

When Weber interviewed Hoke for the SDSU job in late 2008, Weber said he asked Hoke, “How do you see this position at San Diego State fitting in with the arc of your career?”

“He said the end of that arc was head coach of the University of Michigan,” Weber said. “I don’t think I’d want a coach who didn’t have that kind of aspiration.”

From later in the article:

But does he think Hoke will be coaching at SDSU in 2011?

“Oh, I think he’s going to be here next year,” Weber said.

SDSU Athletic Director Jim Sterk said “no one’s contacted him or I” about job openings.