Various Hoke Items
Obligatory @ right via HSR.
Coaching bits. Rocky Long is officially the new head coach at SDSU, so Michigan will need a new DC. He will bring his strength coach Aaron Wellman, so kiss Barwis goodbye. ETA before he's hired at Pitt: six seconds.
Who did what who with what and the when. I have a request in for a rundown of the Borges years at Auburn with a good friend who is the world's #1 Auburn fan, but they sort of just won a national championship so that might take a little bit. Over at Maize 'n' Brew they have a breakdown of Hoke's years at Ball State from a BSU alum. On offense they started off with a "disaster" of a pro-style offense that got the first coordinator canned, whereupon Stan Parrish was brought in:
Coach Parrish junked the previous offensive scheme almost completely. He still employed two tight ends due to Steinhaus and Darius Hill being two of the biggest weapons on the offense, but also used a lot more three and four wide out formations and the fullback ceased to exist in the offense. Ball State ran a balanced, one back attack with Joey Lynch and the Nate Davis excelling at quarterback, MiQuale Lewis at running back, and Dante Love at wide receiver/running back/quarterback.
So Hoke has some flexibility when it's clear that whatever you want to do isn't actually working, but… yeah, seems like the default impulse is to line 'em up and waggle them three times a game.
On defense, Hoke kept the same guy through his six years but "was the defacto defensive coordinator" by the end of his tenure because Smith was kind of not so good. They moved from the 4-3 under that Greg Robinson actually knows how to run to a Big Ten default 4-3:
For the first four years of Coach Hoke's tenure, Ball State ran a defense that the media mostly called a 3-4 defense, but I think would be more accurately described as a 4-3 under defense. The last two seasons, when Coach Hoke was basically running the defense, Ball State mostly used the 4-3 defense, although the 4-3 under defense was also still used.
Hoke grabbed Long at SDSU, obviously. Depending on who you talk to Long invented the 3-3-5, which is what the Aztecs ran. Flexibility there, though not a whole lot of success. Even in the epic Ball State year that got him out of the MAC, the Cardinals got bombed for 45 points in their two year-ending losses. This year's SDSU team was better on offense by every metric than defense. For a "defensive-minded" coach his success seems based on having a couple quarterbacks that were pretty good.
Fluffwar 3000. Anyone doubting the media 180 should have listened to the press conference, wherein questions were gently peeled by the assembled masses and placed in the most pleasing spot on Hoke's tongue, whereupon they dissolved in a haze of gruff footbaw talk. I think I heard someone say "he's dreamy" at one point. This will be annoying for people irritated at the way Rodriguez was treated but is an asset for the program. Everything is black or white, you see.
We should hold a competition for most Charmin-soft headline over the next six months. Candidates so far:
- "New U-M coach Brady Hoke's character impresses peers"
- "Michigan players applaud hiring of Brady Hoke"
- "Alumni rally around Hoke hire"
- "Brady Hoke earned respect and admiration from former Michigan football players"
And a candidate for most least correct:
These are all exactly what you'd expect, so there's no need to read any of them. Our brief period as a rogue program has ended, and the worst-case outcome of the next few years in the media is a bunch of clucking at fans who aren't satisfied with how much better Brady Hoke's record is than Rich Rodriguez.
Save Drew Sharp, of course. He was the lone guy to fire off a negative question amongst the general fawning, that directed at Michigan's aspiration to win conference championships instead of national ones. I wonder if he asks his wife why she didn't aspire to marry a human being instead of Marvin the Paranoid Android.
The truth. Michigan's situation is odd. They are a 7-6 team with pretty good yardage numbers that has an easier schedule next year and a boatload of returning starters, so they should be better, possibly a good bit better. But they're transitioning coaches and if Denard stays are probably going to make an awkward transition in offense exactly at the point where this year's crater of a recruiting class will start hurting them badly. So Lamarr Woodley's right:
“I mean, hopefully they’ll look good next year, but it will probably take a while for them to be adjusted,” he said. “I don’t want to go into that Michigan State situation, where they’re hiring and firing.
“We have to stick behind coach Hoke and give him time to bring in the guys he needs for his formula."
