One Frame At A Time: Fire Hoke
These are actual quotes from Brady Hoke's presser this afternoon. I could not make them up if I tried, because they are appalling. Click the stills to open each GIF in a lightbox.
“I know there’s been a lot of talk, speculation, innuendos, whatever.” — Brady Hoke.
"We would never, ever, put a guy on the field when there's a possibility of head trauma." — Brady Hoke.
Hoke says he thought hit on Morris was targeting
— Alexa Dettelbach (@asdettel) September 29, 2014
Hoke on playing guys with concussion symptoms: "I would never put a kid in that situation, never have, never will."
— Dan Murphy (@DanMurphyESPN) September 29, 2014
Hoke on whether the athletic trainers did tests on the sideline, “I assume so.”
— Joshua Henschke (@JoshuaHenschke) September 29, 2014
Hoke says he wanted to get Gardner back in (presumably without a timeout), but was told no, "By that time, Shane's on the field."
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) September 29, 2014
LOOK AT THE PLAY CLOCK
Hoke: on the criticism: "When your integrity and character is attacked that’s really unwarranted."
— angelique (@chengelis) September 29, 2014
Hoke on whether he will act different the next time: “I don’t know, I think that’s hypothetical.”
— Joshua Henschke (@JoshuaHenschke) September 29, 2014
September 29th, 2014 at 3:13 PM ^
You are totally not at all irrelevant with this point.
To reinforce your thought, I'd like to point out that if Michigan didn't have a football program, then I wouldn't be typing this right now.
September 29th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
I agree. Also, If RichRod wouldn't have had such horrible records for three years and Hoke still got hired I don't think we would be AS mad. Also if maybe if this winter hadn' t been so severe we'd be slightly more tolerant of this. Also, the sky is blue according to my eyes.
September 29th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^
Forget this year's record. I think if we were 11-2 last year we would much less outraged.
September 29th, 2014 at 6:06 PM ^
to discussion from 3 days ago.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
I believed in Lloyd Carr, I loved Lloyd Carr, and I miss Lloyd Carr.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^
Wouldn't want to "waste" a precious time out early-ish in a half. Hoke never does things like that.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
but Mgoblog has gone off the rails a bit in its tone with firing Hoke for the Morris handling.
College football is a rough sport, kids are competitive, things happen that look ugly to us. If Mark Dantonio can survive putting William Gholston back in a game a few moments after clearly being knocked out and not moving or possibly even breathing on the field against Ohio State a couple years back, Hoke will survive this. It looked ugly then, it looked ugly Saturday.
The reason this is such a big deal is because today's media clammors for attention and things to talk about, and God do they talk, endlessly. Just another media flash point until the next one, it will blow over.
Hoke should be fired for his complete and utter incompetence as a head coach, for the downward trajectory of the program, for what looks to be a complete lack of basic in-game management and program management.
Dave Brandon should be fired for many more reasons than Hoke, but he won't be because he has allies and is building them daily and let his head coach twist in the wind this afternoon because he's out to save his own ass.
This blog disappointed me a bit today.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
Yeah even though I think Hoke made a big mistake in how Morris was handled, this is becoming a pretty enormous echo chamber.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^
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September 29th, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^
Let's assume for the moment that Hoke did not see the hit, and once seeing Morris on the ground, thought that he had aggravated his leg injury. Morris then waves the trainers off. Hoke plays him for one play, sees him still limping around, and takes him off the field. Let's then assume that the trainers did an incomplete evaluation of Shane but nevertheless told Hoke that he was okay to return.
To me, such a situation is at least plausible. It would still be a mistake from Hoke, but should it warrant a headline on this blog that says "Fire Hoke" and national news coverage? I'm not so sure. Brian and Ace are driving absolute hysteria right now on the blog, and it seems not entirely reasonable.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:06 PM ^
The problem is that it's part of a pattern of Hoke seemingly lacking situational awareness. It's not just Morris - there's the 10 men on the field for 2 plays, the delay of games, etc. Maybe it's not Hoke's direct job to mind these things, but it's definitely his job to make sure somebody is, and he's obviously failed in that respect. He hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt here - quite the opposite.
And he's compounding it by avoiding accountabilty. All he needs to say is "We're going to review it, make sure everything was done by the book, and I'm going to personally make sure that we have the right people and protocols in place to ensure that every one of my boys are as safe as possible on the field". Boom, done. Instead it's CYA, "nothing to see here", and "not my job" buck passing all the way down. I don't care what the lawyers say - a MICHIGAN MAN(TM) does what's right, and that means admitting when you screw up.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
Exactly, it's a pattern of unawareness, so let's just call it what it is instead of acting like Hoke reopened Auschwitz.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
There is no need for reason when one is pressing an agenda.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
this should fall on Michigan's medical staff.
We all saw the images of Morris shortly after coming off the field being talked to by what looked like Michigan's head trainer. We don't know what Shane said to him, or what the trainer said to Shane. All we can assume is the trainer was asking him basic questions which would lead him to the decision of whether a concussion protocol was necessary.