Michigan will have to be patient, because a tenure much like Charlie Weis's is a strong possibility: good results early, falloff once this class and the last one come home to roost, many grumbles about early success being vapor. Michigan will (should?) have an upperclass Devin Gardner instead of freshman Jimmah and some semblance of an offensive line, so the rough patch might not be awful. It's likely to come.
(Yes, exactly zero players said things like this for Rodriguez.)
The upside. I think this is both praise and condemnation:
Spoke to a bunch of coaches here in Dallas at AFCA who think Brady Hoke will do well at Michigan. They kept using the word "solid" a lot.
Calling a coach "solid" is like calling a girl cute. Also, this…
@mgoblog You may have gotten your Dantonio, for whatever that's worth.
…is the exact same thing. It's hard to envision Hoke not having the same sort of dismal record against the USCs of the world if he's going to rely on recruiting nowhere near as well and out-executing, as Michigan State found out the hard way against Alabama.
Meet the Drew Sharp of San Diego. Brady Hoke had been so openly coveting the Michigan job that even San Diego State's athletic director was all like "he gone," but there is a lone wacko out there willing to point and scream "Rodriguez":
Hoke never purchased a home in San Diego. He rented in La Jolla. He wasn’t staying here forever, and even he no doubt is surprised by how fast this happened. He hadn’t done much of anything, which he admits.
But in the end, it wasn’t so much betrayal as it was deception. It’s hard to say San Diego State is better off today, but if Brady Hoke couldn’t be stand-up about this thing, sneaking around in college football’s increasing shadows, maybe the school’s better off.
A witch! Burn her!
At least there's that. The Mathlete's PAN metrics are pretty easy to understand ratings that go into more detail than wins and losses and as the coaching search progressed he threw up numbers for most of Michigan's candidates. The Hoke graphs are the single most encouraging thing I've seen about the hire, as it does show almost constant improvement across eight years. Ball State, with Hoke in blue:
San Diego State, with Hoke in maize:
Arguing about how fast the improvement happened at Ball State is secondary to the fact that it did improve consistently, though I tend to hold the post-Hoke implosion against him since I'd rather see a smoother glide path to incompetence as the program you put together gradually falls apart. That looks like "Nate Davis graduated so let's GTFO."
This goes here.
Etc.: Guy who won right to attend press conference is a Michigan engineer who wrote a script to enter him millions of times. Michigan engineers: good. Guys who program MGoBlue.com: not Michigan engineers. DocSat: "After three years of attempting to transition out of that mindset into something smaller, faster, sleeker and newer, Hoke is a sign that the Wolverines have declared defeat and decided to turn back home. That will make a lot people happy, but only if the wins eventually follow."
January 12th, 2011 at 4:41 PM ^
Brian, I am with you. Most really good coaches are gruff and not rah rah guys because they prove themselves on the field and have no need to smooze and kiss people's butt..
Bo was mean as hell. Woody-goes without sayin. Bear-mean. Lombardi-mean. and the list goes on.
Vince Dooley the legendary coach of Georgia (legedary for 1 Hershell Walker year only). Hung around the program for years making sure they hired rah rah coaches who would never do better than he did, We have our Dooley in Lloyd Carr.
The President of Georgia figured it out and snuck and hired a non-Dooley guy; war ensued, Dooley was out and the program came back (this bad year notwithstanding).
Carr is thrilled that we hired his guy. Hoke's stretch goal is mediocrity. If not he would have looked at his record and quit coaching a long time ago. We've all seen this movie before. Without the Freep Creeps dogging him out 24/7 he'll be given a chance.
He's a great recruiter. Haha lets see how fast our good recruiting class runs away. It is at near stampede speed already. Who wouldn't want to play for such a legendary winner.
I cried and curled up into the fetal position when I heard that our new coach would not be the proven national wonder coach we had been promised. National Search, Really? He was the guy hiding between the cookies and the potato chips.
Then I decided that I take this stuff too seriously 30+ years after graduation.
Time to go Global and cheer for Real Madrid and Barcelona. No more planning my life around Michigan Football. The rest of the world has written us off as a football power, with this move we have acknowledged that they are right.
Congratulations Brady Hoke you got the job of your dreams I hope by some miracle you succeed beyond our wildest dreams. More likely we'll be back here in 3 years debating whether we should keep you because you are such a nice guy, you tried so hard, a December 28th bowl is not so bad, at least we are honest.
What did the Dixie Chicks Say: "I'm Not Ready to plat Nice"
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January 12th, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^
In the last 6 years (under 2 different coaches) Michigan is 42-33. It is what it is.
I was a RR supporter from day one and even wanted him to get another year after the bowl loss. Hoak was not my first choice (neither were Hargaugh or Miles), but he is the coach now. All of our bitching won't change things (at least for 3 years), so I am all in for Brady. The team seems to like him and accept him and that will be huge if it continues. Maybe if the fan reaction was positive it would actually help with this year's recruiting.
January 12th, 2011 at 4:52 PM ^
Seriously it's not even like it's a hard name...
January 12th, 2011 at 5:02 PM ^
for Rodriquez.
January 12th, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^
We're going to be fine people.
We hired a good football coach, he knows what he's doing, he's won at two places that nobody before him really won at before, 30-19 the last 4 seasons at perennial last place-type programs
Dont turn into the type of fans that we've been railing against. Sadly, I fear thats the direction this blog is headed at this point
January 12th, 2011 at 5:28 PM ^
Brian might do well to re-read his "The New Math" article (specifically the part about becoming too jaded for your own good).
January 12th, 2011 at 6:33 PM ^
Best Cheerleaders rarely win championships. You need a good well coached team. My fear is his wonderful Rah Rah personality will lead to us accepting mediocrity because he is such a nice guy.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:09 PM ^
That tweet might have read, "Congratulations. You got your Wayne Fontes, for what it's worth." Wayne was entertaining, a good guy, made the playoffs, and you could bet he'd get this reception if he was hired in 2009 after what the Lions have been thorough.
I'm going to stop comparing Michigan to the Lions now.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:01 AM ^
You know , the funny thing about Wayne Fontes is that everybody screamed for him to be fired every year and that kind of reminded me of the Rodriguez situation. Well, of course, Fontes was finally canned and the Lions fell down a black hole after that. The Fontes firing was a good lesson in being careful about what you wish for.
January 12th, 2011 at 4:52 PM ^
Wish I could have seen the presser. Stupid court. Anyway, I liked what I heard based on the open thread.
January 12th, 2011 at 5:04 PM ^
...at mgoblue.com.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:01 PM ^
Not going to lie, I caught myself smiling with excitement multiple times. Wasn't a big fan of the hire before, but I'll be able to sleep a lot better now. In short, watch the presser.
January 12th, 2011 at 4:55 PM ^
I was skeptical until today. If Brady can recruit the right coaches and recruit the right kids fast, things will be great. I don't know about MNC but Brady will bring B1G championships and this will be a fun ride.
I respect all that Rich did and tried to do, but Brady Hoke is the right man for the job. AS it has been said, Brady GETS Michigan.
I'm sending in my check for my season tickets and I can't wait for Spring football.
GO BLUE!!!
January 12th, 2011 at 6:25 PM ^
I give Brian credit. He didn't like the hire and he isn't going gaga because Hoke said how much he loved Michigan and wants to beat OSU.
Hoke may be great, awful or somewhere in between, but I can't believe how many (not all) Wolverine fans hated the hire but are now "all in" because of a rah rah speech.
Time will tell
January 12th, 2011 at 8:33 PM ^
But went all ga-ga when he was all ARGH MICHIGAN ARGH!!!! ?
January 13th, 2011 at 9:34 AM ^
Exactly :-)
January 12th, 2011 at 5:22 PM ^
I love how Hoke handled Sharp...multiply and consecutively.
However, if he had it to do over again, his response would have been something like this,
"You know, its funny you should mention this Drew, because I was watching ESPN the other day, and they were entering their second or third hour of Rich Rodriguez status coverage, and they talked to some clown who said that Michigan was strictly a regional program. I thought that was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. Some people just dont have much of a sense of irony I suppose".
Alternatively, he could have moved that national championship ring over a finger, held it up, and asked, "Is this regional enough for you Drew?"
January 12th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^
Many of us are not happy about this hire. I love the program, and on the surface I feel like Michigan chould have gotten a better option for the HC.
That being said, give everyone a few days to vent, and I am sure that most, if not all of us will be back in the corner of the team, the coaches and the university. Not trying to speak for everyone, I will vent to anyone who I can make listen to me (supprisingly my wife and kids don't want to hear it.) and when it's out of my system, I will read everything I can find to get that hidden nugget of information that I may have missed about this team.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:06 PM ^
Wait, who left the corner of the team? Nobody I've seen around these here parts.