I truly believe no one acutally saw the hit, it wasn't shown on the scoreboard replay either. My first time seeing it was at home and to that point I thought it was his ankle.
I want to know WHY was no concussion test done
September 29th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
You guys are making this too complicated. Hoke is a nice guy, but he's not that smart. End of story. Results are predictable.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:34 PM ^
He is one of the culprits’ responsible for the current stat of the program. He undermined RR by basically telling most of the team to transfer, and I'm sure he had something to do with hiring Hoke.
The fact that he is allowed anywhere near the program, let alone paraded around like a figure head, should tell us everything we need to know about the people in charge.
It’s pretty clear to me pride and ego run the program.
Damn it, if only Jeff Casteel would have gotten on that plane!
September 29th, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^
and jabs at Michigan. particularly his "pride before the fall" quips about 8 years ago.
Well here we are, not so funny any more
September 29th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
The blocking of Les Miles probably hurt the most. Miles was a coach that could've walked in here with no dip in the program because his style fits Michigan's. Can you imagine what the shape of the program would be in if 2014 was year 7 of the Miles tenure? I can and I think it would be in a hell of a lot better place.
September 29th, 2014 at 4:43 PM ^
Let me preface this by saying I think Brandon should be (covertly) making calls to find a new head coach based entirely on the team's performance this year.
I saw the hit and aftermath on 70 inches of flat panel LED. The television coverage was excellent, if by excellent you mean brutal. But Brady Hoke didn't have access to that. What's more, he was probably a little preoccupied with getting his arse kicked by Minnesota to run down the sideline making sure that every one of his players was hunky dory. We don't know what he saw.
TV coverage also showed Bellamy scrambling furiously trying to find a helmet that fit. Was Hoke supposed to hold his hand too?
Pointing out that Hoke thinks it was targeting, now that he has undoubtedly answered 25,000 questions on the hit, and implying that he meant that he thought that AT THE TIME without that specific knowledge is flat out libelous.
I'm with you guys that if there is a better coach to be had, Brandon needs to find him, but this blog has cried wolf one too many times here, and your credibility is fading.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:41 PM ^
Asked about concussion protocol for Devin Gardner? After all, losing one's helmet is a pretty damn good indication that a head injury might have occured.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:47 PM ^
Mainly because it didn't come off due to a hit to the head and it was pretty clearly pulled off right at the end of the play and on the Michigan sideline. Also he popped right back up and didn't nearly fall down and need the support of his lineman to stand and make it back to the huddle.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^
I have been a fan of the blog for a long time, but your work this weekend, in our darkest hour, has been exemplary.
Excoriate Hoke point by point as he deserves. Bravo.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^
At the 6:00 mark, it gets quite painful when Brady tries to talk his way out of being involved in the choice to put a player back out on the field.
He already said that he was unaware that Shane may have been foggy, and hearing him bluster, stammer, and exhale his way through a discussion about "perception" of his understanding of the situation at the time, when had had already outed his knowledge right after the game...
is like listening to a 5-year old explain how it wasn't them that actually peed on the bathroom floor.
EDIT: And now Nuss says he didn't see the hit either...
WHAT ARE THESE GUYS LOOKING AT?!
Track the ball, yes, check the sheet, yes, but when pressure is closing in on your QB form your sieve of an OLine, as a coach, one eye damn well better be on the release.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
Have you considered the possibility that Hoke didn't see the hit in real time?
September 29th, 2014 at 3:02 PM ^
...also sent in film on #56, who--in the first gif--is clearly attempting (and succeeding) to injure Morris by twisting his ankle like a UFC fighter. This is a dirty team.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
I would like to see for once a guy get mean and blast the dirty player. Taylor Lewan was our only non pussy lineman last year and he got roasted for it.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:13 PM ^
The Morris situation just made the top of the hour news on the local radio station here in Montana. This is a Tire Fire! Media Frenzy! By the way Fire Hoke and Brandon. Nobody can survive this. Interesting that Brian wants to become the Man(regent) to defeat the man. I support this effort though.
September 29th, 2014 at 3:26 PM ^
. . . that the Equipment staff will issue a statement as to whether the Little Brown Jug has actually gone missing.
September 29th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^
Sorry, I'm sure I'm in the minority, but this post is an embarrassment to this site.
It pretty much implies several things that are not true by relying on tweets of media members who have taken every statement entirely out of context. This is easy to prove. I expect better than this.
This whole thing is just Gibbons all over again. Laying in on a guy based on things totally out of his control, and then blaming him for not being in control of the situation he had no way to know he had to control. It's just dumb. Brady Hoke didn't knowingly play a concussed player. Why would anybody think he would? I'm embarrassed for you if you think anything about this was intentional or unethical. Seriously, spend 5 minutes thinking about the facts and realize this was nothing more thanan unfortunate and unpredictable set of circumstances.
September 29th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
Are you intentionally being obtuse? "Not in his control"? Are you serious? Hoke is the Head coach. He kept a severely limping Shane in there for 2 quarters, BEFORE the head shot. He then kept Shane in the game after the head shot, and the later put him in the game despite the Official recognizing the severity of the situation and asking Hoke if he wanted a TO, which Hoke refused.