January 15th, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^
Let's start the back pedaling... haha... I always support the team, but was not happy about the hire... Hoke is growing on me, but with each new position coach he hires, I am more disappointed. I'm happy he kept F Jackson, but wish Barwis would have been retained.
What's inportant to me is success on the field and the charicter of everyone associated with the team. The charicter part I am not concerned about, but I worry about the success part. I wasn't happy with the results over the last 3 years, but I wasn't happy with the end of the car era either. (Maybe I just can't be satisfied) I just personally saw a higher ceiling with RRod than changing back to a prostyle O. I just don't want to settle for an 8 win a year ceiling.
January 12th, 2011 at 5:26 PM ^
I can buy the Dantonio comparison, but I think there's an important distinction to make: Michigan is not MSU. We have institutional advantages they lack. They will never be a recruiting powerhouse. We are one. Put Dantonio here, and 11-2 might become 12-1 or 13-0.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:29 PM ^
I think Brian's point isn't that Hoke is necessarily a bad guy or that a non-dick version of Dantonio isn't a good hire for the program, but the fact that frankly the dude's resume isn't that stellar. 47-50. That's not good.
His OC runs a fairly bland version of the West Coast offense which suits RS Fr Devin Gardner's talents rather than the reigning Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year.
There is nothing, nothing to suggest Hoke will get us back to an expected 10 wins with 8-4 being disappointing.
His presser was great, I'll admit, but I worry that we've been led like cows to the slaughterhouse, not knowing that the Michigan football program is going to die a slow, agonizing death. Death being the transformation, not into ND, but into MSU.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:53 PM ^
Greetings from the Loveliest Village on the Plains! I read above that you were seeking an evaluation on Borges' years at Auburn from a huge Auburn fan, and I thought I might share my evaluation in the hopes that it would give you sort of an idea of what your friend might say.
Anyway, an evaluation of Borges at Auburn must begin with the facts surrounding his hire, and that story starts back in 2001. Tuberville had just fired offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, and Bobby Petrino was selected to be his replacement. The foundation for the undefeated 2004 team that Borges was apart of was in the process of being laid, and Petrino did so well with the 2002 Auburn Tiger offense that he was promptly hired tp be Louisville's head coach. In 2003, Tuberville elected to not hire a new offensive coordinator and selected offensive line coach Hugh Nall and quarterbacks coach Steve Ensminger to be co-coordinators. The 2003 team famously underperformed, including nonconference losses to USC and Georgia Tech, and Bobby Lowder attempted to ouster Tuberville in the scandal that would become known as Jetgate. It was into this environment that Al Borges was hired.
Borges' first year was an astonishing success, which was surprising after 2003, but doesn't seem that way in retrospect, considering the talent at his disposal. It was under Borges that Jason Campbell went from being a good, promising quarterback with a lot of raw talent to a first round draft pick. Looking back on that year, and this may just be the nostalgia talking, Borges' offense was fantastic to watch (save for that 10-9 near fiasco against LSU, but Nick Saban does that to people). He fielded the most well-rounded, balanced offense many Auburn fans had seen in years, and Auburn rode it all the way to an SEC Championship and an undefeated season.
In 2005, the offense sputtered out of the gate and Auburn fell to Georgia Tech again, but Kenny Irons stepped up to provide more of a running threat, and Auburn finished the regular season 9-2 and lost to Wisconsin in the Cap One bowl. This was definitely a step backwards, but the offense was much better statistically, even after losing Campbell, Brown, and Williams to the NFL. This, really, was an impressive feat when you consider that Borges did it with Brandon Cox under center. Auburn fans' opinions vary wildly on Cox, but the majority will probably have very negative things to say about him at the mere utterance of his name. I personally love the guy--how many guys have the guts to play quarterback in the SEC while afflicted with myasthenia gavis? Cox wasn't a prototypical QB, all he really had going for him was accuracy and guts.
Two things happened in 2006: three of the receivers that head led Auburn to 13-0--Ben Obamanu, Devin Aromashodu, and Anthony Mix--were gone, and Auburn's offense took a pretty significant step backwards. The Tigers did defeat eventual national champion Florida, they did win their fifth straight victory over Alabama, and they did finish 11-2, but they did it mostly with an overpowering defense led by Will Muschamp. At the end of the year, Courtney Taylor would be gone, and the glory days of Borges' offense with him.
2007 would probably be the most interesting year for Michigan fans seeking an update on Borges right now, as 2007 was Kodi Burns' freshman year. It seemed to me that Kodi selected Borges to improve his pro prospects, perhaps seeking to follow in Jason Campbell's shoes, but Tuberville had other ideas. Tubs was once again under pressure from the trustees and alumni to produce more offense, and he was beginning to navigate towards the spread. Borges, however, is not a proponent of the spread offense, so Kodi ended up being put on the field in a shotgun formation to execute basic zone-read runs, which I don't think anyone had in mind. This would be Borges' final year on the Plains, Tubs would move to the Tony Franklin system and eventually be fired a year later.
To sum it all up: Borges will always be remembered in Auburn for leading the offense that won 13 games in '04, for never losing to Alabama, and for always supporting Auburn. The man really seemed to love being here. His wife worked for the athletic department, and he could routinely be seen around campus and attending various athletic events besides football. On the field, it seems like he is an excellent developer of quarterback talent, but his offense suffered once all of Auburn's receiving threats left. I don't know if this is the fault of Greg Knox, the recievers coach, Tuberville, or Borges himself. I remember him being outspoken about not wanting to run a spread offense at Auburn, and I don't know if his attitude has changed, but, given Hoke's stance, I doubt it has. I wish him and Michigan all the best.
War Eagle!
January 12th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^
Bill Martin was a smart AD. He took over the financial mess left by Tom Goss, and put this program back in the black. He accomplished the impossible by rebuilding the Big House into a upgraded, modern, and beautiful stadium. He also managed to move our football program into the 21st century when he replaced the old coach with a new coach, whose spread offense had become the fashion with teams of modern success.
Mr. Martin may have fumbled during his coaching search, but he recovered when he hired RR. Although there was turbulence, RR was slowly but steadily climbing toward championship altitude if given a little more time to install his style of football here at Michigan. If given a 3rd and 4th recruiting year, I believe RR would have eventually fixed his defense (ala WV) and have an upperclass team competing for a B1G 10 / National Championship in 2012, creating peace and harmony in a fractured family.
Now, however, Dave Brandon is the quarterback calling the plays for this program. And by firing RR after only 3 years, he has shown happy feet in the pocket. Instead of a safe pass, he has panicked... and prematurely punted on 3rd down. He bobbled the coaching search by taking too much time to call the play, resulting in delay of game, and a critical turnover. Brady Hoke is our penalty.
I seriously question some other playcalling of this rookie AD, as well. (I mean, if firing RR was so probable, why in the world would you rush to schedule Alabama for 2012?)
Although, I respect and support Dave Brandon, I am beginning to sorely miss Bill Martin.
Go Blue!
January 13th, 2011 at 12:13 AM ^
January 13th, 2011 at 1:40 AM ^
The apparent muddled and sloppy transition from RR to Hoke may not have been so. Consider this scenario: Brandon wanted to replace RR with Hoke at some earlier and appropriate time, say after the OSU debacle, but that would have created a firestorm (i.e. after firing RR, what’s the rush? where’s the national search with $ as no obstacle). DB needed to create a plausible artifice. Hence his (as the sole search “committee” member) very public pursuit of two desirable but unobtainable “Michigan men” (Harbaugh and Miles) and his self-proclaimed whirlwind tour of unnamed but eminent coaching candidates (which he can never name), leaving him at the last moment - with signing day imminent - with Hoke parachuting in without even inquiring about salary. DB did not get to be a CEO of a corporation run by venture capitalists by being a stumbler or accidental genius. Whether his Machiavellian shenanigans are also appropriate for a great public university is another question.
January 12th, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^
Brian, I think you'll be surprised - Hoke can win, and win big at UM - http://burgersgoblue.blogspot.com/2011/01/he-would-have-walked-across-c…
January 13th, 2011 at 9:35 AM ^
_Brady Hoke is a 'Goodfella' and good for Michigan_
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2011/01/brady_hoke_is_a_goodfella_and.html
Seriously, when Wojo even gets corny, how can even the biggest Brady Hoke fan believe the media is doing its job of fairly reporting this story?
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