Seriously, you are clueless and need to go back to grade school and retake 1-6th grade if you can not see those things.
Unffkingbelievable some of you....
September 29th, 2014 at 5:25 PM ^
You just manipulated every single fact to your liking.
Hoke does not have control over a player being medically cleared to play. If they said he could play, it would be odd for Hoke to be criticized for having a different opinion. Hoke is not a doctor. There is no evidence that Hoke had any knowledge of a head injury. There's no reason to think he would have.
What evidence do you have that Hoke had any idea that Morris may have been concussed? None. That's a fact. We're all replaying GIFs left and right to try and prove that Hoke should have known. That proves nothing.
It's easy to watch a highlight 50 times from 6 different camera angles and then watch the players get addressed on the sidelines from numerous camera angles and assume that the coach should know more than the fan watching at home. In reality though, that makes no sense. He was coaching a football game. He wasn't performing a concussion test on the sideline. If his medical staff also wasn't, then how is that on Hoke?
You and everybody else on here have attacked the man's integrity for no reason other than he didn't have all of the information at his disposal at one moment within a football game. Get over it. I wanted Morris pulled and Hoke fired well before any of that happened. The fact that it did happen doesn't make Hoke a bad guy, he's just a bad coach who got caught in an awful moment at just the right time for a media firestorm. Nothing more.
September 29th, 2014 at 6:43 PM ^
You just dont get it:
1) Hoke kept Morris in the game despite the fact that he was heavily limping for 2 quarters and could barely move. He is an IDIOT if he expects us to believe that he had no idea that Shane was injured.
2) He claims that he didnt see Shane get blown up with the illegal hit. OK, I disagree because the flag was thrown, the play was shown on the scoreboard and there is no way in hell that Hoke could not have seen that!!! no fking way,
3) He kept Shane in there despite that hit and Shane falling down on himself.....then he put Shane back in there despite the OFFICIAL holding up play and asking if he wanted a Time Out.
4) If there is any suspicion at all that Shane was concussed.....ANY at all, he should have been pulled. You are a complete buffoon, just like Brady is...if you would leave a kid out there wobbling around after that heavy hit and not take precautions.
THIS IS ALL DOCUMENTED ON THE GAME TAPE AND IS NOT ANYTHING THAT I AM SPINNING AND/OR MAKING UP.
Unbelievable how you could be so obtuse to the facts. $%#% Im done!!! fuck.
September 29th, 2014 at 5:25 PM ^
You just manipulated every single fact to your liking.
Hoke does not have control over a player being medically cleared to play. If they said he could play, it would be odd for Hoke to be criticized for having a different opinion. Hoke is not a doctor. There is no evidence that Hoke had any knowledge of a head injury. There's no reason to think he would have.
What evidence do you have that Hoke had any idea that Morris may have been concussed? None. That's a fact. We're all replaying GIFs left and right to try and prove that Hoke should have known. That proves nothing.
It's easy to watch a highlight 50 times from 6 different camera angles and then watch the players get addressed on the sidelines from numerous camera angles and assume that the coach should know more than the fan watching at home. In reality though, that makes no sense. He was coaching a football game. He wasn't performing a concussion test on the sideline. If his medical staff also wasn't, then how is that on Hoke?
You and everybody else on here have attacked the man's integrity for no reason other than he didn't have all of the information at his disposal at one moment within a football game. Get over it. I wanted Morris pulled and Hoke fired well before any of that happened. The fact that it did happen doesn't make Hoke a bad guy, he's just a bad coach who got caught in an awful moment at just the right time for a media firestorm. Nothing more.
September 29th, 2014 at 6:44 PM ^
What did I do... edit the Fucking Video tape?
God you are obtuse.
September 29th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^
http://mgoblog.com/content/decade-best-plays-part-ii
Check out number 5. You guys love that photo of Alan Branch dealing a brain injury to Anthony Morelli. 'Killin your doodz' reads the caption. Again and again I see that photo used as something to gloat and to laugh about.
Morris should've been pulled, you're right. However, your righteous indignation sickens me. Hypocrites.
September 29th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
and I ran across this snipet from Brian, dated 9/12/09 just after the ND loss. I don't know how it makes me feel right now, just... well... GODDAMNIT.
In this space I've alternately mocked and panicked at the idea that external forces or internal dissent could strangle the Rodriguez era in the crib and set Michigan on much the same path Notre Dame has traveled these last 15 years. The parade of inept coaches, inept coaching searches in the frequent interregnums, and mostly unrelenting failure during the brief periods in which the school is not searching for a new inept coach could easily have happened here. Michigan was in the process of chaotic, inept coaching search number one when WVU athletic director Ed Pastilong and Pat White's thumb dumped one of the premiere coaches in college football in Bill Martin's lap and Martin jumped at it without thinking it over.
September 29th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:24 AM ^
The date is right, it was after the ND WIN, obviously, not loss. Brian was waxing poetically about the forces that were swirling around the program and about how, for one day at least, it looked like RR and Tate Forcier were going to make a run at silencing them.
September 29th, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^
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